Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Following similar interest from media moguls and PR firms, the consulting firm Issue Dynamics, Inc. "has launched a formal Blogger Relations Practice and a companion website, http://www.bloggerrelations.com." According to its press release, IDI has already provided "blogger relations" services to "Fortune 50
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Center for Consumer Freedom, an industry-funded front group, launched a $600,000 ad campaign decrying the "hype" around obesity.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
A little-noticed proposal in the 2,000 page federal budget "would give the president the power to appoint an eight-member panel called the 'Sunset Commission.'" The commission would "review federal programs every ten years and decide whether they should be eliminated.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"No company appears to be working harder to support those who debunk global warming" than ExxonMobil, writes Chris Mooney. "Some 40 ExxonMobil-funded organizations ...
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"A fast-growing trend in the business of influencing government is corporate-funded trips," reports the Wall Street Journal. "Because the trips are paid for by corporations and trade associations - and not the hired guns who lobby for them - such trips are permitted under House and Senate rules," unless the sponsors are registered lobbyists or foreign agents. The number of junkets increased from 1,400 in 2000 to 1,900 in 2004; their cost increased 50% over the same period, to $3 million in 2004.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Roughly a year ago," the retail giant Wal-Mart began moving "corporate communications people" to "key cities and areas of the country," according to vice-president of communications Mona Williams.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The 2005 Corporate Responsibility Index, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ranks British American Tobacco (BAT) as amongst the six worst performers out of the twenty-seven companies included. The index is based on corporate self-assessments reviewed by Ernst & Young accountants.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Hugh Morgan, the President of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), lashed out at a proposal by state attorney generals to prevent corporations from suing for defamation.
Will ongoing investigations and public outrage be sufficient to end the debased media practices that result in "fake news"?
Producers of the fake TV news stories called video news releases (VNRs) hope not. Some are worried, though. "Crisis" is the word Kevin McCauley of the public relations trade publication O'Dwyer's used in a recent column.
VNR producers are struggling to find allies, even within the PR industry. For the last three weeks, O'Dwyer's has been running an online poll asking, "Should there be a limit on the U.S. Government's use of video news releases?" Seventy-two percent of respondents to date support VNR restrictions. (O'Dwyer's doesn't disclose the number of respondents.)
VNR producers may very well be thanking their lucky stars for the Bush White House.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"As part of its ongoing effort to improve its image, Wal-Mart is hosting its first-ever media conference for 50 invited print journalists this week near company headquarters in Arkansas," reports PR Week. "We are doing this to send a clear signal of Wal-Mart's willingness to be open with the media," said a company spokesperson.
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