Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Many San Francisco listeners were outraged when media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications fired San Francisco radio personality David Cook (AKA "Davey D"). Cook was fired after leading a heated anti-war debate on his program. Was he the latest casualty of growing intolerance to independent views?
Submitted by Laura Miller on
PR Week writer Douglas Quenqua asks, "Should the administration draw on the propaganda models of past conflicts to communicate the current war against terrorism?" He recounts the history of past efforts by the U.S. government to mold public opinion, beginning with the Creel Committee during World War I. "In the first few months of our current conflict, we have seen countless entities -- government and otherwise -- launch individual attempts at diplomacy," Quenqua writes. "The Pentagon has hired its own PR firm. Navy Planes are dropping leaflets on Afghanistan.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The remarkable military progress of the war in Afghanistan has bought the United States breathing room on the global public relations front," writes political science professor Peter Feaver. "But in the crucial theater of European public opinion, the war on terror is far from won. Indeed, if President Bush is serious about extending the conflict beyond Afghanistan, he will need all the PR help he can get to persuade our European allies to stay on the bandwagon." Feaver examines the differences between European and U.S.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
On September 28, The Wall Street Journal published a story titled "Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump In Defense Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank." The story touched on the relationship between President Bush and family members of Osama Bin Laden through the Bin Ladens' investments in the Carlyle Group, which employs George Bush Sr. and other prominent Republicans.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
In the aftermath of September 11, the United States will have to abandon its "go-it-alone" Fortress America policies, according to PR executive Robert Dilenschneider.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Public relations people are not all bad -- a fact that probably gets insufficient mention at PR Watch (sorry, guys). Mark Bingham was CEO of The Bingham Group, a PR firm with offices in San Francisco and New York. He was also aboard United flight 93 when it went down in Pennsylvania on September 11, and he is believed to be one of the passengers who stormed the cockpit and brought down the plane before it could hit Washington. His friends and family have established a website in his honor.
Submitted by John Stauber on
A well-funded business front group, the Washington Legal Foundation, is one of many using September 11th to condemn the patriotism of public interest activists.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Rep. Scott McInnis of the GOP wants leading green groups to denounce eco-terror, though they're already on record against it. Is he using Sept. 11 to crack down on groups he disagrees with? Environmental activist Ray Vaughan responds to McInnis: "We have long fought against those secretive multi-national organizations that have sponsored 'environmental terrorism' in America. Throughout our great land, these groups are poisoning our air, our water and our food supply. Children have been hurt. People have been killed. ...
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
PR Week reported on October 1 that family members of Osama bin Laden went shopping for a PR firm shortly after September 11 to help distance themselves from their terrorist relative, whom they claim to have disinherited several years ago. Steven Goldstein and his firm, Attention America, was approached by one of bin Laden's brothers in late September. Goldstein, who is Jewish and pro-Israel, thinks he was approached by the bin Laden family because of his religious and political stance.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
NPR's Brooke Gladstone takes a look at wartime propaganda. She talks with authors Alan Winkler, Phillip Knightley, and Rick MacArthur about propaganda used to support various U.S. military campaigns. Gladstone concludes her report with a quote from French playwright Jean Anouilh: "Propaganda is a soft weapon. Hold it in your hands too long, and it will move around like a snake and strike the other way."
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