== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Cracking the Pentagon Pundit Code
== BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST ==
1. Featured Participatory Project: Probing the Pentagon Pundit Documents
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. Ethical News Director Receives Award
2. Weekly Radio Spin: Deportation with a Heart
3. A Modest Proposal: Ban Breastfeeding, Coffee and Exercise
4. Polls, Damn Polls and Offshore Drilling
5. Lincoln Group to Convince Afghans Bombs Are Bad
6. Climate Change Skeptics Found Wrong but not Harmful
7. Help Yourself to Deportation
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== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. CRACKING THE PENTAGON PUNDIT CODE
by Diane Farsetta
As reporters and researchers know all too well, releasing
information isn't necessarily the same thing as releasing useful
information.
Case in point: the Pentagon's military analyst program. In
early 2002, the Defense Department began cultivating "key
influentials" -- retired military officers who are frequent media
commentators -- to help the Bush administration make the case for
invading Iraq. The program expanded over the years, briefing more
participants on a wider range of Bush administration talking points,
occasionally taking them overseas on the government's dime.
In April 2006, the group was used to counter criticism of
then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The apparent coordination
between the Pentagon and the pundits piqued the interest of New York
Times reporters. Two years later -- after wresting some 8,000 pages
of internal documents from the Defense Department -- the Times
exposed the Pentagon's covert attempts to shape public opinion
through its so-called "message force multipliers." A few weeks
later, the Defense Department posted the same documents publicly.
It wasn't the high-octane data dump it first appeared to be.
Sure, paging through the emails, slides and briefing papers is
interesting, and occasionally you come across something noteworthy.
But the documents are formatted in such a way that systematically
exploring them via keyword searches is impossible. A cynic (or
realist) might think the Pentagon was doing damage control by
putting the documents out in the open, while making it
near-impossible to find crucial needles in a very large,
chaotically-compiled haystack.
To read the rest of this item, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7645
== BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST ==
1. FEATURED PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: PROBING THE PENTAGON PUNDIT DOCUMENTS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7649
Remember the New York Times expose on the Pentagon's use of
retired military officers who frequently appear as "military
analysts" on television and radio news shows? The program was
launched in 2002 to help sell the Iraq war, but soon expanded to
other controversial issues. Most of the 8,000 pages of internal
Pentagon documents used to document the illegal propaganda program
haven't been analyzed or reported on. But now, thanks to the Center
for Media and Democracy, those documents are now text searchable!
Help us dig out the gems in the emails between Pentagon PR staffers,
talking points and briefing transcripts. How did the Pentagon use
the program to spin Guantanamo Bay or military operations in
Afghanistan? Are John McCain or John Murtha mentioned in the
Pentagon documents? What about Fox News or PBS? CMD has converted
the Pentagon documents so that you can search them by keyword, and
posted them on our SourceWatch site. Have a look -- some ideas to
help you get started are at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Investigating_the_Pentagon's_pundits
-- and post what you find on relevant SourceWatch articles. If this is your first time editing on
SourceWatch, you can go to www.SourceWatch.org for more information and helpful hints.
HAVE FUN AND THANKS FOR
YOUR HELP!
SOURCE: SourceWatch, August 12, 2008
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. ETHICAL NEWS DIRECTOR RECEIVES AWARD
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7647
As CMD previously reported, Eau Claire, Wisconsin news director
Glen Mabie quit his job in January. Instead of going along with a
deal that his station had struck with a local hospital to guarantee
coverage of medical issues featuring personnel from that hospital
and not others, Mabie left his position. The station later cancelled
the agreement. Mabie is now being recognized for his stance. He has
been selected to receive the Ethics in Journalism award from the
Society of Professional Journalists. Mabie said he was humbled to
receive the honor and that "Many of the people in that newsroom
deserve this honor just as much as I do. To see those people stand
up for those ethical guidelines was really neat." Mabie was
nominated by University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire professor emeritus
David Gordon, who said: "I believe that Mabie's willingness to draw
a line in the sand and to stand up for his ethical principles
regardless of the personal cost is a perfect fit for the criteria
set out for the SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award." Hopefully, the
award will help Mabie find a new job -- he has been unemployed since
leaving the station.
SOURCE: Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), August 4, 2008
2. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: DEPORTATION WITH A HEART
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7642
Listen to THIS WEEK'S EDITION of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the
Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind
the news. This week, we look at award-winning gutter journalism, an
icy approach to immigrants and an explosive new assignment for the
Lincoln Group. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," global warming
skeptics. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and
broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on
www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio
Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to
let us know. Thanks!
SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, August 8, 2008
3. A MODEST PROPOSAL: BAN BREASTFEEDING, COFFEE AND EXERCISE
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7640
William Saletan wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter to U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. In it, he
commends HHS's proposal to allow pharmacists and other health
workers to refuse to "facilitate any abortifacient chemical or
activity." Saletan writes, "I commend the language of the draft,
which would define abortion as 'any of the various procedures --
including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any
drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action -- that
results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero
between conception and natural birth, whether before or after
implantation.'" But he suggests that the proposal doesn't go far
enough. Why not add breastfeeding, which "like oral contraception
... alters a woman's hormonal balance, thereby suppressing
ovulation, fertilization, and, theoretically, implantation." He
adds, "As research uncovers additional causes of miscarriage or
preimplantation embryo loss, I look forward to further legislation
against caffeine consumption, exercise, and other abortifacient
activities among premenopausal women."
SOURCE: Slate.com, August 5, 2008
4. POLLS, DAMN POLLS AND OFFSHORE DRILLING
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7638
With polls showing increased public support for more U.S. offshore
oil drilling, John Wihbey cautions, "the framing" of poll questions
"is paramount and the media's interpretation crucial." For example,
when asked, "Do you prefer more drilling or more investment in
alternative energy?," most people choose the latter. But some polls
cited in support of increased drilling didn't offer alternatives;
one simply asked if respondents would support drilling to "attempt
to reduce the price of gasoline." While the trend is clear -- high
gas prices have increased support for drilling -- "it remains
unclear what mix of remedies the public actually wants." The
assumption that new drilling would reduce gas prices is also
questionable, meaning that some poll questions may be "built on
false premises, a pipe dream held out to a desperate and
cash-strapped public." Wall Street Journal blogger Keith Johnson
admitted that new drilling "is unlikely to have a near-term
'practical' impact on oil flow, though it could have a
'psychological' one on trading. 'Crude is priced in the futures
market, and future price expectations are what moves the market,'"
he explained.
SOURCE: The Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, August 7, 2008
5. LINCOLN GROUP TO CONVINCE AFGHANS BOMBS ARE BAD
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7637
Wondering what the Lincoln Group, the public relations firm that
planted U.S. military-written propaganda in Iraqi newspapers, is up
to now? It recently won a six month, $14.3 million U.S. Army
contract, to promote the Army's "Joint Improvised Explosive Device
Defeat Organization campaign" in Afghanistan. The campaign is
designed to separate the "bomb makers and users from the support of
the populace," and to encourage Afghans to "take responsibility for
their communities and report suspicious activities." The firm will
develop "a broad-based information campaign about IEDs using
billboards, radio messages, hour-long TV programming, video compact
discs, posters, flyers and newspaper ads." An Afghanistan-based
firm, CentenaGroup, received higher marks for its proposal, but
Lincoln Group won the contract because it bid in at a lower price.
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), August 7, 2008
6. CLIMATE CHANGE SKEPTICS FOUND WRONG BUT NOT HARMFUL
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7636
The British government's media regulator, Ofcom, issued a split
ruling on "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a film commissioned
and broadcast by Channel 4. Ofcom found that Channel 4 broke
impartiality guidelines and the film misrepresented statements by
former British government scientist David King, in a scene with
global warming skeptic Fred Singer. Ofcom also found that the film
unfairly treated the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and
MIT professor Carl Wunsch. However, Ofcom ruled that the program did
not "cause harm or offence" by "materially" misleading viewers.
Ironically, Ofcom said that its impartiality rules did not apply to
the majority of the film, because the rules require balance on
"matters of political or industrial controversy" and human-induced
climate change has "been almost universally accepted by governments
around the world." Ofcom received 265 complaints about the film,
including "a detailed 'group complaint' from scientists and
concerned individuals that ran to 176 pages and accused Channel 4 of
seriously misleading viewers."
SOURCE: The Guardian (UK), July 22, 2008
7. HELP YOURSELF TO DEPORTATION
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7634
Following a raid on a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa that's
been condemned as "inhumane" and "a Kafkaesque travesty of justice,"
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is trying a new
approach -- asking undocumented immigrants to deport themselves.
Until August 22, immigrants in five cities who "got caught and
ignored a judge's order to leave but avoided other trouble with the
law" can take part in ICE's new "Operation Scheduled Departure." An
ICE official said the program "allows them to leave on their own
terms." ICE may also help cover immigrants' transportation costs.
Many immigrant rights and reform advocates are skeptical. ICE calls
"Scheduled Departure" a "compassionately conceived enforcement
initiative." But the director of the Illinois Coalition for
Immigrant and Refugee Rights says the program was designed "to put a
happy face on what have been really brutal actions." He adds that
those targeted by the program "are desperately trying to stay in the
United States, because they have U.S.-born children ... they have
spouses, they have jobs, many of them have homes."
SOURCE: Associated Press, August 6, 2008
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The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
further information about media, political spin and propaganda. It
is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers.
PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and SourceWatch are
projects of the Center for Media & Democracy, a nonprofit
organization that offers investigative reporting on the public
relations industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and
misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of secretive,
little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that work to control
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suggestions about our publications to editor@prwatch.org.
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