U.S. Government

US-Funded Channel Woos Arabs With Slick Image

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Like this image of Arabian stallions at full gallop, the new Alhurra Arabic-language television network is off and running this week with news coverage beamed at the Middle East, despite significant competition and mounting controversy," Television Week writes. Top branding and advertising specialists hope their work for the US-funded Alhurra ("The Free One" in Arabic) will grab the attention of Arabic viewers, already skeptical of the network's content.

No
Main Source: 
TV Week, February 16, 2004
Topics: 
International
Media
U.S. Government

FDA Seeks a Few Good Flacks to Pat Itself on the Back

Submitted by John Stauber on

"The Food and Drug Administration is looking to hire a PR firm to help it celebrate its 100th anniversary on June 30, 2006," O'Dwyer's PR writes. "It is looking for a campaign based on the 'Protecting and Advancing America's Health' theme. The PR firm is to use the campaign to celebrate the FDA's accomplishments and further its 'mission to promote and protect the public health for future generations.'" Before FDA knocks itself over patting itself on the back with its tax-subsidized PR campaign, let's look a little harder at its record versus its mythology.

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer PR Daily, February 13, 2004
Topics: 
Health
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Majority Believe Bush Lied, Exaggerated, on WMDs

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Most Americans believe President Bush either lied or deliberately exaggerated evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to justify war, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey results, which also show declining support for the war in Iraq and for Bush's leadership in general, indicate the public is increasingly questioning the president's truthfulness -- a concern for Bush's political advisers as his reelection bid gets underway. ...

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, February 13, 2004
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

"Osama, Osama" Jeer Greets US Soccer in Mexico

Submitted by John Stauber on

Survey after survey documents how the Bush administration has squandered the international outpouring of sympathy after 9/11, turning it into an outpouring of fear and hatred toward the US and its foreign policies. But actions of Mexican soccer fans spoke louder than poll numbers in Guadalajara today. "The boos nearly drowned out The Star-Spangled Banner , and a few dozen fans chanted "Osama! Osama!" as the United States was eliminated by Mexico in Olympic men's soccer qualifying.

No
Main Source: 
Associated Press, February 11, 2004
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

In Search of the Magic Phrase

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The "apparatus of public diplomacy" (the official government euphemism for overseas public relations) "has proven inadequate, especially in the Arab and Muslim World," says Harold Pachios, a commissioner on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. In testimony before the U.S.

No
Main Source: 
http://www.state.gov/r/adcompd/rls/29213.htm
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Losing Hearts and Minds

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

In Margaret Tutwiler's first public appearance as the State Department's public diplomacy head, she admitted that America's international standing has fallen so far that "many years of hard, focused work" are needed to restore it. This week, the al-Hurra ("Free One") network begins broadcasting from Virginia. The $62 million project will tell "the truth about the values and the policies of the United States" to Middle Eastern countries and overcome "hateful propaganda...

No
Main Source: 
Christian Science Monitor, February 9, 2004
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Same Money Politics. Less Accountability.

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"Same Medicare. More Benefits." is the theme of a publicly-funded $12.6 million advertising effort promoting the new Medicare law. Critics of the ad campaign include Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy and the conservative National Taxpayers Union, who called it "an election-year ploy." The Wall Street Journal reports that National Media, a firm already working for the Bush/Cheney campaign, is getting a piece of the new ad campaign pie.

No
Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2004
Topics: 
Advertising
Ethics
Health
U.S. Government

How Bush Produced Phony Intelligence on Iraq

Submitted by John Stauber on

Our best selling book Weapons of Mass Deception was the first to expose the aggressive public relations campaign used to sell the American public on the war with Iraq. Recent revelations by David Kay inspired our publisher to put out a news release with this headline: "Chief U.S.

No
Main Source: 
Mother Jones, January/February, 2004
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Lobbying Makes DC a PR Capital

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Everyone from the highway construction industry to the mining industry, environmental groups and the healthcare and tobacco industry has a stake in Washington politics. As a result, reports the Washington Post, "Pasting ads all over Capitol Hill has become a big business -- so big that Washington is the nation's second-largest public relations market after New York, even though the District is only the 21st-largest city in the country, behind places like Phoenix, Memphis and Milwaukee."

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, February 1, 2004
Topics: 
Advertising
Lobbying
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Mass Deception on Iraq Weapons Continues

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

For the first time yesterday, George Bush publicly "appeared to back away from his once-emphatic claim that weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq." In response to questions about former chief Iraq weapons inspector David Kay's assertions that Iraq destroyed its WMDs years before the U.S.

No
Main Source: 
Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

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