Media

Powerful corporations routinely throw their weight around in the local and national media--and get away with it. Before running a piece about Micron Technologies, the Idaho Statesman sent a review copy to...Micron Technologies. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal got a scoop on a big airline merger, under the condition that they not talk to any critics of the deal. In their Fear and Favor 2000 report, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting document these and many more examples of the media caving in to corporate spin.

The old 30 and 60 second ads we know and love may be obsolete in the future, thanks to the miracle of product placement. We've all seen lingering, seductive shots of consumer products in movies...and in the future, "you probably won't know where the commercial stops and the programs begin," says Bob Kuperman, President of New York ad agency TBWA.

The elections of 2000 were touted as a coming-out party for politics on the internet. Websites with names like Voter, Speakout, Vote, Grassroots, and Votenet promised to revolutionize politics, gushing hype and dreamy, feel-good mission statements about "using the Internet to promote a more active and informed electorate" and "enabling citizens and their representatives to affect positive, democratic change." After the confetti has settled, howeer, it is painfully clear that online politics was as badly oversold as the rest of the internet.

"Very marginal" is the way Steve Lett, president of a now-defunct dot-com company, describes the result of his company's initial experience with public relations. PaperStudio.com outsourced its PR functions to a so-called virtual agency that stitches together a flock of PR freelancers. One year and $125,000 later, PaperStudio had gained a paltry 15 clips for its press kit.