In September 2005, long-time Bush confidante Karen Hughes started her new job as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Her first official week of work was admittedly ambitious -- a "listening tour" of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
After its protests "forced Taco Bell to pay tomato pickers a penny more per pound," the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) started "pressuring McDonald's for a similar agreement." Instead, McDonald's joined the "Socially Accountable Farm Employer (SAFE) voluntary certification program." Launched in November 2005, SAFE is run by board members of the industry group Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association and
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories should be traced to the United States, according to several current and former employees of Lincoln Group," report Mark Mazzetti and Kevin Sack.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Two opinion columnists and fellows at conservative think tanks have admitted to taking money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to write favorable columns about his clients.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"More than ever, Americans do not trust business or the people who run it," reports Claudia H. Deutsch.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"It’s no secret that Moscow has an image problem. When Russian President Vladimir Putin makes headlines, it’s usually for jailing a businessman or cracking down on dissent," writes Julian Evans. Convinced that its image problem is due to anti-Russian "Western media bias," the Kremlin is trying to curry favor with foreign correspondents and has built its own English-language TV channel, Russia Today.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Seven months after the "Rendon Group was hired to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai with media relations in early 2004," both Karzai and then-U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The only licensed U.S. anthrax vaccine maker, BioPort, turned government contracts into "a gold mine," with help from the "right lobbyists and public relations professionals," writes Bob Evans.
By anybody's standards, the last few weeks have been unusual. The Mirror, a British tabloid, reported receiving a leaked government memo which purportedly shows that George W. Bush wanted to silence Al Jazeera's journalistic coverage of Iraq with a bombing strike on its Doha, Qatar headquarters. When a memo of the April 16, 2004 meeting between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair was leaked, Blair wanted the British media gagged to stop the public from finding out other details of his chat with Bush. While he doesn't want discussion of his meeting with Bush, Blair does want to foster public debate over his plan to expand nuclear power as a 'solution' to climate change.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Between November 30 and December 6, "Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
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