Public Relations

Flacks Americana

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Franklin Foer looks at the rise of John Rendon, whose PR firm is working for the Pentagon in the "war on terrorism." Using techniques that he learned running U.S. election campaigns, Rendon focuses on media strategies (as opposed to "grassroots PR," which Foer suggests would be more effective at combatting Muslim fundamentalism). He has a reputation for overcharging for his services, which are sometimes shockingly inept. So why does the government keep hiring him to run propaganda campaigns in places like Panama, Kuwait, the Balkans and Afghanistan?

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Main Source: 
The New Republic, May 20, 2002
Topics: 
Public Relations
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Saudi Arabia Spends $3.8 Million on PR

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia has paid Qorvis Communications $3.8 million since it signed a one-year $200,000 a-month contract on Nov. 14 with the 15 percent Patton Boggs-owned PA shop," trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "The bulk of those outlays ($2.9 million) were for advertising services to position the Kingdom as a trusted ally of the U.S. and a partner in President Bush's 'war on terror.' QC, in turn, paid its advertising contractor Sandler-Innocenzi $2.5 million for work on the ads.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 16, 2002
Topics: 
International
Public Relations

Argentina Tries PR To Fix Economy

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Argentina's Ministry of Economy is paying Zemi Communications $300,000 a year for media relations, reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily. Meanwhile, current President Eduardo Duhalde asked the World Bank to let it delay repaying $800 million in loans that come due this week according to a New York Times article. "Zemi Communication's job is to pitch the Ministry's revitalization efforts with financial institutions and the international press," O'Dwyer's writes.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 15, 2002; New York Times, May 15, 2002
Topics: 
International
Public Relations

The Pentagon's PR Guru

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Stephen J. Hedges profiles the Rendon Group, the PR firm now working for the Pentagon in the "war on terrorism." Company owner John Rendon, who calls himself "an information warrior and a perception manager," has gotten rich working in places like Panama, the Balkans, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the secrecy surrounding his work makes it difficult to assess what, if anything, Rendon is actually accomplishing. "They're very closemouthed about what they do," says Kevin McCauley, an editor at O'Dwyer's PR Daily.

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Main Source: 
Chicago Tribune, May 12, 2002
Topics: 
Public Relations
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Berman's Food Industry Front Group Attacks 'Mad Cow USA,' Yet Again...

Submitted by John Stauber on

Rick Berman, the tobacco lobbyist who runs Consumer Freedom.com (which he started with $900,000 from Philip Morris) condemns us for "fearmongering" about the dangers of mad cow-type diseases in the US. Berman uses a combination of false claims and misinformation to smear us and our 1997 book Mad Cow USA. Berman's operation is funded by food and booze interests such as Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company and the largest food conglomerate in the US.

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Main Source: 
UPI, May 2, 2002
Topics: 
Food Safety
Mad Cow Disease
Front Groups

Philippines Hires Weber Shandwick

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The Philippines Dept. of National Defense is relying on Weber Shandwick to keep in touch with the Pentagon, White House, Congress and various federal agencies under a two-year contract worth $20,000 a month," reports PR trade publication O'Dwyer's. "The Philippines has the second biggest deployment of U.S.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 2, 2002
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
War / Peace

Berman Floats to the Top

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Tobacco, booze and restaurant industry lobbyist Rick Berman is sending around a news release crowing about being included in this year's list of "star rainmakers" in Hill magazine, a publication for Washington insiders "aimed at the 100 senators, 435 House members, 40,000 aides and tens of thousands in the influence industry whose work affects the lives of all Americans." Berman has also received two "pollie" awards from the American Association for Polit

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Main Source: 
http://www.thehill.com/032002/rss_top.shtm
Topics: 
Food Safety
Front Groups
Lobbying
Tobacco

Defending Capitalism in Argentina

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Rissig Licha, the Fleishman-Hillard PR firm's executive director in Argentina, is urging businesses there to "show their hand and defend the capitalist system. Once society begins to question the system, it will be much more difficult," says Licha, whose clients have included Philip Morris and the Clarin Group, a powerful media conglomerate. The problem is that Argentinians are already doing more than "question" the system. "You know what we want to do?

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Main Source: 
PR Week, April 29, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
International
Public Relations

Managing the Enron Meltdown

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Hill & Knowlton, the PR firm that "managed communications" at Three Mile Island and worked for the government of Kuwait to spin the war in the Persian Gulf, has now been hired "to salvage Enron Corp.," according to O'Dwyer's. Howard Paster, the White House lobbyist for former President Clinton, is working on the account with a variety of other H&K staffers with ties to both Republican and Democratic politicians.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, April 26, 2002
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations

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