Corporations

Feeling brainwashed? The world's most famous spy, John le CarrT (aka David Cornwell) thinks you should be. "We have become the creatures of these people," he said in a recent interview. "Advertising as news. It's prevalent in every aspect of the press. It's very skilfully done. The amount of energy and money and ingenuity applied to corporate spin and corporate lying has never been greater or more effective than it is now."

Margery Kraus of APCO Worldwide has been named "International PR Professional of the Year" by PR Week magazine - a fitting honor to a woman whose company specializes in the worst sleaze the industry produces -- from helping the tobacco industry promote "sound science" to orchestrating a phony "grassroots" campaign for "tort reform" as a way of making it hard

This news release by Edelman PR explains the rationale for trying to encourage business "partnerships" with activist groups: "You've got an environmental disaster on your hands. Have you consulted with Greenpeace in developing your crisis response plan? Co-opting your would-be attackers may seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you consider that NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are trusted by the public nearly two-to-one to 'do what's right' compared with government bodies, media organizations and corporations."

Professional athlete Jim Keady became an activist against sweatshop conditions in Nike's overseas factories while studying theology at St. John's University and coaching for the school's soccer program. His athletic and academic career slammed to a halt, he says, when St. John's negotiated a multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with Nike that would have required him to become "a billboard for a company that was reaping profits on the backs of the poor. ... As a coach, I would've had to wear the equipment