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When Drug Industry Flacks Attack

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Following Dr. Steven Nissen's publication of a study warning that "GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks by 43% and death from cardiovascular events by possibly 64%," he was publicly pilloried. "More than one story from ostensibly different sources" derisively referred to him as "St Steven," the "Patron Saint of Drug Safety," and "Saint Steven the Pure," reports Evelyn Pringle. Among the attackers was FDA spokesman Douglas Arbesfeld.

No
Main Source: 
CounterPunch, August 15, 2007
Topics: 
Health
Media
Pharmaceuticals
Public Relations
Science
Think Tanks
U.S. Government

New Participatory Project: Following Rupert Murdoch's Money Trail

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Some of the major shareholders of the Dow Jones company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal, are agonizing over whether to accept a takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, News Corporation. With steady traffic to the Murdoch-related articles in SourceWatch, it would be good to include details of the donations he and his companies have made to U.S. politicians.

Yes
Main Source: 
Sourcewatch article on Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation
Topics: 
U.S. Congress
Democracy
Lobbying
Media
Politics

Terrorism Hype Backfires

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The detention and subsequent charging of an Indian-born doctor, Mohamed Haneef, under draconian anti-terrorism laws has turned into a PR nightmare for the Australian government. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged Haneef with providing support to a terrorist organization, claiming that he had provided a mobile phone SIM card to a relative who had it with him when he recently crashed his car into Glasgow airport terminal. The AFP subsequently conceded that the SIM card was with another relative hundreds of kilometers away at the time of the airport attack.

No
Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, July 23, 2007
Topics: 
Journalism
Terrorism
Democracy
Human Rights
International
Media
Propaganda

A Black Day for Yellow Journalism

Former media mogul Conrad Black has been convicted by a Chicago jury of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice and could face up to 35 years in prison for looting his former company, Hollinger International, of tens of millions of dollars.

Before his downfall, Black was a smaller-scale version of Fox-TV owner Rupert Murdoch, building a media empire that he used to inject his right-wing views into U.S., Canadian, British and Australian politics. He pumped money into the pockets of the neoconservative pundits who helped sell the war in Iraq and gave them prominent voice in his own newspapers.

Dealing With Rupert Murdoch

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Alastair Campbell, who was the chief media adviser for British Prime Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, recently released a book on his reign as a spin doctor. In The Blair Years, Campbell notes that in 1995 former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating offered Blair some advice on how to deal with Rupert Murdoch.

No
Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, July 10, 2007
Topics: 
Democracy
International
Media
Politics

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