Corporations

Canadian Journalists Threatened By Media Concentration

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Robert Cribb, the president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, is calling for "a parliamentary inquiry into the effects of media concentration in this country," in response to efforts by the CanWest media empire to muzzle journalists who disagree with management views. "At issue is CanWest's decision to run 'national editorials' in its major dailies, limiting the diversity of viewpoints available to readers," Cribb writes.

No
Main Source: 
Vancouver Sun, February 7, 2002
Topics: 
Journalism
Corporations

Helping Oppressed Corporations Fight the Mighty Activists

Submitted by Anonymous on

Nick Nichols, CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Nichols-Dezenhall Communications Management Group, Ltd., has a book out titled Rules for Corporate Warriors: How to Fight and Survive Attack Group Shakedowns, which purports to offer advice for the once-proud corporations hunted into near-extinction by the overwhelming power of left-wing activists and their allies in the anti-corporate media.

No
Main Source: 
ConservativeBookStore.com--Pick of the Week
Topics: 
Activism
Crisis Management
Corporations

Pity Poor Enron

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

M.A. Shute, a former staffer from the Hill and Knowlton PR firm, orchestrated the tearful media interview of Linda Lay, wife of embattled former Enron CEO Ken Lay. The Lays are trying to portray themselves as victims rather than villains in the company's financial collapse. According to PR pro Jeremy Garlington, however, putting the wife in front of cameras is a "flawed media strategy." It was a mistake, he says, to claim that the Lays are "on the verge of financial ruin ...

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, January 29 & 30, 2002
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations

Enron's Paid Pundits

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

As Congress debates campaign finance reform, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wonders if we also need "journalistic finance reform -- that is, what are corporations buying when they lard their payrolls with prominent media folks?" Media pundits took fat contracts on the side from Enron -- ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 for Paul Krugman of the New York Times,

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, January 29, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Ethics

Bad Mileage Is Good For You

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is lobbying again against federal standards requiring automakers to improve automobile mileage of their cars. They claim that Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards force automakers to build smaller, more dangerous vehicles. As we document in our Impropaganda Review section, CEI has been flogging this argument for years, using questionable evidence. And who are they to talk about safety, anyway?

No
Main Source: 
http://www.cei.org/gencon/003,02307.cfm
Topics: 
Corporations
Think Tanks
Tobacco

From Greenwash to Bluewash

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "greenwash" as "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image." Now a new term has emerged, "bluewash," which the New York Times describes as "allowing some of the largest and richest corporations to wrap themselves in the United Nations' blue flag without requiring them to do anything new." The highest-profile example of this, writes Kenny Bruno, is the "Global Compact," which asks business to adhere to nine principles derived from key UN agreements and is becoming a general framework for UN

No
Main Source: 
CorpWatch, January 24, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Public Relations

Dot Con

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

During the heady late 1990s, Wall Street investment firms and bankers deliberately hyped Internet startup companies with no prospect of financial success, bilking countless small investors out of their money. This PBS documentary explains how it all worked, from the "roadshows" used to line up initial capital to the strategy of launching a new company, watch its stock price spike, and selling before the inevitable downturn (known within the trade as "flipping").

No
Main Source: 
Frontline (PBS), January 24, 2002
Topics: 
Internet
Corporations
Democracy

Accountants Hire PR Help

Submitted by Laura Miller on

PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has hired Omnicom's Clark & Weinstock "as the Enron bankruptcy has 'put an unprecedented focus on the accounting profession and its self-regulatory system.'" PR Week reports AICPA has retained the Weiser Group in Chicago "to help in its effort to restore faith in the auditing and accounting system." Meanwhile, according to O'Dwyer's PR Daily, one of Anderson's PR flacks has taken issue with an National Public Radio

No
Main Source: 
PR Week, January 21, 2002; O'Dwyer's PR Daily, January 18 & January 24, 2002
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations

White House Enron Spin

Submitted by Anonymous on

When it comes to the Enron scandal, "White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has managed the spin duties expertly," writes William Saletan on Slate. By passing the buck, playing dumb, or dodging the issue, Fleischer uses classic spin tactics to evade the Enron-related questions of the White House press corps.

No
Main Source: 
Slate online magazine, January 23, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Public Relations
U.S. Government

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