Submitted by Bob Burton on
In a survey of 29 U.S. patient groups, New Scientist found only two ruled out drug company funding. Seven of the patient groups surveyed received less than 5% of their income from drug companies, while others were reliant on them for over one-third of their budget.
The Dixie Chicks, that is.
This isn't the first time that big media companies have barred them from the
airwaves, but it is the first time that NBC and the new CW network have. It
appears that once again the Dixie Chicks have exhibited public disapproval of
the Bush administration and once again the media have answered by censoring
them. This bodes ill for the future of free speech, at least what's left of it
in America.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Tasmanian logging company Gunns has been ordered to pay the legal costs of 17 environmentalists and 3 environmental groups, after the third version of its $A6.9 million ($US5.2m) damages claim was thrown out of court. The legal costs are estimated at more than $A1 million ($US760,000). Since December 2004, Gunns has filed three statements of claim and sacked two legal teams.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Richard Edelman, the CEO of the Edelman PR firm, "issued an apology for his agency's role in creating a blog for client Wal-Mart that did not properly disclose its origins or funding," notes PR Week.
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
The sport of baseball got its reputation as a "Field of Dreams," in part, because the game is played outside of time. There is a nominal starting time, but no game clock. Once endorsement deals became as fashionable as designer steroids, everything else went up for sale. Last week, reports Richard Sandomir, the Chicago White Sox literally sold their starting time for $500,000 per year, so that convenience store chain 7-Eleven could get a little more PR. For the next three seasons, the approximately 50 night games on Chicago's South Side will be scheduled to begin at exactly 7:11 p.m.
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
"Kids will buy what they want.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a full rebuttal of claims made against its April 2006 report, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed." The report tracked television stations' use of video news releases (VNRs). The report documented 77 television stations airing VNRs or related materials; not once did stations disclose the client behind the segment. Recently, the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), through the law and lobby firm Wiley Rein & Fielding, issued a critique of CMD’s report that misrepresented and distorted the substance of the report. CMD's full, point-by-point rebuttal of RTNDA's critique is available online at: www.prwatch.org/node/5282.
On October 5, 2006, the Wiley Rein & Fielding law and lobby firm filed an appeal with the U.S.
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
Citing "a public health problem that will only get worse unless we take action," Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin announced a joint task force on child obesity.
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