== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. Tobacco Companies Hid Information on Radioactive Polonium
2. Documents Reveal Intelligence "Fixing" Before Iraq War
3. Weekly Radio Spin: IndyMac Staffers Bank on PR
4. NCI: Tobacco Advertising, Smoking in Movies Contribute to Smoking Rates
5. In Iraq, the U.S. Military Needs to Tell Its Story Better
6. Have a Coke and a Greenwash
7. Merck Makes Science Sell
8. Anti-Union Groups Run Orwellian Ads
9. Yet Another Kind of Fake News
10. Former IndyMac Employees Go Swift Boating
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== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. TOBACCO COMPANIES HID INFORMATION ON RADIOACTIVE POLONIUM
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7694
Tobacco manufacturers discovered over 40 years ago that
radioactive polonium-210 exists in cigarettes and tobacco smoke, and
spent decades working to remove it, according to a new study
published in the American Journal of Public Health. The companies
tried to remove polonium -- a naturally-occurring, alpha
particle-emitting constituent of the fertilizers and soil used to
grow tobacco -- by creating special filters, washing the tobacco
leaf and genetically altering tobacco plants, but ultimately failed.
Instead of coming clean, the companies kept their internal research
on polonium and information about their unsuccessful efforts to
remove it secret. They didn't want to heighten public awareness of
polonium in cigarettes. Polonium-210 is the lethal radioactive
substance that was used to poison Russian dissident Alexander
Litvinenko in London in 2006.
SOURCE: The Independent (UK), August 24, 2008
2. DOCUMENTS REVEAL INTELLIGENCE "FIXING" BEFORE IRAQ WAR
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7693
Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Bush administration officials
exaggerated what U.S. intelligence agencies were reporting about
Iraqi weapons, according to Congressional investigations. But even
before that exaggeration, the intelligence reports had been skewed
by an administration eager for war, according to recently
declassified documents. For example, the CIA's white paper on
"Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Program" was supposedly based on
the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). But drafts of
the CIA paper existed in July 2002, "long before the NIE was even
requested by Congress." There are few differences between the early
draft and final paper, mostly made "to insert more charges" about
Iraqi weapons activities, "or to sharpen them. ... Little of the
text shows the kind of approach characteristic of intelligence
analysis." An early draft of a September 2002 British paper on Iraqi
weapons shows that its claims were also made "even more somber,"
suggesting that "the Bush administration and the Tony Blair
government began acting in concert to build support for an invasion
of Iraq two to three months earlier than previously understood."
U.S. intelligence agencies' use of information from the anti-Saddam
Hussein exile group Iraqi National Congress -- and their dismissal
of more reliable sources saying there were no Iraqi WMDs -- "most
likely flows directly from the prodding ... by high levels at the
Pentagon and White House," concludes the National Security Archive.
SOURCE: National Security Archive, August 22, 2008
3. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: INDYMAC STAFFERS BANK ON PR
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7692
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 sustainable greenhouse gas
emissions, the politics of banking and those wily union bosses. In
"Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," how John Rendon waves the U.S.
flag. 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 22, 2008
4. NCI: TOBACCO ADVERTISING, SMOKING IN MOVIES CONTRIBUTE TO SMOKING RATES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7689
Philip Morris and the tobacco industry in general have long
insisted that cigarette advertising has no influence whatsoever in
getting people to start smoking, claiming it only influences
existing adult smokers to change brands. But this week the National
Cancer Institute published an extensive, 684-page monograph that
evaluates current evidence regarding the power of the media to both
encourage and discourage tobacco use. NCI found that "The total
weight of evidence -- from multiple studies, conducted by
investigators from different disciplines, and using data from many
countries -- demonstrates a causal relationship between tobacco
advertising and promotion and increased tobacco use." NCI further
concluded that smoking in the movies causes more children to start
smoking, saying "the depiction of cigarette smoking in movies is
pervasive" and "the total weight of evidence ... indicates a causal
relationship between exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and
youth initiation."
SOURCE: National Cancer Institute, August 21, 2008
5. IN IRAQ, THE U.S. MILITARY NEEDS TO TELL ITS STORY BETTER
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7687
The U.S. military is in the process of hiring a public relations
firm to help it carry out "information operations" in Iraq, "to
counter insurgent misinformation tactics." An Army public affairs
officer said the goal of the work is to communicate "with people in
Iraq in as many ways [as] possible what we're trying to do to help
them, and what we're trying to do to prevent people from using these
ruthless roadside bombs that blow up people in streets, in schools,
and synagogues." The one-year contract may be extended for up to
three years and cost up to $300 million. "Public affairs executives
speaking on background said the contract has elicited a lot of
attention from Washington agencies because of its potential size,"
reports PR Week, "but that firms with previous experience working in
dangerous, high-security environments in Iraq -- such as Lincoln
Group, The Rendon Group and MPRI -- would have an inside track on
winning the bid."
SOURCE: PR Week, August 21, 2008
6. HAVE A COKE AND A GREENWASH
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7685
Coca-Cola wants you to think of it as green. That's why its public
relations firm, Manning, Selvage & Lee, promoted the premiere of the
soft drink company's film "Environmental Champions" at the Beijing
Olympics complex. The film profiles the "environmental achievements"
of seven participants in the Olympic Torch Relay, including "the
first American male to ski to the South Pole." Coke "plans to
leverage the ... film beyond the Olympics by making it available to
field communications teams throughout the world." Coke also
"presented each Olympian [with] a Coca-Cola t-shirt made with
blended cotton and PET [an easily-recycled material] plastic
bottles," and each Paralympian with "visors made with recycled PET."
Manning, Selvage & Lee's other "ECO Network" clients include such
green companies as General Motors, Chevron and Marathon Pipeline.
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), August 20, 2008
7. MERCK MAKES SCIENCE SELL
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7682
An analysis of Merck internal documents concluded that the
pharmaceutical company carried out a clinical study of Vioxx in
1999, "primarily to support a marketing campaign before the drug's
launch." Merck stated that the study was done "to test side effects
of the painkiller Vioxx," which was pulled from the market in 2004,
after being linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. The 1999
study compared Vioxx to the widely-used painkiller Naproxen, in
order "to accelerate uptake and advocacy for Vioxx," according to
the Merck documents, which were disclosed during litigation. Another
document -- a nomination of the 1999 study for a marketing award --
said the study was "designed and executed in the spirit of Merck
marketing principles." Carrying out clinical studies for marketing
purposes "would raise ethical and scientific questions, from whether
study participants were unknowingly -- and needlessly -- put in
harm's way, to whether a company's research is reliable." Earlier
analyses of Merck documents found evidence the company ghostwrote
academic articles and minimized patient deaths in Vioxx trials. The
authors of the Merck document analyses were paid consultants in
Vioxx lawsuits against Merck.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), August 19, 2008
8. ANTI-UNION GROUPS RUN ORWELLIAN ADS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7681
The Center for Union Facts, one of lobbyist Rick Berman's front
groups, is railing against the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation
that would "allow employees at a work place to unionize as soon as a
majority signs cards expressing support to join a union." Labor
rights advocates say the bill is needed, because of employer
intimidation and union-busting tactics. Berman's Center, as the
"Employee Freedom Action Committee," says the bill would allow
"union bosses" to "stand over workers' shoulders and use coercion."
It's launched a $30 million campaign, including radio, television,
print and online ads and "a substantial grassroots organizing
effort." The "Coalition for a Democratic Workplace," which is
comprised of "virtually hundreds of businesses, chambers of commerce
and trade associations," is also spending millions to defeat the
bill. Both groups are targeting Senators "in what they see as key
states," including Maine and New Hampshire. The bill has passed the
House and is before the Senate. "The folks behind the ad campaign
fear that if Sen. Barack Obama, an Employee Free Choice Act sponsor,
is elected president and power shifts to the Democrats in the
Senate, the bill will become law."
SOURCE: Seacoast Online (New Hampshire), August 17, 2008
9. YET ANOTHER KIND OF FAKE NEWS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7680
As more newspapers and other media outlets cut staff, public
relations and advertising make gains. The Minnesota-based firm
ARAnet provides "free print and Web content. ... More than 65 of the
nation's top 100 newspapers, including the Star Tribune, use" ARAnet
content, which "carries client messages." ARAnet president Scott
Severson says his firm provides "high-quality consumer content" that
"just happen[s] to be underwritten by our clients." ARAnet clients
pay $4,500 for content creation, tracking and reporting; media
outlets use it for free. One ARAnet article "offered to auto
sections" was sponsored by Lexus. Severson explains, "The article
was about safety systems and mentioned Lexus. The best advertising
doesn't look like advertising." It also doesn't carry clear
disclosure. ARAnet's "online articles typically are identified as
sponsored content," but its "print articles merely carry an 'ARA'
designation, similar to the 'AP' identifier that runs with
Associated Press articles." Other ARAnet clients include Home Depot,
Microsoft, Best Buy and UPS.
SOURCE: MinnPost.com, August 18, 2008
10. FORMER INDYMAC EMPLOYEES GO SWIFT BOATING
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7679
Former employees of the failed California IndyMac Bank have hired
the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's former public relations firm,
Creative Response Concepts (CRC), in an attempt to hold Senator
Charles Schumer responsible for the bank's collapse. Schumer, who
chairs Congress' Joint Economic Committee, went public with his
concerns about the bank on June 26. His negative assessments of
IndyMac led to a run on the bank, "with depositors taking out a net
$1.3 billion in the following two weeks." With help from CRC, 51
former IndyMac employees are accusing Schumer of "a malicious,
politically motivated act." CRC circulated to major media a letter
from the employees to California Attorney General Jerry Brown. "The
letter, signed mostly by former staffers at IndyMac's now-shuttered
mortgage operation, asks Brown to investigate Schumer and to
prosecute him under a state law making it a misdemeanor to spread
false and damaging statements or rumors about a bank," reports the
Los Angeles Times.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2008
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Center for Media and Democracy, August 27, 2008
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