Chemical Industry Front Group Outed
Submitted by Bob Burton on
A freshly-minted front group, which proclaimed that it promoted "balanced chemical safety reform that protects public health, innovation, and economic growth,” has been outed.
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Public Relations
How Business Propaganda Hijacks Canadian Democracy
Submitted by John Stauber on
A book review in western Canada's Georgia Straight newspaper asks, "Do you ever wonder why so many of the Fraser Institute’s right-wing commentaries get into Canadian daily newspapers? Perhaps you’ve been disturbed by the spate of articles about the inevitability of Canada forming closer ties with the United States.
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Flooding Chile's Media with Pro-Dam Ads
Submitted by Bob Burton on
With opposition mounting to the proposed US$3.2 billion HidroAysen hydropower scheme in southern Chile’s Patagonia, the project proponents have launched a "multi-million dollar public relations campaign to sell their project to Chile." The HidroAysen project, which involves five major dams, is being proposed by a consortium of the Chilean utility ColbUn and the and Italian-owned electricity utility Endesa.
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Yet Another PR Ploy: The Un-Spokesperson
Submitted by John Stauber on
The Seattle Times' Jonathan Martin reports, "In response to a request to talk with [T-Mobile] CEO Robert Dotson and other executives this week, I got an email back from the PR firm Waggener Edstrom Worldwide that ended with a strange request.
Hi Jonathan, Thank you for your phone call this afternoon and your patience while I looked into your request. While we won't be able to provide you with an interview we are able to provide the following statement. ... Please note that if you plan to use this statement in your piece, I am not a T-Mobile spokesperson and to use my name would be inaccurate.
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The Lie Machine Killing Health Care Reform
Submitted by John Stauber on
"According to internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Conservatives for Patients' Rights had been working closely for weeks as a 'coalition partner' with three other right-wing groups in a plot to unleash irate mobs at town-hall meetings ... .
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CMD's First Golden Throne Award Presented to EDWARD YINGLING, Bank Lobbyist Extraordinaire
Today, the Real Economy Project of CMD is introducing a new award we are fondly calling our "Golden Throne Award." The Throne salutes the behind-the-scenes lobbyists and spinmeisters who have managed to maintain the status quo and hold off any meaningful reform of the financial services sector since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lync
P.S. to the Tea Party Express
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Just who is in the Tea Party movement? In the lead-up to the anti-health care reform, anti-Obama administration rally in Washington DC on September 12, the "Tea Party Express" bus tour held smaller, local rallies across the country.
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Wendell Potter: How Corporate PR Works to Kill Health Care Reform
September 14th I addressed a gathering at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC and delivered these remarks:
It is easy to think of efforts to influence lawmakers as the exclusive domain of K Street lobbyists. Much has been said and written about the millions of dollars the special interests are spending on lobbying activities and the hundreds of lobbyists who are at work as we speak trying to shape health care reform legislation. Very little by comparison has been written about the millions of dollars that special interests are spending on PR activities to accomplish the same goal and that are vital to successful lobbying efforts.
One of the reasons I left my job at CIGNA, where I headed corporate communications and was part of the Legal & Public Affairs division, was because I did not want to be involved in yet another PR and lobbying campaign to kill or gut reform. I finally came to question the ethics of what I had done and been a part of for nearly two decades to influence decision-making and bill writing on Capitol Hill.
TIME Features Wendell Potter, Obama Quotes Him
Submitted by John Stauber on
"Wendell Potter may be the ideal whistle-blower. The former head of corporate communications for health-insurance giant Cigna, Potter turned against his old colleagues in June to testify before a congressional committee about what he viewed as the health-insurance industry's 'duplicitous' behavior in the current health-reform debate. ...
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Burson-Marsteller's New PR Microtrend
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Mark Penn, the CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller, is embroiled in controversy yet again.
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