Public Relations

Flacks Back Shock Jocks

"If we start losing small, independent broadcasters because they can't afford the risk of getting fined on some arbitrary application of a vague standard, all we'll have left are a few big media companies." So reads a letter from the Public Relations Society of America to Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Powell.

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Welcome to the Machines

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and PR giant Burson-Marsteller are launching "Help Ohio Vote," a state-wide, 18-month, $15.3 million PR and advertising campaign "educating Ohio voters about new [electronic] voting machines." The massive campaign includes focus groups, media tours, ads, direct mail, and an "embedded" media program.

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Crisis (of Confidence) Management

Diebold Election Systems has launched a five-year, $1 million "outreach campaign" to educate Maryland residents about its voting machines. The campaign, which will include radio and TV commercials, a website, more than 1.5 million brochures, and voting demonstrations, begins just prior to Maryland's March 2 primary.

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Halliburton's 'Bizarre Media Strategy'

"The chief executive of the Halliburton Company, Dave Lesar,
never imagined that he would be the star of his own
television commercial. But there he is, on the airwaves in
Washington and Houston, assuring viewers that his company
has billions of dollars in contracts to rebuild Iraq and
feed American troops 'because of what we know, not who we
know.' The unnamed 'who' is, of course, Vice President Dick
Cheney, Halliburton's chief executive from 1995 to 2000. ... The advertising, Mr. Lesar added, will continue until the

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Thanks, Suckers

"We are heroes in error," says Ahmed Chalabi, whose Iraqi National Congress was the source for much of the now-discredited information that served as the Bush administration's justification for war. "As far as we're concerned we've been entirely successful," Chalabi said. "That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad.

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Lobbyists Fight Back Against Negative Stereotypes

"Washington lobbyists, having endured nearly as much verbal abuse this year from the Democratic candidates as President Bush, are fighting back against what they call unfair characterizations," PR Week's Douglas Quenqua reports. The American League of Lobbyists (ALL) asked Democratic Presidential hopefuls to stop demonizing "government relations professionals." In a letter ALL writes, "[Lobbying's] one of the major ways that politicians are held accountable to the people.

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FDA Seeks a Few Good Flacks to Pat Itself on the Back

"The Food and Drug Administration is looking to hire a PR firm to help it celebrate its 100th anniversary on June 30, 2006," O'Dwyer's PR writes. "It is looking for a campaign based on the 'Protecting and Advancing America's Health' theme. The PR firm is to use the campaign to celebrate the FDA's accomplishments and further its 'mission to promote and protect the public health for future generations.'" Before FDA knocks itself over patting itself on the back with its tax-subsidized PR campaign, let's look a little harder at its record versus its mythology.

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"Osama, Osama" Jeer Greets US Soccer in Mexico

Survey after survey documents how the Bush administration has squandered the international outpouring of sympathy after 9/11, turning it into an outpouring of fear and hatred toward the US and its foreign policies. But actions of Mexican soccer fans spoke louder than poll numbers in Guadalajara today. "The boos nearly drowned out The Star-Spangled Banner , and a few dozen fans chanted "Osama! Osama!" as the United States was eliminated by Mexico in Olympic men's soccer qualifying.

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