Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The National Organization for Marriage's (NOM's) $1.5 million television ad campaign -- with spots featuring "ominous clouds over several people warning against same-sex marriage" -- is bringing one public relations firm to the national stage. The Sacramento, California firm Schubert Flint Public Affairs "played a key role in torpedoing same-sex marriage in California," reports O'Dwyer's.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
We must destroy the environment in order to save it, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's new campaign against government oversight and what it calls "green tape." "We cannot mandate excessive reductions in greenhouse gases, fuel our future and apply green technologies if we don't address the green tape, excessive permitting requirements, and activist opposition," complained Chamber vice-president for environment, technology and regulator affairs William Kovacs.
Submitted by John Stauber on
In our 1995 book Toxic Sludge Is Good for You, we examined how the Environmental Protection Agency and the sewage industry turned toxic sewage sludge into a "safe" fertilizer through PR, political bullying and weakened government regulations.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
An internal document (pdf) of the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) -- an industry front group that disbanded in 2002 -- reveals that when the group chose to promote doubt about the reality of global warming it was ignoring the views of its own scientif
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Medialink Worldwide, the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), reported that on April 20 it was notified by the Nasdaq Stock Market that shareholder equity in the company at the end of De
It was a shocking revelation. Exactly one year ago today, the New York Times published an in-depth account of the Pentagon military analyst program, a covert effort to cultivate pundits who are retired military officers as the Bush administration's "message force multipliers." The elaborate -- and presumably costly -- program flourished at the nexus of government war propaganda; the private interests of the officer-pundits, many of whom also worked as lobbyists or consultants for military contractors; and major news organizations that didn't ask tough questions about U.S. military operations while failing to screen their paid commentators for even the most glaring conflicts of interest.
The story was huge, but it wasn't easy to break. It took two years for reporter David Barstow and others at the Times to pry the relevant documents from the Pentagon. Seven months later, Barstow helped us further understand how the U.S. "military-industrial-media complex" works, with another front-page exposé on one spectacularly conflicted Pentagon pundit, Barry McCaffrey.
On April 20, David Barstow received the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, for his work on the Pentagon pundit story.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"To distance itself from past practices that some military officers called propaganda," the Obama administration closed the Defense Department's office for support to public diplomacy.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
A front group for the UK bottled water industry, "which is perceived to be expensive and environmentally unsound," signed a "six-figure" contract with the public relations firm Munro & Forster.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Medialink Worldwide, the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), is teetering on the brink of collapse.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"House Democrats are investigating American International Group Inc.'s role in a campaign to discredit its former chairman and chief executive officer, Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg, in the wake of federal bailouts to the insurance company totaling $182.5 billion," reports Bloomberg.
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
520 University Ave, Ste 305 • Madison, WI 53703 • (608) 260-9713
CMD is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit.
© 1993-2024