Health

RJR Tobacco's Push to Keep Smoke-Filled Rooms

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is supporting a bid by the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association to amend the Ohio constitution to exempt businesses such as bars, restaurants and bowling alleys from smoking restrictions. The amendment would also override a number of local ordinances banning indoor smoking. To gather 300,000 signatures to put the amendment on the ballot in November, the business lobby is running web advertisements offering $1.50 for each signature collected.

No
Main Source: 
The Plain Dealer, April 29, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
Health
Tobacco

Essential2: Better Flacking Through Chemistry

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Working with Ogilvy PR, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) launched its "Essential2" PR campaign last year, "to reposition the $550 billion industry as not only imperative, but advantageous to all aspects of modern life." Essential2 includes "national cable TV spots, print ads, and a policymaker education program." PR Week profiles the campaign's outreach to chemical company employees.

No
Main Source: 
PR Week (sub req'd), April 17, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
Environment
Health
Public Relations

Crunch Time for School Junk Food?

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a frequent proponent of legislation protecting children, is now taking on a formidable opponent: the snack industry. Matthew Chayes reports that Harkin has introduced legislation that would tighten the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) definition for "foods of minimal nutritional value." Sen.

No
Main Source: 
Chicago Tribune, April 14, 2006
Topics: 
Obesity
Children
Education
Health
Marketing

Fast Food Feeding Frenzy

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"McDonald's marketing generals have convened a war council and are hatching a strategy to combat a new attack," reports Advertising Age. The "threat" they face is journalist and author Eric Schlosser. A movie based on Schlosser's 2001 best-seller "Fast Food Nation" comes out later this year, as will his new book, which is aimed at younger readers, "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food." McDonald's is "worried about a backlash," reports AdAge.

No
Main Source: 
Advertising Age, April 3, 2006
Topics: 
Obesity
Corporations
Health
Public Relations

Local TV News May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

After studying health segments on 122 local television stations, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Michigan concluded, "Few newscasts provide useful information, and some stories with factually incorrect information and potentially dangerous advice were aired." Yet, "Americans rate television as their primary source of health information." The researchers noted "pervasive health stories" that aired in "more than 10 media markets" sometimes included "identical video," suggesting the use of

No
Main Source: 
The American Journal of Managed Care, March 2006
Topics: 
Video News Releases
Health
Media

Coal Miners' Slaughter

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

U.S. coal industry lobbyists have "resumed a longstanding effort to eliminate -- or at least greatly weaken" the federal requirement for four full inspections a year at underground coal mines. Already this year, 21 coal miners have died, including 16 at West Virginia's Sago Mine. Twenty-two miners died in all of 2005. "A decade ago, industry lobbyists and conservative activists" tried to eliminate the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

No
Main Source: 
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), March 5, 2006
Topics: 
Health
Labor
Lobbying
U.S. Government

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