Public Relations

"[I]n a way the term public relations is misleading, because the vast majority of PR is hidden from the public," David Miller writes in the British magazine Red Pepper. "PR is much more important than just media spin. It is the very lifeblood of the global capitalist system. PR can only flourish as a profession and an industry in a society run on market principles. The further a society moves away from neo-liberal dogma the less role there is for the PR industry and vice versa."

Responding to an in-depth Washington Post expose, The Nature Conservancy has hired Edelman PR Worldwide for damage control. The Post's multi-part article portrayed the environmental non-profit, which has $3 billion in assets, as a willing dealmaker for the benefit of its corporate supporters and trustees. According to O'Dwyer's PR Daily, the Arlington, Va.-based group is desperate to avoid Congressional inquiry into its activities.

"We pay particular attention to not only what the president says but what the American people see," White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett told the New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller. "Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast.

Fearing the Indian Point nuclear plant is an appealing target for terrorists, neighbors, activists and local officials are demanding that parent company Entergy shut down the facility, which is located 35 miles upstream from New York City. The New Orleans-based energy company, which owns nine other nuclear power plants, hired former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's PR firm to help out with security and crisis management issues. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports that Entergy enlisted Giuliani Partners for its "real-world public safety experience" earned following the Sept.