Public Relations

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

American Legion and VFW Launch Pro-War Lobby & PR Campaigns

Submitted by John Stauber on

The Boston Globe reports "the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation's oldest and most influential veterans' organizations, have broken their relative silence on the merits of the Iraq war, joining some of the staunchest war supporters to lobby Congress and the public...

No
Main Source: 
Boston Globe, August 16, 2007
Topics: 
Right Wing
Iraq
Lobbying
Politics
Public Relations
Think Tanks
War / Peace

SourceWatch Tracks the Pro-War Lobby and Vets for Freedom

SourceWatch citizen journalist Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a dogged and prolific investigator of the pro-war lobby. AI began digging into the pro-war front group Vets for Freedom in June 2006. AI's research exposing the neoconservative agenda and Republican operatives behind VFF has been used by scores of journalists. Just do a Google search for "Vets for Freedom" and you'll find AI's work in our SourceWatch article right at the top of your returns, next to the VFF's own website.

Pro-war funding appears plentiful for VFF as it gears up to lobby Congress in September. Here's some of the latest from AI and the VFF article on SourceWatch:

Vets for Freedom and VoteVets Are "Valuable Public Relations Tools" for Politicians

Submitted by John Stauber on

The Associated Press examines two dueling partisan lobby groups composed of military veterans, "valuable public relations tools" for politicians in the debate over the war in Iraq. VoteVets "has spent about $850,000 this year on political ads. ... Its board of advisers includes ...

No
Main Source: 
Associated Press, August 14, 2007
Topics: 
Activism
Iraq
Front Groups
Lobbying
Politics
Public Relations

McDonald's Advised to Fight or Fess Up

Submitted by Bob Burton on

McDonald's Golden ArchesMcDonald's has been criticized by PR professionals for its response to the recent study by Stanford University School of Medicine and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which found that young children preferred foods associated with the company's packaging.

No
Main Source: 
Advertising Age, August 13, 2007
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Obesity
Marketing
Public Relations
Issue Management
Third Party Technique

Drive-Buy Journalism Infests China

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Jamil Anderlini and Mure Dickie report that when the banking company HSBC and the China Charity Foundation recently held a celebration in Beijing, the event organizers paid attending Chinese journalists 200 renminbi ($26.40) as "transport money." "It's awful. It's an embarrassment for Chinese journalism ... and it's corruption," said Ying Chan, director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong.

No
Main Source: 
Financial Times, August 5, 2007
Topics: 
Journalism
Democracy
Ethics
International
Public Relations

Pages

Subscribe to Public Relations