Media

Media Relations, a Minneapolis-based PR firm, tells potential clients, "The media is separated into two categories. One is content and the other is advertising. They're both for sale." In a press release sent to media watch-dog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, the firm explains that one can now buy news articles for less money than advertisements. That's because unlike other PR firms, Media Relations only charges clients for stories that get picked up by media. According to the firm's website, "Normally clients spend between $3,000 and $50,000 per month with us."

Michael Eisner, head of the Walt Disney Company, praises Radio Disney, which currently broadcasts in 48 markets, representing 54% of the country. According to a press release, "because Radio Disney is the only 24-hour kids' radio network, it has important synergy benefits for the entire company, helping to get the word out about everything from new movies to goings-on at our theme parks to Disney record releases." In May, the first non-English Radio Disney station outside the U.S. was launched in Buenos Aires.

In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of company founder Walt Disney's birth, Walt Disney World is pulling out all the advertising stops with a $250-million campaign. Disney's major corporate partners--McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, American Express, and Hallmark Cards--will all contribute paid media to counter sagging attendance at the four Florida Disney parks. Advertising Age reports, "As with most of Disney's big marketing efforts, all its companies are synergistically involved, including the ABC Television Network, which will air a documentary on Walt Disney...."

Disney/ABC would probably prefer that viewers perceive John Stossel as a fair and investigative journalist, but pro-industry libertarians love him as an ally and leader in their attack on virtually all government.