Public Relations

The Pro-War Lobby's Latest Addition is Freedom's Watch

The business of pro-war propaganda is booming as "Freedom's Watch" joins Vets for Freedom, Move America Forward and other pro-war advocates for a stepped up war in Iraq in line with the Bush/Cheney Global War on Terror.

Ari Fleischer, former White House PR flack who jumped ship into the private sector shortly after the 2003 US invasion, is the public face and a founding board member of Freedom's Watch, which is being rolled out this week with emotional advertisements featuring wounded veterans imploring Americans to keep the money flowing for the occupation.

One such advertisement is up on YouTube. Once again the war in Iraq is being falsely linked to and justified by the terror attacks of 9/11, one of the Bush Administration's Big Lies that was was used to mislead America into war. In the Freedom's Watch advertisment on YouTube a war vet with prosthetic legs beseeches:

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Hill & Knowlton's 50 Year Fudge

Some PR executives take citizens for complete idiots.

Almost three weeks ago a local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) called on the University of California to dump the giant PR firm Hill & Knowlton (H&K). In a letter to the university, AFSCME and other groups pointed to H&K's work for the tobacco industry, its attack on research pointing to the impact of exposure to lead on children, and its work for "some of the worst human rights abusing states in the world." In a statement emailed to the trade publication PR Week, H&K's Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Thorne claimed that the union's criticism "is directed to work done more than 50 years ago. While we disagree that H&K ever was engaged in any improper conduct, our current firm policy is that we will not provide services in any way related to tobacco, anywhere in the world."

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Big-Spending Drug Industry Defenders

Submitted by Bob Burton on August 20, 2007 - 3:32am

The lead U.S. drug industry lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), spent $10.7 million in the first six months of 2007 lobbying the U.S. government.

Main Source:

Associated Press, August 17, 2007

Topics:

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When Drug Industry Flacks Attack

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on August 17, 2007 - 2:49pm

Following Dr. Steven Nissen's publication of a study warning that "GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks by 43% and death from cardiovascular events by possibly 64%," he was publicly pilloried. "More than one story from ostensibly different sources" derisively referred to him as "St Steven," the "Patron Saint of Drug Safety," and "Saint Steven the Pure," reports Evelyn Pringle. Among the attackers was FDA spokesman Douglas Arbesfeld.

Main Source:

CounterPunch, August 15, 2007

Topics:

Edelman Reps Diebold's Not-So-Amicable Split

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on August 17, 2007 - 1:57pm

The PR firm Edelman "is handling the recasting of Diebold Election Systems to Premier Election Solutions," following the parent company's failure to sell its e-voting subsidiary.

Main Source:

O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), August 17, 2007

Topics:

Democracy

Politics

Public Relations

Spinning Wikipedia

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on August 16, 2007 - 9:27pm

"Editing your own entry on Wikipedia is usually the province of vain celebrities keen for some good PR," writes Bobbie Johnson. "But a new website has uncovered dozens of companies that have been editing the site in order to improve their public image.

Main Source:

The Guardian (UK), August 15, 2007

Topics:

Internet

Issue Management

Secrecy

American Legion and VFW Launch Pro-War Lobby & PR Campaigns

Submitted by John Stauber on August 16, 2007 - 9:22am

The Boston Globe reports "the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation's oldest and most influential veterans' organizations, have broken their relative silence on the merits of the Iraq war, joining some of the staunchest war supporters to lobby Congress and the public...

Main Source:

Boston Globe, August 16, 2007

Topics:

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SourceWatch Tracks the Pro-War Lobby and Vets for Freedom

SourceWatch citizen journalist Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a dogged and prolific investigator of the pro-war lobby. AI began digging into the pro-war front group Vets for Freedom in June 2006. AI's research exposing the neoconservative agenda and Republican operatives behind VFF has been used by scores of journalists. Just do a Google search for "Vets for Freedom" and you'll find AI's work in our SourceWatch article right at the top of your returns, next to the VFF's own website.

Pro-war funding appears plentiful for VFF as it gears up to lobby Congress in September. Here's some of the latest from AI and the VFF article on SourceWatch:

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Vets for Freedom and VoteVets Are "Valuable Public Relations Tools" for Politicians

Submitted by John Stauber on August 14, 2007 - 9:07am

The Associated Press examines two dueling partisan lobby groups composed of military veterans, "valuable public relations tools" for politicians in the debate over the war in Iraq. VoteVets "has spent about $850,000 this year on political ads. ... Its board of advisers includes ...

Main Source:

Associated Press, August 14, 2007

Topics:

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Pulp Friction

Submitted by Bob Burton on August 14, 2007 - 5:32am

Tasmanian logging (Photo: The Wilderness Society) The latest edition of the Tasmanian Business Reporter waxes lyrical about the importance of building a massive pulp mill proposed by the controversial logging company Gunns. Writing about the positive coverage in The Australian, D.D.