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THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Moving Foreign Investment Forward:
A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan
2. Advertising on Trial: An Interview
with Dr. Inger Stole
== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Who's Saying What about
The Best War Ever?
2. Iraq "98 Percent Off-Limits" For Press Corps
3.
McDonald's Chews Fat with "Independent" Obesity Researchers
4. Incompetent
Liars? Here's $6.2 Million
5. Nuclear Industry Offers Nevada Hush Money
6.
Korea's Happy Fun Free Trade Love Corner
7. ABC Affliliate Sees No, Hears No
Dissent on "Path to 9/11"
8. Merck Unconvincingly Clears Execs of Vioxx
Wrongdoing
9. "America's Army" Boosts Army Recruiting
10. If We Stop Using
Highly Toxic Chemicals, the Terrorists Will Have Won
11. Will the Tiger
Switch Think Tanks?
12. Her Way or the Ugly Highway
13. White House
Increased Climate Change Spin, After Katrina
14. FCC Killed the Radio Study
(But Will Now Investigate)
15. Pounds and Pounds More Government PR in
Britain
16. Wanted: Activists to Help Get the Word Out about "The Best War
Ever"
== UPCOMING EVENTS ==
1. SAN FRANCISCO - The Best War Ever
2.
WASHINGTON, DC - The Best War Ever
3. BERKELEY, CA - The Best War Ever
4.
Local Democracy Convention - Madison,
WI
--------------------------------------------------------------------
==
BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. MOVING FOREIGN INVESTMENT FORWARD: A STRANGE PR PICK
FOR IRAQI KURDISTAN
by Diane Farsetta
Some weeks are slow on Move
America Forward's email list. Others are
bustling. September 15 to 21,
2006, was an example of the latter.
Six emails were sent, including two
from "The Other Iraq," at the
address "KDC@RMRWest.Net." The emails are noteworthy
because they
illustrate synergy between two clients of the
Republican-associated
Sacramento public relations firm Russo Marsh &
Rogers (RM&R): Move
America Forward, a conservative cheerleader for the
Bush
administration's "war on terror," and the Kurdistan Development
Corporation, an "investment holding and tradings company" formed in
partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq
(and
presumably the KDC of the above email address).
The first of the
"other Iraq" emails began, "We wanted to send
you this short note to let
you know that a delegation from Iraqi
Kurdistan is back in the United
States - continuing our campaign to
tell the American public about 'The
Other Iraq.'"
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5224
2.
ADVERTISING ON TRIAL: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. INGER STOLE
by Mandy
Gutmann
From the interviewer: "Imagine trying to compare the amount of
sugar
in two boxes of cereal, without having the nutrition facts. The
only
information available is that of the advertiser guaranteeing
there???s less sugar than in similar brands. The advertiser could be
lying,
but no authority exists to judge. This was the dilemma that
consumers found
themselves in during the early 1900s. The demand for
grade labeling and
product information escalated into a constant
battle between consumers and
advertisers. In Advertising on Trial:
Consumer Activism and Corporate
Public Relations in the 1930s,
author Inger Stole examines how the consumer
movement fought to
transform advertising. I had the opportunity to
interview Stole
about her recently published book and the business of
advertising.
The quotes attributed to her below are from our
conversation."
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5211
==
SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. WHO'S SAYING WHAT ABOUT THE BEST WAR EVER?
http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/new_books/0925best_war_ever.htm
Jon Gingerich wrote a lengthy and insightful review of Sheldon
Rampton and
John Stauber's recently released book, "The Best War
Ever" for
odwyerpr.com, the on-line companion to O'Dwyer's PR Report
Monthly
Magazine. Gingerich's piece begins: "Much like beauty,
victory is in the
eye of the beholder. This case is made clear in
'The Best War Ever,' a
scathing analysis of the Bush
Administration's misinformation campaign
leading up to and during
the war in Iraq." He goes on to highlight the
thorough research
presented in the book on topics like the role of the
Iraqi National
Congress and its disgraced leader Ahmed Chalabi in the
build-up to
war, Bush administration spending on PR and propaganda to sell
the
war and occupation to both Iraqis and Americans, and the role of
the
media in not bringing the deceptions and distortions to light.
Reviews and a selection of interviews in other publications can be
seen
here. There are also comments on the Amazon.com page for the
book -- we
hope that when you read "The Best War Ever" you will add
a comment of your
own!
SOURCE: odwyerpr.com, September 25, 2006 (sub req'd)
For more
information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5225
2.
IRAQ "98 PERCENT OFF-LIMITS" FOR PRESS CORPS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122985
"Everyone is kind of groping around in the dark," says New York
Times
senior correspondent Dexter Filkins on his return from
reporting in Iraq.
Despite employing 70 Iraqi staffers, the civil
war there (Filkins doesn't
hedge--"Yeah, sure" it's a civil war) has
meant the Times cannot safely
access stories. Its own five
correspondents primarily spend their time
pasting together reports
by the Iraqi staff, protected by a small army of
45 security guards,
armored cars, and belt-fed rooftop machine guns.
"Nobody trusts
anybody anymore. There's no law, and the worst people with
guns are
in charge." The Iraqi reporters know that if their association
with
the Times is revealed they may pay with their lives, Filkins told
the Committee to Protect Journalists at a September 14, 2006, talk
in
Manhattan where he is preparing to serve a U.S. fellowship. His
advice to
other reporters thinking about covering Iraq: "Don't go."
Filkins said that
the U.S. military is similarly hamstrung in
getting quality information:
soldiers rarely leave their bases and
don't interact much with average
Iraqis. Ninety-eight percent of
Iraq, including Baghdad, is too dangerous
for reporters to cover, he
said.
SOURCE: Editor and Publisher, September
16, 2006 (sub req'd)
For more information or to comment on this story,
visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5227
3.
MCDONALD'S CHEWS FAT WITH "INDEPENDENT" OBESITY RESEARCHERS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/us_nm/leisure_mcdonalds_scripps_dc
When previously spotted pitching in to help the cause of
"independent"
research involving its products, McDonald's Corp.
asked a Connecticut nun
to quickly issue an unfinished report about
farm workers in order to help
the fast food giant fight off a fair
wage campaign by migrant tomato
pickers. Now McDonald's has donated
$2 million to the Scripps Research
Institute of La Jolla,
California, which (like Sister Ruth Rosenbaum) says
it does
independent research, this time on the critical medical issue
of
child obesity. The Institute's press release headline announces,
"The Scripps Research Institute, McDonald's Align to Fight Childhood
Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes." The release describes McDonald's as
"serving
a variety of wholesome foods made from quality ingredients
to millions of
customers every day." It also states, "The
relationship unites Scripps ...
world-renowned scientists...with
McDonald's 50-year legacy of supporting
programs that promote
children's health and wellness." Bloggers at
CarbWire, a diet
industry website, call the move a "publicity stunt." Under
the
Institute's own philanthropy guidelines, McDonald's gift makes it
a
member of Scripps' "Council of 100" and enables the company to
"enjoy private sessions specifically designed for them
with....[r]esearch
scientists."
SOURCE: Reuters, September 13, 2006
For more information or
to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5223
4.
INCOMPETENT LIARS? HERE'S $6.2 MILLION
http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0926lincoln_iraq.htm
Lincoln Group, the PR firm that covertly placed U.S.
military-written
stories in Iraqi newspapers and has been called
"amateurish" by former
associates, has won a new two-year, $6.2
million Pentagon contract.
Additional requests from Washington DC
could increase the value of the
contract up to $20 million total.
The work includes establishing "a unit of
12-18 communicators to
support military PR efforts in Iraq and throughout
the Middle East
from media training to pitching stories and providing
content for
government-backed news sites." The Rendon Group previously
handled
similar work for the U.S.-led military force in Iraq. The
request
for proposals for the new contract "cited the emboldened
insurgency
bent on civil war as a key obstacle to the U.S. force's military
and
communications mission in Iraq." U.S. Senator Robert Menendez has
introduced an amendment to halt the PR blitz, according to
O'Dwyer's.
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 26, 2006
For
more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5222
5.
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY OFFERS NEVADA HUSH MONEY
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-25-Mon-2006/news/9821980.html
"We all knew it would come to this, didn't we?" a Las Vegas
Review-Journal
editorial asks, of a new offer by the Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) to pay
Nevada to accept nuclear waste at the
controversial Yucca Mountain storage
facility. NEI's offer is $25
million per year, which would double "once the
first waste shipment
arrives." After calling Yucca Mountain a "boondoggle,"
with "audit
after audit" revealing "glaring flaws in the scientific
models
created to demonstrate the project's long-term viability," the
newspaper slams NEI's offer as too low. "The standard for paying off
a
state's population was set by the Alaska Permanent Fund, which
collects
fees and taxes from oil and mineral exploration and
production and offers
qualifying residents an annual dividend," it
states. This year, Alaska
residents received more than $1,100 each;
NEI's offer translates to a
measly $10 per Nevada resident. In other
news, a new poll paid for by NEI
and conducted by a former NEI
employee found that "nearly seven of 10
Americans favor nuclear
energy and 68 percent support building a new
reactor at the existing
nuclear power plant closest to where they
live."
SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 25, 2006
For more
information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5221
6.
KOREA'S HAPPY FUN FREE TRADE LOVE CORNER
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/09/22/200609220018.asp
On September 1, the South Korean government established the
"Korea-U.S. FTA
[Free Trade Agreement] Love Corner" in the lobby of
Seoul's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, to "dispel public
misunderstandings of the
proposed free trade agreement between Korea
and the United States." While
"the response so far has been
lukewarm," according to the Korea Herald, a
ministry PR person
explained, "The name of the corner implies that everyone
is
welcome." The ministry is waging an uphill love-in, though;
according to the Korea Times, public opposition to the free trade
agreement
is increasing. One-half of Korean men surveyed in July
2006 opposed it and
75 percent were critical of "Seoul's negotiation
performance." In early
September, the South Korean government signed
a $660,000 contract with the
U.S. firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg,
to analyze U.S. law and increase
support for the agreement in
Congress and among the U.S. business
community, reported O'Dwyer's
PR Daily.
SOURCE: The Korea Herald,
September 22, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story,
visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5220
7.
ABC AFFLILIATE SEES NO, HEARS NO DISSENT ON "PATH TO 9/11"
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/09/12/local/doc4505fd563754a144553912.txt
If you were to ask the owner of Lincoln, Nebraska ABC affiliate
KLKN-TV
(which Journal-Star reporter Jeff Korbelik did) whether the
station had
received negative feedback about its airing of the
controversial "Path to
9/11", the answer was not only "no," but also
that the docudrama was
"compelling TV." Citadel Communications
president Ray Cole, who also sits
on ABC's governing board,
neglected to say that KLKN had cut off email
responses because, in
the words of the station's automated response: "No
storage space
available in mailbox for news8@klkntv.com." So viewers wrote to
the
Journal-Star with their criticisms of the station's decision to
run
the drama - or, like Maribeth Milner, sent PR Watch a copy of her
returned email, dated September 9, 2006. Viewer TedK wrote: "I also
sent an
email ... on Friday. It bounced back. ... Seems to me they
got a lot of
complaints. I guess Ray Cole feels he must lie to back
the ABC corporate
position." Two writers to the newspaper said they
sent critical emails
before KLKN's mailbox overflowed and even got
responses from a station
representative. No apology or correction
was provided by ABC's Cole,
suggesting that he had given the
Journal-Star not a fact-based interview
but what ABC might call a
"docudramaview."
SOURCE: The Journal-Star
(Lincoln, Nebraska), September 12, 2006
For more information or to comment on
this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5219
8.
MERCK UNCONVINCINGLY CLEARS EXECS OF VIOXX WRONGDOING
http://www.prweek.com/us/news/article/593721/Report-doesnt-clarify-Merck-situation/
Although the pharmaceutical company Merck spent $21 million on a
20-month
investigation led by a former U.S. district judge, the
report's conclusion
that "executives at Merck had not knowingly put
Vioxx patients in
cardiovascular danger" may not boost the
drugmaker's sagging reputation.
"Some critics say the report is not
credible because of Merck's board's
involvement" and point out that
Debevoise & Plimpton, the firm whose
lawyers carried out the study,
has a "pro-corporate" reputation. New York
Times reporter Alex
Berenson, who has covered the Vioxx deaths and legal
fallout, told
PR Week that Merck's report "reads like a defense brief; it
was paid
for by the company. I don't think it will change anyone's
attitude
one iota. It's clearly intended to impact the litigation." There
are
14,000 active lawsuits against Merck related to Vioxx. Merck media
relations director Ray Kerins said the company is "pleased" with the
report, but Merck's PR staff hasn't yet decided "if this thing is
going to
be used" in company communications.
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), September
21, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5217
9.
"AMERICA'S ARMY" BOOSTS ARMY RECRUITING
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0919/p01s04-usmi.html
"This summer, Matt and Doug Stanbro, two brothers from Chelsea,
Ala.,
traded in their game controllers for M-16 rifles," reports
Patrik Jonsson.
"They're two of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
American teenagers inspired
by a 'shoot'em-up' video game to join
the Army." The "America's Army" game,
first released in 1992, "is
proving a potent way to communicate military
values directly to the
messy bedrooms where teens hang out. ... In a recent
informal survey
of recruits at Fort Benning, Ga., which was conducted by
the Army's
video-game development team, about 60 percent of recruits
said
they've played 'America's Army' more than five times a week. Four
out of 100 said they'd joined the Army specifically because of the
game.
Nationwide, the game counts some 7.5 milion registered users."
While Army
officials say "a range of recruitment tweaks - including
easing up on the
tattoo policy and up to $40,000 signing bonuses -
have played a role" in
boosting 2006 recruitment numbers, "few other
ideas have been as effective
in galvanizing potential recruits as
'America's Army.'"
SOURCE:
Christian Science Monitor, September 19, 2006
For more information or to
comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5216
10.
IF WE STOP USING HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICALS, THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/washington/21chemical.html
"An analysis by the Department of Homeland Security found 272
chemical
plants nationwide at which an attack or accident could
affect at least
50,000 people and an additional 3,400 plants at
which more than 1,000
people were at risk," reports the New York
Times. Moreover, "the Bush
administration, the chemical industry,
Democrats, Republicans and
environmentalists" agree that "voluntary
measures put into place by the
industry after the 2001 terrorist
attacks are not enough." So why is there
a "fierce struggle" in
Congress over industry oversight language for the
Homeland Security
budget bill? Strong lobbying by the chemical industry,
which is
claiming "that Democrats and environmentalists are trying to
hijack
what had been an antiterrorism matter and use it to advance
their
own agenda," which they say includes reducing use of highly
toxic
chemicals. The Hill profiles lobbyists on chemical security
issues,
including from such industry mainstays as the American
Chemistry
Council and American Petroleum Institute.
SOURCE: New York
Times, September 21, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story,
visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5207
11.
WILL THE TIGER SWITCH THINK TANKS?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115878081072569175.html
Following sharp criticism from Britain's Royal Society, Exxon Mobil
says it
is reviewing which of the groups "that challenge the
scientific validity of
concerns about global warming" it will
continue to fund. Exxon gave at
least $6.8 million to nonprofit
groups in 2005, including the Competitive
Enterprise Institute,
which recently ran "television ads that argued that
carbon dioxide,
widely seen as the main global-warming gas, is helpful."
The Royal
Society, made up of Britain's leading scientists, took the
"unprecedented step" of writing to Exxon to demand the oil giant
stop
funding groups that have "misrepresented the science of climate
change by
outright denial of the evidence." The Society also
criticized Exxon's
"corporate citizenship reports," which claim that
"gaps in the scientific
basis" make it very difficult to link
climate change and human activity. In
the Guardian, George Monbiot
writes about the history of corporate climate
change denial, going
back to the PR firm APCO, Philip Morris, PR Watch
"usual suspect"
Steve Milloy and his front group, the Advancement of Sound
Science
Coalition.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September
21, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5206
12.
HER WAY OR THE UGLY HIGHWAY
http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/issues/1_1/dailydog_pr_biz_update/index.html
On September 5, 2006, President Bush nominated Mary Peters as
Secretary of
the Department of Transportation. PR firms should be
thrilled. During her
short tenure as head of the Federal Highway
Administration she made plans
to spend an average of $8 million for
the services of private PR firms,
including almost $3 million a year
to "advertise visually-appealing
highways and routes." Despite a
chorus of criticism, Peters is holding firm
to her belief that the
plan, which was written with PR as its base, is
critical to
"position the brand" and "develop a core identity." If Peters
is
confirmed as Transportation Secretary she will succeed Norman
Mineta, the final member of Bush's Cabinet who was a Clinton
appointee.
SOURCE: Bulldog Reporter's Daily 'Dog, September 21, 2006
For
more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5205
13.
WHITE HOUSE INCREASED CLIMATE CHANGE SPIN, AFTER KATRINA
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/09/19/noaa/
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Salon.com obtained "a
large
batch of emails" which show that, on climate change issues,
the Bush
administration was "controlling access to [government]
scientists and
vetting reporters," reports Paul D. Thacker. The
emails are from, to or
about employees of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and National Hurricane Center.
"After Hurricane Katrina, NOAA press
officers had to get clearance
from the Department of Commerce for
scientists to discuss global
warming and hurricanes with the press,"
Thacker reports. Commerce
"was happy to have a ... politically reliable
NOAA hurricane
researcher named Chris Landsea speak to the press. At the
time,
Landsea was stating publicly that global warming had little to
no
effect on hurricanes." Still, a Commerce communications official
sent emails stressing that Landsea must be "on message" and "on his
toes.
Since [redacted] went off the menu, I'm a little nervous on
this, but trust
he'll hold the course." Other emails suggest that
Commerce kept NOAA
scientist Tom Knutson, who "did not toe the line
on the administration's
view of global warming and hurricanes," from
appearing on CNBC.
SOURCE:
Salon.com, September 19, 2006
For more information or to comment on this
story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5201
14.
FCC KILLED THE RADIO STUDY (BUT WILL NOW INVESTIGATE)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6373358.html?display=Breaking+News
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Kevin Martin has
launched investigations into two reports on media ownership by FCC
staff
that were never released. One study found that local ownership
of TV
stations correlates with more news coverage. The other study
found that
"while there was a 5.9 percent increase in the number of
radio stations in
the country between March 1996 and March 2003,
there was a 35 percent
decrease in the number of radio owners,"
according to Senator Barbara
Boxer, who recently made public copies
of both studies. "I, too, am
concerned about what happened to these
two draft reports," Martin wrote
Boxer. Martin launched his own
investigation, asked the FCC's Inspector
General to conduct a
separate inquiry, and promised to include the studies
"as part of
the open localism and media ownership proceedings"
addressing
whether the agency should allow further consolidation of
media
ownership.
SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable, September 19,
2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5199
15.
POUNDS AND POUNDS MORE GOVERNMENT PR IN BRITAIN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/30/nspin30.xml
"Spending on [British] Government spin has trebled under Labour,"
reports
Graeme Wilson, "and taxpayers are now supporting an army of
more than 3,200
press officers." Moreover, "the amount being spent
on Government
advertising, marketing and public relations has risen
three-fold since"
Tony Blair became prime minister, to ??322 million
last year. "Critics have
expressed concern that Government spending
on advertisements and public
relations tends to peak in election
years, prompting suspicions that Labour
is using public money to
sell its key policies to voters." Britain's
Central Office of
Information defended the spending, the details of which
were
released by the Conservatives, by saying the Labour government is
"radical and reforming" and must "explain its policies, decisions
and
actions" and "inform members of the public about their rights
and
liabilities."
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK), August 30, 2006
For more information
or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5202
16.
WANTED: ACTIVISTS TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT "THE BEST WAR EVER"
http://thebestwarever.com
CMD's
dynamic duo of Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber have written a
new book,
"The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies and the Mess in
Iraq." It is now in
stores and available through Internet
booksellers. "The Best War Ever" is a
must-read for anyone who wants
to effectively counter pro-war arguments and
support the growing
peace movement.
Rampton and Stauber are
available for print, radio, and
television interviews, and we need your
help! You can help us
identify local media outlets that should be covering
this book and
the issues it brings to light. Please send us the name of the
media
outlet, name of the program if applicable, the contact person,
and
how to reach them. And please also tell us if you would be willing
to help us pitch it to them and the best way for us to contact you.
Send
your information to editorATprwatch.org (please replace AT with
@)
With your help, we can make "The Best War Ever" the most
talked-about book this Fall. And don't forget to send your friends
to www.thebestwarever.com so that they can
watch our four-minute
video and sign the Voters for Peace
pledge.
SOURCE: The Best War Ever
For more information or to comment on
this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5196
==
UPCOMING EVENTS ==
1. SAN FRANCISCO - THE BEST WAR EVER
Date:
09/27/2006 - 13:30 to 09/27/2006 - 15:00
Co-author John Stauber speaking at
Stacey's books.
Location: Stacey's Bookstore, San
Francisco, CA
URL: www.staceys.com/sanfranciscoevents.html
For
the further information, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5019
2.
WASHINGTON, DC - THE BEST WAR EVER
Date: 09/27/2006 - 17:30 to 09/27/2006 -
19:00
Co-author Sheldon Rampton speaks at Borders
Location:
Borders Bookstore, Washington, DC
URL: www.bordersstores.com/stores/store_pg.jsp?storeID=50
For
the further information, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5021
3.
BERKELEY, CA - THE BEST WAR EVER
Date: 09/27/2006 - 20:00 to 09/27/2006 -
22:00
Co-author John Stauber speaking at Cody's Books
Location: Cody's Books, Berkeley, CA
URL: www.codysbooks.com/
For the further
information, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5020
4.
LOCAL DEMOCRACY CONVENTION - MADISON, WI
Date: 09/28/2006 - 17:00 to
10/01/2006 - 15:30
Gather with community organizers and pro-democracy
activists in
beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, to share and learn from
important
democratic successes. Network with others working on common
issues.
Strategize together about how to build the democracymovement in
this
country, from the grassroots, up.
The Local Democracy
Convention will feature some of the most
cutting-edge local democracy
organizing going on in the US and
around the world. Convention participants
will have opportunity to
attend plenaries, panels, skills-building
workshops, strategy
sessions, and a party or two.
Location:
Madison, WI
Organizer: Liberty Tree Foundation for the
Democratic
Revolution
URL: http://www.localdemocracy.org/
For
the further information, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5185
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