China Rebuilds its Great Firewall
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As part of its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, China pledged to expand press freedom.
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Human Rights
Felt Up in Heaven, or Down in Hell?
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Journalists and many others (rightly) lionizing the late W.
No
Main Source:
New Federal Rule Permits Withholding of Medical Treatments, Information
Submitted by Anne Landman on
The Bush administration has approved a new "conscience protection" rule that allows health care workers to opt out of administering any form of medical care they feel is objectionable on moral or religious grounds.
No
Main Source:
Reporters Help CIA Torture the Truth
"There is a fierce battle going on over what kind of a CIA director Barack Obama should appoint, when he should close the prison camp at Guantanamo, and whether there should be a full scale investigation (and possible prosecution) of the torture advocates in the Bush administration," notes Charles Kaiser in the Columbia Journalism Review. Unfortunately, reporting on this issue in the New York Times and elsewhere has been flagrantly one-sided, from a position that falsifies the facts and defends torture. "Most of the Times's sources don't think that anyone who formulated or acquiesced in the current administration's torture policies should be excluded as a candidate for CIA director, or prosecuted for possible violations of criminal law," Kaiser writes. A recent story by Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, for example, falsely repeated John O. Brennan's description of himself as a "strong opponent" of torture, even though "most experts on this subject agree that Brennan acquiesced in everything that the CIA did in this area while he served there."
Terrified of Nuns and Pacifists
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Bell's Belarus: Never Mind Its Human Rights Record
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
With help from British public relations guru Lord Timothy Bell and his firm, Bell Pottinger, the country of Belarus -- where "opposition protests are regularly crushed with overwhelming force by riot police" and the domestic spy agency is still called the KGB -- is getting an image make-over.
No
Main Source:
Another Attempt to Change Brand Israel
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
No
Main Source:
Is This a Job for the Ethically Challenged?
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Louisiana Senate has appointed former veteran Hill & Knowlton (H&K) lobbyist and Democratic congressional aide Gary Hymel to the Louisiana Board of Ethics. The board's role is to "interpret and enforce" ethical standards for the state's government employees and electoral campaign finance and lobbyist disclosure laws. "I have seen the government from a lot of different angles," Hymel said.
No
Main Source:
Chevron Plays the Victim
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The second-largest U.S. oil company sees itself as a victim, and it's going on a PR offensive to explain why.
No
China's Gold Medal Spin
Submitted by Bob Burton on
In a scathing review of the Chinese government's handling of the Olympics, Jacquelin Magnay writes "there has been the fake singer, the fake fireworks, the fake minority kids (they were all Han, and not from the 55 different ethnic groups as portrayed), the fake press freedoms, fake internet access, fake promises. ...
No
Main Source:
Pages
