The Weekly Spin, May 3, 2006

THE WEEKLY SPIN, May 3, 2006

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Television Stations Respond... And It's Worse Than You Think
2. Network neutrality, telecom company cash and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)
3. Neil Young Clobbers the Thought Police
4. Welcome To the Launch of Congresspedia

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Wal-Mart's Changing PR
2. Chertoff Proposes Disaster Embedding
3. Lincoln Group Work In Iraq "Completely Inept"
4. Connecticut Cuts 'Ade at Schools
5. PR Exec: Fake TV News is Good for You!
6. Ketchum Lands Contract To Polish Russia's Image
7. RJR Tobacco's Push to Keep Smoke-Filled Rooms
8. Too Little of a Good Thing
9. The Flacks Are Coming, the Flacks Are Coming!
10. Radio Payola in NH - Politics as Usual?
11. White House Snow Job
12. Learning from, and Spinning, the Chernobyl Disaster

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== BLOG POSTINGS ==

1. TELEVISION STATIONS RESPOND... AND IT'S WORSE THAN YOU THINK
by Diane Farsetta

One news director says, "I have been instructed by corporate not to
talk to you."
Hours after the Center for Media and Democracy released our study
on television stations' widespread and undisclosed use of corporate
video news releases (VNRs), a major organization of broadcast news
executives issued its response.
"The Radio-Television News Directors Association strongly urges
station management to review and strengthen their policies requiring
complete disclosure of any outside material used in news
programming," read the statement. RTNDA went on to caution that
decisions involving "when and how to identify sources ... must
remain far removed from government involvement or supervision."
Unfortunately, RTNDA's statement conflates "sources" with broadcast
material funded by and produced for outside parties. It also
conveniently ignores that the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission, under its authority to regulate broadcasters' use of the
public airwaves, already has disclosure requirements (PDF) on the
books. But RTNDA's stance does point to an important, underlying
issue: how to ensure both news audiences' right to know "who seeks
to influence them," and the editorial freedom of newsrooms.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4762

2. NETWORK NEUTRALITY, TELECOM COMPANY CASH AND REP. BOBBY RUSH (D-ILL.)
by Conor Kenny

Is the Internet about to change from a free-spirited marketplace of
"may the best Web site win" to a top-down, corporate-controlled
glorified cable package? A diverse coalition of bloggers, academics,
citizens groups and non-profit organizations think we're in danger
of just that. The Save the Internet coalition (SourceWatch profile)
warns about the loss of "network neutrality":
Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the Internet's
First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that
prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding
which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them
the most. Your local library shouldn’t have to outbid Barnes &
Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on your
computer.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4764

3. NEIL YOUNG CLOBBERS THE THOUGHT POLICE
by John Stauber

I'm listening to Neil Young's new album, Living With War. It's not
my first time; I was lucky enough to be at a private listening last
week in California. But now, along with millions of others connected
to the Internet, I'm hearing it free of charge through my computer
speakers, courtesy of Mr. Young and his absolutely brilliant bunch
of guerrilla marketers and movement builders.
Peace groups including True Majority smartly have seized on the
moment to mobilize Young’s listeners. Never before has any album
moved so quickly from concept to completion to pre-release
controversy, to the ears of millions of listeners. Mr. Young knows
how to craft a message, and how to market it in a way that no one
has before. He's done it like a martial arts expert, utilizing the
venom and energy of his attackers who don't like this Canadian
citizen's urgent, compelling, pro-peace vision of the American
dream.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4758

4. WELCOME TO THE LAUNCH OF CONGRESSPEDIA
by Conor Kenny

Welcome to the debut of Congresspedia, the “citizen’s
encyclopedia on Congress.” Congresspedia is a bold new experiment
by the Center for Media and Democracy and the Sunlight Foundation in
distributed citizen journalism. It is based on the wiki model (think
Wikipedia) and is a subset of the Center’s SourceWatch wiki.
We are starting with 539 articles – one for every current
member of Congress, the non-voting delegates, and former Rep. Randy
“Duke” Cunningham. However, we hope that this is only the
foundation upon which Congresspedia contributors (like you!) will
build upon by not just adding to those profiles but also by creating
new articles on any subject related to Congress that falls within
the bounds of our policies and article guidelines.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4752

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==

1. WAL-MART'S CHANGING PR
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/04/26/business/02wmssmiley.txt
"Executives with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. kept stressing during the
company's recent media conference that the world's largest retailer
is always changing," reports Anita French. "Wal-Mart made much of
the revamping of its information Web site, walmartfacts.com, during
the conference." The revamp of the website, which the company set up
"to counter what the company said was false information circulated
about Wal-Mart," will allow visitors to more "quickly find
information about our company," explained a Wal-Mart spokesperson.
Last month, PR Week reported on a new Wal-Mart initiative, "to
pursue new-store construction in neglected urban areas" while
simultaneously trying to "curry favor with the small businesses that
will soon have Wal-Mart as a neighbor and competitor." Another
Wal-Mart spokesperson said the planned "host of community relations
measures targeting small businesses" will "help these small
businesses learn how to thrive with Wal-Mart in the neighborhood."
SOURCE: The Morning News (Arkansas), April 26, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4776

2. CHERTOFF PROPOSES DISASTER EMBEDDING
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328620.html?display=Breaking+News
"Reporters will be embedded with the government during natural
disasters, according to a plan outlined by Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff at the Radio-Television News Directors
Association convention," writes John Eggerton. Chertoff assured the
audience, "We're not going to be censoring information," since the
program wouldn't involve battleground situations. Eggerton notes
that during the crisis around Hurricane Katrina, "reporters seemed
to know more about what was happening on the ground than the
administration did." So, the new embed program might benefit
government officials more than reporters -- or affected communities.
SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable, April 27, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4775

3. LINCOLN GROUP WORK IN IRAQ "COMPLETELY INEPT"
http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0502lincoln.htm
O'Dwyers PR Daily reports that Bill Dixon and Laurie Adler, who
handled PR for the Lincoln Group which gained notoriety for using
Pentagon funds to plant news articles in Iraqi newspapers, have
jumped ship. Dixon only started with the company in January while
Adler served as the company's main spokesman. In the Columbia
Journalism Review Daniel Schulman reports that a U.S. army officer,
who helped select the company for contracts in Iraq, was scathing in
his assessment of their work. "They were sending guys over there
that had absolutely no knowledge of Iraqis whatsoever. ... It was a
scheme written up on a cocktail napkin in D.C. They were just
completely inept," the officer said.
SOURCE: O'Dwyers PR Daily (sub req'd), May 2, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4774

4. CONNECTICUT CUTS 'ADE AT SCHOOLS
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-soda0428.artapr28,0,7703359.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
Gatorade and Powerade, as well as soda and other sports drinks, will
be banned from Connecticut schools after a "feverish" double-team by
Coca-Cola and Pepsi failed to stop the state's House of
Representeatives from passing "the strongest school nutrition law in
the nation." A flier distributed by Coke's PR reps, Sullivan &
LeShane, attacked the bill, urging, "It is counterproductive to tell
an 18-year-old who can drive a car, fly a plane, enlist in the
military...and get an abortion that they can't have a soft drink."
But on May 3, 2006, Coke lowered its red flag, announcing with other
beverage companies a nationwide voluntary ban on school day soft
drinks, to be phased in by 2010. (The "ban," which goes farther than
earlier voluntary measures, would still allow the sale of sports
drinks, as well as all sodas after school hours.) While strong on
soft drinks, Connecticut's new law does not regulate snack foods.
Instead, the state has created a voluntary incentive for schools to
stock healthier snacks. Federal legislation is pending to require
healthier school snack foods nationally.
SOURCE: Hartford Courant, April 26, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4772

5. PR EXEC: FAKE TV NEWS IS GOOD FOR YOU!
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6329692.html?verticalid=311&industry=Editorials&industryid=1034
In a contributed column titled "Are Video News Releases All Bad?,"
Kevin E. Foley, the president of the Atlanta-based PR company KEF
Media Associates, criticized the Center for Media and Democracy's
(CMD) recent report on the widespread and undisclosed use of video
news releases (VNRs). Foley acknowledges that television stations
often use VNRs as a cheap source of "news" filler but defends their
use without disclosing who sponsored them. He argued, "CMD would
have us believe that some great social harm is being done if a VNR
isn’t attributed, but if the newscaster airs a story that holds
the viewer's attention and the viewer walks away informed or
entertained, who has been hurt?" The report documented an instance
where Ohio-based WYTV-33 broadcast an 80-second news feature on
MimyX, a prescription skin cream for eczema, where safety
information included in the VNR was entirely edited out of the
"story."
SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable, May 1, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4768

6. KETCHUM LANDS CONTRACT TO POLISH RUSSIA'S IMAGE
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/13bcae1e-d87c-11da-9715-0000779e2340.html
The Russian government has signed a multi-million dollar deal with
the Washington office of the PR company Ketchum and its
Brussels-based sibling, GPlus Europe. The Financial Times reports
that the contract is "to improve the presentation of Russia's
presidency of the Group of Eight leading nations." Last week, U.S.
Republican Senator from Arizona, John McCain, criticized the
decision in January by the Russian government controlled company,
Gazprom, to cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine. The deputy press
attaché to Mr Putin, Dmitry Peskov, told the Financial Times that
Russia's 12-month presidency stint of the G8 "didn't get off to a
good start on the communications front." "Perhaps if we had already
been working then with some kind of communications company things
would have been different," he said.
SOURCE: Financial Times, April 30, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4767

7. RJR TOBACCO'S PUSH TO KEEP SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1146300099124790.xml&coll=2
The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is supporting a bid by the Ohio
Licensed Beverage Association to amend the Ohio constitution to
exempt businesses such as bars, restaurants and bowling alleys from
smoking restrictions. The amendment would also override a number of
local ordinances banning indoor smoking. To gather 300,000
signatures to put the amendment on the ballot in November, the
business lobby is running web advertisements offering $1.50 for each
signature collected. "If people knew that R.J. Reynolds is funding
the push, I think they'd think twice about it," Ken Slenkovich, the
director of policy and planning for the Cuyahoga County Board of
Health, told The Plain Dealer.
SOURCE: The Plain Dealer, April 29, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4763

8. TOO LITTLE OF A GOOD THING
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Speaker_caught_ditching_hydrogen_for_SUV_0428.html
The Raw Story reports that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert just
couldn't wait to get back into his SUV after a photo op and short
ride in a hydrogen car. After expressing their outrage at
skyrocketing gas prices, Hastert and several congressional
colleagues left the Washington DC gas station to return to the Hill,
which was just blocks away. But instead of finishing the trip in the
hydrogen car or, dare we say, walking the rest of the way, Hastert
made a quick pit stop to hop into his SUV. The Associated Press,
which caught the Speaker mid-switch, reported that he was not the
only one to change vehicles, but did not name other names.
SOURCE: The Raw Story, April 28, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4761

9. THE FLACKS ARE COMING, THE FLACKS ARE COMING!
http://www.webershandwick.com/newsroom/newsrelease.cfm/contentid,14071.html
Weber Shandwick Worldwide, one of the world's largest PR firms, has
announced a significant expansion into Eastern and Central Europe.
It has opened new offices in Poland, Croatia, and Bosnia and
Herzegovina and added affiliate offices in Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
Shandwick's partner in these efforts is McCann WorldGroup, which is,
along with Shandwick, a subsidiary of the InterPublic Group. This is
in addition to their existing presence in Bulgaria, Hungary,
Macedonia, Russia, and Ukraine. "We have expanded our reach across
Europe to better serve our clients through increased collaboration
and the sharing of best practices," said Harris Diamond, chief
executive officer of Weber Shandwick. "For international clients,
this expansion offers a broader geographic footprint covering areas
where they see growth opportunities. And local clients in these
markets will now have access to one of the world's leading
communications networks."
SOURCE: Weber Shandwick Worldwide, April 21, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4759

10. RADIO PAYOLA IN NH - POLITICS AS USUAL?
http://www.nhpr.org/node/10626
"[New Hampshire] GOP Gubernatorial candidate Jim Coburn is facing an
uphill battle. He's a one-term state rep. trying to unseat a
Governor with high poll numbers and plenty of resources. That said,
Jim Coburn is not working alone. Since late march, the former
high-tech entrepreneur's campaign has been run by Meridian
Communications, the PR firm that ... is also assisting New York
Governor George Pataki as he explores a Presidential bid. But
Meridian's co-founder, former TV-news reporter Jack Heath, does more
than just advise candidates and companies on how to get good press.
He also gives them press on his daily radio talk show. ... The
Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber says such conduct
raises basic questions about the content of all of Heath's
broadcasts, calling it 'very dishonest and less than ethical.' "
After New Hampshire Public Radio broke this story, it was picked up
by the Associated Press and the Boston Globe.
SOURCE: New Hamphsire Public Radio, April 27, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4757

11. WHITE HOUSE SNOW JOB
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tony_Snow
Do you think it's easy flacking for an unpopular lame duck president
who has mired the nation in an unnecessary and brutal war that is
draining the treasury and has turned world opinion against the
United States? What PR guy could possibly be persuaded to take this
job? Tony Snow, former talk show host and commentator for Fox News.
SOURCE: SourceWatch article on Tony Snow, April 26, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4756

12. LEARNING FROM, AND SPINNING, THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-chernobyl-director.html
"Chernobyl has not taught anything to anyone," Viktor Bryukhanov,
the former director of the infamous nuclear power plant, told a
Russian magazine. Twenty years after the disaster, Bryukhanov said
plant employees had made mistakes, but "official investigations into
the cause of the disaster had been a whitewash designed to exonerate
the nuclear industry." Nature magazine noted that "arguments over
the death toll of Chernobyl are as politically charged as ever." In
addition to politics, "uncertainty about the health effects of low
doses of radiation" also complicates assessments. Death toll
estimates range from 4,000 to 100,000 people. In the U.S., the
Nuclear Energy Institute marked the Chernobyl anniversary by
unveiling a new pro-nuclear PR campaign, headed by Hill & Knowlton.
SOURCE: Reuters, April 25, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4755

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