Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"A California elections panel examining computerized voting machines has unanimously recommended that machines using touch-screen technology be banned in some California counties," reports W. David Gardner.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression chooses April 13, the anniversary of Jefferson's birth, to issue its annual "Jefferson Muzzles" award to call attention to "those who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr. Jefferson's admonition that freedom of speech 'cannot be limited without being lost.'" This year's awards included:
Submitted by Laura Miller on
One year after the staged toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square, the bloody violence in Iraq is reaching new peaks.
Submitted by John Stauber on
"The United States-led occupation in Iraq
has enlisted a British public relations firm to help
promote the establishment of democracy in the country.
The firm, Bell Pottinger, based in London, is creating
television and radio commercials that will explain to
Iraqis how and why the United States is handing over
sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government in June. The
campaign will begin next week on local and satellite
stations in Iraq. Bell Pottinger, a subsidiary of Chime Communications, has
Submitted by Laura Miller on
The Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has selected British PR firm Bell Pottinger Communications to promote the establishment of democracy, according to PR trade publication the Holmes Report.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
California legislators want to stop the use of all paperless electronic voting machines in the state, fearing the same type of fiasco that plagued Florida in the 2000 election. State Sens. Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate election committee, have written a letter to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, urging him to decertify all paperless touch-screen voting machines before the general election. The March 2 primary "was a test-flight of widespread use of these machines.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and PR giant Burson-Marsteller are launching "Help Ohio Vote," a state-wide, 18-month, $15.3 million PR and advertising campaign "educating Ohio voters about new [electronic] voting machines." The massive campaign includes focus groups, media tours, ads, direct mail, and an "embedded" media program.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Diebold Election Systems has launched a five-year, $1 million "outreach campaign" to educate Maryland residents about its voting machines. The campaign, which will include radio and TV commercials, a website, more than 1.5 million brochures, and voting demonstrations, begins just prior to Maryland's March 2 primary.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The UN is pushing for the arrest on war crimes charges of General Wiranto, Indonesia's former military leader and a strong candidate in July's presidential elections. Wiranto has "hired American campaign advisers and published an English translation of his memoirs" to "burnish his image internationally." Major U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Indonesia will hold its first-ever direct presidential elections in July 2004. Noting that Indonesia is "a thriving democracy where public opinion matters," a partner in the Jakarta-based PR firm Maverick writes in today's Jakarta Post that "the more forward-thinking" candidates "have already appointed their image gurus." Not every candidate will clean up well, though.
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