Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"While reporting a story on Microsoft's video blogging initiative -- something called Channel 9 -- the dossier that Microsoft and its outside public relations agency Waggener Edstrom keeps on me accidentally ended up in my email inbox," recounts Fred Vogelstein.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Hailed as a major success of five years of democracy-building, media freedom in Afghanistan is under increasing pressures," writes Alisa Tang. A spokesperson for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said, "We've moved from an open media environment to a state-controlled media environment." A proposed law would increase government power over media outlets and make reporting "humiliating and offensive" news a criminal offense.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Israel's official MySpace page was launched in January under the direction of officials from the Foreign Ministry," reports Gregory Levey.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In response to growing concerns about the safety of some cosmetics, the industry group Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA) "has embarked on what it calls an 'education process' designed to reassure consumers." As the Center for Media and Democracy repo
There are many reasons why federal investigations might take some time to conclude. Perhaps the issues are complex. Maybe the parties under investigation are less than forthcoming. The investigating agency may lack the resources needed to resolve the matter in a timely fashion.
On the other hand, a stalled investigation may be part of a crisis management strategy. When an embarrassing ethical or legal transgression surfaces, launching an investigation sends the message that the matter is being taken seriously. Thanks to a rapid news cycle and a lack of follow-up reporting, public attention shifts elsewhere as the investigation continues. Closing the investigation can be seen as counter-productive, as it once again calls attention to the problem and creates the expectation that the findings will be acted upon.
Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) may well have been pondering such matters on March 14, when he pointedly asked Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin about the status of the agency's ongoing Armstrong Williams investigation.
Submitted by Conor Kenny on
UPDATE: PRWatch and WeeklySpin readers have posted the contact information for all the new members from Texas, Virginia and New Hampshire. Help us finish the rest!
The Congresspedia project on SourceWatch has been receiving a lot of great edits lately by students, wonks and people who are simply interested in policy and politics (and have a modem). As the "managing editors" of the site, we keep an eye on the edits made to articles to do fact checking, help citizen editors and watch for vandalism. One editor, Lczikowsky, caught our eye by systematically expanding the page on minimum wage legislation to include state-level legislative proposals in 30 states, resulting in an in-depth article that's a great resource for anyone researching the minimum wage. Here's Lczikowsky to discuss his contributions in more detail:
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"All the surveys we have done shows that the biggest hasbara," or public diplomacy, "problem that Israel has is with males from the age of 18 - 35," said David Saranga, Israel's media and public affairs point person at its New York consulate. "In order to change their perception of Israel as only a land of conflict, we want to present to them an Israel that interests them," he added. So the "beer 'n' babes magazine Maxim" is sending photographers to Israel, for a photo shoot of attractive Israeli women.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Farhad Manjoo of Salon.com examines MoveOn's new role as power-broker for the Democratic Party. "MoveOn, which began with an e-mail petition opposing President Clinton's impeachment in 1998, has grown into one of the biggest and best-known netroots groups on the left. ...
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As noted in previous Spins, the movie "InnerState" was bankrolled by Johnson & Johnson to promote a drug produced by its biopharmaceutical unit, Centocor. But J&J isn't alone.
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