Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Dan Klores Communications, a PR firm that specializes in "crisis communications" for clients embroiled in scandals, is representing Sean ("P. Diddy") Combs, the artist formerly known as "Puff Daddy," as he faces criticism for the use of sweatshop labor to manufacture his clothing line.
Submitted by John Stauber on
In Britain "Burson-Marsteller, the public relations agency used by the oil, GM, tobacco and chemical industries, is to represent the government's pollution watchdog, in a move that environmentalists yesterday described as 'barmy'." B-M's clients have included biotech behemoth Monsanto, and B-M's spying on food activists in the US in 1990 inspired the founding of PR Watch.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Alicia Mundy writes that "I was about to go live on the
Today show to discuss my book on the fen-phen scandal when the host,
Maria Shriver, leaned forward and very kindly said, 'I'm really sorry
about the way we're doing this interview and the questions I have to
ask. You understand, don't you?' ... It seems that the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth-Ayerst, had been
calling. Wyeth, a major conglomerate, makes Dimetapp and Robitussin, as
well as hormone replacement products and other drugs, and was a huge
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has aired a glowing memorial to Paul Moran, its cameraman who was killed in March by a suicide bomber while filming the war in Iraq. The broadcast features fond recollections from Moran's colleagues, friends and family, while glossing over and rationalizing Moran's work for the Rendon Group, the secretive PR firm that has worked behind the scenes to promote the U.S. foreign interventions in Iraq and elsewhere.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Letters from hometown soldiers describing their successes rebuilding Iraq have been appearing in newspapers across the country as U.S. public opinion on the mission sours," reports Ledyard King. "And all the letters are the same." A newspaper in Olympia, Washington noticed the pattern after receiving identically-worded letters from two different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"A severe lack of funding, convoluted bureaucracy, and a near-total absence of research and measurability are badly undermining US attempts to bolster its image via public diplomacy in Muslim countries, according to a report released last week by the Advisory Group on Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World," PR Week's Douglas Quenqua writes. The report, "Changing Minds, Winning Peace," recommendations include creating a cabinet-level foreign policy PR advisor to the President and an independent Corporation for Public Diplomacy to increase private-sector involvement.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The United States must drastically increase and overhaul its public relations efforts to salvage its plummeting image among Muslims and Arabs abroad, says a panel chosen by the Bush administration. "Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels," states a new report by the United States Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World. The report recommends a new White House office for foreign propaganda.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Qorvis Communications is representing Seisint Inc., the Boca Raton-based database company, that is home to the Matrix -- Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange -- which has privacy advocates on edge," O'Dwyer's PR Reports.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"While officials at Washington D.C.'s National Zoo are trying to keep the public's focus on the positive, behind the scenes they've begun a massive public relations campaign to manage the fallout from the rash of unusual, and unnatural animal deaths," CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson reports. The zoo has hired PR giant Hill & Knowlton to help shape its response to Washington Post stories scrutinizing it.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Saudi Arabia is denying a published report that it is interested in developing a nuclear weapon, according to a statement released by its PR firm, Qorvis Communications," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. The UK's Guardian, citing unidentified sources, reported that top officials in Riyadh are considering acquiring nuclear capabilities as
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