War / Peace

PR at the FBI

Submitted by John Stauber on

Tompaine.com has run an opinion page advertisement in the New York Times decrying the FBI's recent PR campaign to improve its image in the wake of now public disclosures that it dropped the ball in regard to the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "Americans are entitled to a full accounting of the problems at FBI headquarters -- Who is responsible? Who will be held accountable? Using public relations tactics to change the subject and to defuse the political consequences short-circuits needed reforms and does the nation a disservice."

No
Main Source: 
www.tompaine.com, June 5, 2002
Topics: 
Terrorism
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Politically Incorrect No More

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

It's official: Bill Maher's TV show has been cancelled. Maher's program, Politically Incorrect, came under attack when Maher made allegedly "unpatriotic" remarks in the aftermath of September 11. But Matthew Nisbit points out that there's more to the story: Maher has been replaced by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, whose show appeals to young males with what it calls "a half-hour of joyous chauvinism ... each variety-style episode contains a whole truckload of man-fun. ... It's all the stuff you see on beer commercials. And every show ends with girls on trampolines."

No
Main Source: 
American Prospect, June 3, 2002
Topics: 
Media
War / Peace

The FBI's Shifting Story

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"To fabricate an alibi for his nonfeasance, and to cover up his department's embarrassing cut of the counterterrorism budget last year, Attorney General John Ashcroft - working with his hand-picked aide, F.B.I. Director 'J. Edgar' Mueller III - has gutted guidelines put in place a generation ago to prevent the abuse of police power by the federal government," writes conservative pundit William Safire.

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, June 3, 2002
Topics: 
Terrorism
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Bad News Is Good News

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Former reporters for the Taliban news service describe how they were ordered to inflate figures of civilian casualties from the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. Casualty estimates today still range from a low of 1,000 to a high of around 3,000. Some of the former Taliban reporters are still at work, now for the new government. Mohammed Ismail Qanay "keeps a photo of himself from his days as a reluctant co-conspirator in the Taliban's propaganda factory, when he was required to wear the tunic and pantaloons, a turban and a flowing beard.

No
Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2002
Topics: 
Journalism
International
War / Peace

H&K's Baby Incubator Story Still Debated

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Lauri Fitz-Pegado, the former Hill and Knowlton staffer who promoted the story about armed Iraqi troops tossing Kuwaiti babies out of their incubators - one of the biggest PR stories of the `90s - is now handling PR for the Cayman Island Cultural Center in New York," noted O'Dwyer's PR Daily on May 28. "H&K, on behalf of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait front group of exiled royals, produced a 15-year-old girl 'Nayirah' who testified that she saw Iraqi troops committing the atrocity in a Kuwaiti hospital. She testified before the Congressional Human Rights caucus in Oct.

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily
Topics: 
Propaganda
Public Relations
U.S. Government
War / Peace

The Attack on Civil Liberties

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Village Voice has compiled a special section devoted to the Bush administration's attack on civil liberties, which may prove useful in the wake of recent revelations that the Bush administration had forewarnings of September 11. Meanwhile, Peter Erlinder of the National Lawyers Guild has called for a re-examination of "the lies that were told to Congress and the American people after Sept.

No
Main Source: 
http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/civil_liberties/
Topics: 
Human Rights
War / Peace

World War II All Over Again

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"The widely publicized and highly orchestrated public relations campaign adopted by the Bush administration in this 'war on terrorism' is eerily reminiscent of the propaganda war waged during World War II," says Frank Mankiewicz, vice chairman of Hill and Knowlton (the PR firm that orchestrated the campaign to win public support for the war in the Persian Gulf).

No
Main Source: 
http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/winter02/mank.html
Topics: 
Propaganda
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Axing the Tough Questions

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The recent disclosure that President Bush received a general warning before Sept. 11 of possible hijackings prompted a firestorm of spin. Conservative pundits and politicians fought back on cue, showing impressive message-discipline as they argued in unison that criticism of the president amounts to treason in the face of terrorism. Democrats "need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions," said Vice President Dick Cheney (without specifying any "incendiary suggestions" that any Democrats had actually made).

No
Main Source: 
Spinsanity.org, May 21, 2002
Topics: 
Right Wing
Terrorism
Rhetoric
U.S. Government

Secure Often Means Secret Post-9/11

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"In the eight months since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, the Bush administration has moved more quickly than any administration since World War II to make government activities, documents and other information secret," reports USA Today. "Hundreds of thousands of public documents have been removed from government Web sites. Other public information has been edited, and access to some materials has been made more difficult.

No
Main Source: 
USA Today, May 20, 2002
Topics: 
Terrorism
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Flacks Americana

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Franklin Foer looks at the rise of John Rendon, whose PR firm is working for the Pentagon in the "war on terrorism." Using techniques that he learned running U.S. election campaigns, Rendon focuses on media strategies (as opposed to "grassroots PR," which Foer suggests would be more effective at combatting Muslim fundamentalism). He has a reputation for overcharging for his services, which are sometimes shockingly inept. So why does the government keep hiring him to run propaganda campaigns in places like Panama, Kuwait, the Balkans and Afghanistan?

No
Main Source: 
The New Republic, May 20, 2002
Topics: 
Public Relations
U.S. Government
War / Peace

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