War / Peace

Only One Way To Fight A War

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"There is only one way to fight a war now," MIT professor Noam Chomsky told VK Ramachandran on Frontline India. "First of all, pick a much weaker enemy, one that is defenseless. Then build it up in the propaganda system as either about to commit aggression or as an imminent threat. Next, you need a lightning victory. An important leaked document of the first Bush Administration in 1989 described how the U.S. would have to fight war. It said that the U.S. had to fight much weaker enemies, and that victory must be rapid and decisive, as public support will quickly erode.

No
Main Source: 
ZNet
Topics: 
Ethics
War / Peace

Germans And French See Different War

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Germans appear to be viewing the war through a prism that highlights the human costs, difficulties and risks. Media and political analysts say that perspective springs from three interconnected sources: public attitudes against the war, the German government's opposition to it and the occasionally antiwar tone of German media coverage," the Washington Post's Robert J. McCartney writes.
TomPaine.com commentator Nina Burleigh writes

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, April 2, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
International

Pentagon Embeds Public Affairs Officers With Journalists

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"They may not get as much attention as their media counterparts, but dozens of Pentagon public affairs officers are 'embedded' right alongside the reporters in Iraq," PR Week reports. "The Pentagon also maintains the Coalition Press Information Center (CPIC) in Kuwait, a base of operations for public affairs officers not traveling with troops.

No
Main Source: 
PR Week, March 31, 2003; Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Propaganda's Diminishing Half-Life

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"In the good old days, the US used to tell a lie -- crass propaganda -- and it would stick for a long time. Journalists would have to scurry for months before they could expose the lies, but by then it would be almost irrelevant," writes London-based economist Paul de Rooij

No
Main Source: 
PalestineChronicle.com, April 1, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

War: Not So Good For PR & US Brands, But TV Ads OK

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Following a disastrous 2002 for the public relations industry, the war in Iraq now threatens to blight 2003," Advertising Age writes. "The most immediate problem for PR agencies is the shrinking news hole -- a vital element of campaigns -- now that it appears the war will go on for longer than some expected." Bad news for PR, but advertisers need not worry. "A majority of U.S.

No
Main Source: 
Advertising Age, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Advertising
Iraq

Edelman Defends France's Sodexho From Congressional Attack

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"France's Sodexho Alliance is fending off Congressional bids to strip it of its $880 million food service contract with the U.S. Marines because of the French snub of President Bush's invasion of Iraq," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "Edelman is our corporate agency of record, and we use it for crisis work," Bonnie Goldstein, a PR staffer at Sodexho's North American headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., told O'Dwyer's. "Rep. Jack Kingman (R-Ga.) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking him to consider transferring the Marines contract to a U.S.-based firm.

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Iraq
Corporations
U.S. Government

General GOP

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"According to recent leaks from the Pentagon, Gen. Tommy Franks and other uniformed war planners argued with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over how many troops and how much armor to commit to the war," writes Lucian K. Truscott IV. "The soldiers wanted more of both," but "Rumsfeld was reportedly among the influential group on the administration war team who predicted that the Iraqi army would quickly fold after it had been shocked and awed. ...

No
Main Source: 
St. Louis Today, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
U.S. Government

Clear Channel Gets PR Help Over Pro-War Rallies

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Clear Channel Communications ... finds itself fending off a new set of
accusations: that the company is using its considerable
market power to drum up support for the war in Iraq, while
muzzling musicians who oppose it. ... The critics ... cite an unusual series of pro-military rallies drummed up
by Glenn Beck, whose talk show is syndicated by Premiere
Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary. ... Thirteen of those rallies were
co-sponsored and promoted by local Clear Channel stations,

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Iraq
Corporations

An Army of Propaganda

Submitted by John Stauber on

"It's no coincidence that Americans, and others around the world, are echoing the exact same phrases and news bites at the same times with near-military precision. It's the result of a slickly orchestrated public relations campaign on the part of the military and the U.S. government that is borrowing the best practices of the corporate PR world. ... The PR industry, as many may know, was actually started by the military during World War I, when persuasive techniques were developed to recruit soldiers.

No
Main Source: 
AlterNet, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

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