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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Let the Campaign Begin: A Rundown of Potential 2008 Presidential Candidates
2. Old Scandals Never Die:  The Troubles of Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.)
3. Falsies on Parade: The Worst Spinners of 2006
4. Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) in Critical Condition; Senate Majority Potentially at Stake
5. Election 2006: Democrats Extend Their Majority with Victory in Texas-23

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Sen. Harkin Hearkens: Junk Food Marketing "Out of Control"
2. Heard Any Fake News Lately?
3. White House Accused of Limiting Debate on Iran
4. How to Get Ahead in Drug Marketing
5. Fake News Increasingly Posted Online
6. Nuclear Industry Ads Challenged as Misleading
7. Saving the Internet
8. Trans Fat Spin Doctors Chart Legislative Risks
9. Glaring Product Placement Falls to New Low in New Movie "Bobby"
10. A Cause (-Related Marketing) for Joy?
11. With Only 23 Months Left, Undeclared Candidates Are Positioning
12. Playing High-Stakes Media Games in China
13. Drug-Addled Agency Failing on Oversight
14. A Letter Writer's Imagination
15. Taco Bell Seeks PR Antidote to E. Coli Cases

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== BLOG POSTINGS ==

1. LET THE CAMPAIGN BEGIN: A RUNDOWN OF POTENTIAL 2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
by Elliott Fullmer
  Guest blogger: Tim Malacarne
       With the 2006 midterm elections just a month behind us, many
  political observers have already turned their attention to the 2008
  presidential election. For the first time since 1952, neither the
  incumbent president or vice-president will be seeking his party's
  nomination for the presidency. With such an open field, many
  politicians on both sides of the spectrum are considering bids.
  However, rather than run down the same list of likely candidates
  that everyone else on the web is doing, Congresspedia is going to be
  keeping track of which definite steps members of Congress and other
  candidates have taken to run for president. We'll be updating our
  page on the 2008 presidential election, but here's the current
  breakdown:
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5556

2. OLD SCANDALS NEVER DIE:  THE TROUBLES OF REP. ALCEE HASTINGS (D-FLA.)
by Elliott Fullmer
  Three weeks ago, House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
  announced that neither Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) nor Rep. Alcee
  Hastings (D-Fla.) would be the chairman of the House Intelligence
  Committee in the 110th Congress. The elephant in the room during the
  weeks of intense speculation before the announcement was Hastings'
  controversial past.
       To properly address the controversy surrounding Hastings, we
  must go all the way back to 1981; the year Jimmy Carter left the
  White House and Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to the Supreme
  Court. In that year, Hastings, serving as a federal judge in the
  Southern District of Florida (he was first appointed in 1979), was
  indicted for soliciting a bribe from two defendants convicted of
  robbery in his court. Specifically, the alleged briber promised
  Hastings $150,000 if he kept the defendants out of prison and
  returned to them the funds they stole. The prosecution's key piece
  of evidence was a transcript from a phone conversation (obtained
  through a wiretap) between Hastings and his alleged co-conspirator,
  William Borders. Hastings is heard saying:
       "I've drafted all those ah, ah, letters, ah, for him, and
  everything's okay. The only thing I was concerned with was, did you
  hear if, ah, hear from him after we talked?"
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5526

3. FALSIES ON PARADE: THE WORST SPINNERS OF 2006
by Sheldon Rampton
  Here at the Center for Media and Democracy, we've made our year-end
  list, and our readers have checked it 1,204 times. That can only
  mean one thing -- it's time to announce the winners of the coveted
  2006 Falsies Awards!
       The Falsies are our way of recognizing the most heinous
  polluters of the information environment over the past year. We are
  pleased to offer each Falsies winner a prize that truly reflects
  their contributions to the public debate: a fake identity kit,
  a one-way ticket to Palookaville, and a free subscription to
  the email service that keeps sending us offers for herbal Viagra and
  business opportunities involving former Nigerian dictators. Falsies
  winners may collect their prizes by personally visiting our office
  in Madison, Wisconsin, on any Tuesday between 11:03 and 11:07 a.m.
  and filling out our 75-page short form.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5522

4. SEN. TIM JOHNSON (D-S.D.) IN CRITICAL CONDITION; SENATE MAJORITY POTENTIALLY AT STAKE
by Elliott Fullmer
  Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) is recovering from surgery at George
  Washington University Hospital to stop bleeding in his brain caused
  by an arteriovenous malformation, a condition which causes arteries
  and veins to grow abnormally large. Johnson's condition was
  described as "critical" by hospital officials early this morning.
  Around 9:30 a.m., an attending physician described the surgery as
  "successful" and stated that Johnson was "recovering without
  complication." He added, however, that it was "premature to
  determine whether further surgery will be required or to assess any
  long term prognosis." He was first hospitalized late yesterday
  morning after suffering from stroke-like symptoms on Capitol Hill.
  Johnson, 59, is a two-term senator whose current term expires in two
  years.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5547

5. ELECTION 2006: DEMOCRATS EXTEND THEIR MAJORITY WITH VICTORY IN TEXAS-23
by Elliott Fullmer
  In a runoff election held yesterday in Texas's 23rd District, former
  Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriguez defeated incumbent Rep. Henry Bonilla
  (R-Texas), 55%-45%. With Rodriguez's win, the Democrats now stand to
  hold a 233-202 advantage when the 110th Congress convenes next
  month.
       In June, the Supreme Court ruled that a 2003 reconfiguration of
  the 23rd District (orchestrated by former Rep. Tom DeLay)
  unconstitutionally violated the voting rights of Latinos. The ruling
  threw out the results from the primary, which had already occurred,
  and opened up the November 7th election to all interested
  candidates. Because Bonilla narrowly missed the required 50% for
  victory on that day, a runoff election was ordered between Bonilla
  and Rodriguez, who finished second. With his victory in the runoff,
  Rodriguez will now return to Congress, where he previously served
  from 1997 to 2005 in Texas's 28th District.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5544

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==

1. SEN. HARKIN HEARKENS: JUNK FOOD MARKETING "OUT OF CONTROL"
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/20/KIDSADS.TMP
  The new Congress is likely to put new and stronger emphasis on
  limiting junk food marketing, say aides to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin,
  D-Iowa. Harkin becomes chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition
  and Forestry Committee in 2007. His aides report that food marketing
  to children "will be one of our top tier agenda items." In recent
  years, Harkin futilely has sought to push through legislation
  toughening Federal Trade Commission authority to regulate junk food
  marketing. Thirty years ago, attempts to limit ads to kids based
  upon concerns about tooth decay failed. Since then, obesity has
  become a high profile issue, with the rate of overweight children
  more than doubling. A coalition of food makers that controls about
  two-thirds of food and drink ads to children under 12 has announced
  voluntary advertising guidelines, but "half of the ads [are] still
  selling junk food," says Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director of
  the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5567

2. HEARD ANY FAKE NEWS LATELY?
www.prweek.com/us/features/article/609306/
  PR Week's "PR Toolbox" column has some helpful hints for placing
  audio news releases (ANRs), the radio cousin of video news releases
  (VNRs). "The use of guaranteed airings has become an attractive
  option for clients," says Christopher Sweet of VNR-1 Communications.
  With "guaranteed airings," Sweet explains, "spot time is purchased,
  but the ANR airs in its entirety during a prime-time news segment.
  The result is an airing which is sufficiently embedded in news
  programming and garners all the potential audience numbers the
  network of choice has to offer." Sweet suggests that interested
  companies hire "broadcast PR vendors with strong radio-network
  relationships" to find a "guaranteed airings system that suits your
  concept and budget." The column does not mention how to ensure
  listeners' right to know that such segments are sponsored PR
  material.
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), December 12, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5566

3. WHITE HOUSE ACCUSED OF LIMITING DEBATE ON IRAN
www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-censor19dec19,1,5975603.story
  Former CIA analyst and National Security Council official Flynt
  Leverett has accused the White House of trying "to silence his
  criticism of Middle East policies by ordering the CIA to censor an
  op-ed column he wrote." Leverett said the CIA's attempt to remove
  already-public information about prior U.S. contacts with Iran from
  his op-ed is intended "to silence an established critic of the
  administration's foreign policy incompetence at a moment when the
  White House is working hard to fend off political pressure to take a
  different approach." A CIA spokesman said the agency's review of the
  op-ed is ongoing, and "more often than not the issues are worked
  out." An anonymous White House official dismissed Leverett's claims,
  saying, "There was nothing political here." Leverett's op-ed faults
  the administration for not taking Tehran up on a 2003 offer to
  "settle several disputes between the two countries," and predicts
  that "any deal that Washington made now would be on less favorable
  terms, because Iran had gained strength in the region and the United
  States was tied down in Iraq."
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5565

4. HOW TO GET AHEAD IN DRUG MARKETING
www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/business/18drug.html
  According to internal marketing documents, "Eli Lilly encouraged
  primary care physicians to use Zyprexa, a powerful drug for
  schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in patients who did not have
  either condition." Under U.S. law, companies can't promote
  "prescription drugs for conditions for which they have not been
  approved ... although doctors can prescribe drugs to any patient
  they wish." Yet documents leaked to the New York Times describe "a
  multiyear promotional campaign" called "Viva Zyprexa," in which
  "Lilly told its sales representatives to suggest that doctors
  prescribe Zyprexa to older patients with symptoms of dementia." One
  document states "dementia should be first message" for primary care
  doctors, since they "do not treat bipolar" or schizophrenia, but "do
  treat dementia." Three months after its launch, the Zyprexa campaign
  "led to 49,000 new prescriptions. ... In 2002, the company changed
  the name of the primary care campaign to 'Zyprexa Limitless' and
  began to focus on people with mild dipolar disorder who had
  previously been diagnosed as depressed -- even though Zyprexa has
  been approved only for the treatment of mania in bipolar disorder,
  not depression."
SOURCE: New York Times, December 18, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5564

5. FAKE NEWS INCREASINGLY POSTED ONLINE
www.prweek.com/us/search/article/609305/Inside-videos-second-home/
  Video news releases (VNRs) aren't just for television anymore. "Hurt
  by public criticism of VNRs, possible Federal Communications
  Commission oversight, and a shrunken news hole," broadcast PR firms
  "are looking for ways to survive -- and making the Internet a bigger
  part of their offerings could be the answer," writes PR Week. "We
  have to utilize different tools to reach consumers on multiple
  platforms," explained MultiVu's Beverley Yehuda. "Podcasting is
  becoming perhaps a greater-use element of [VNRs] than broadcasting,"
  according to Jack Trammell of VNR-1 Communications. "Broadcast is
  about reaching a massive audience," while websites allow "meaningful
  interactions" with thousands of people, explained Medialink
  Worldwide's Larry Thomas. VNRs and B-roll videos are being posted to
  video-sharing sites like YouTube, company websites, and news
  outlets' websites. "There is more usage of video by news
  organizations than ever before, whether broadcast or online," said
  The NewsMarket's Shoba Purushothaman, adding that "newspaper Web
  sites are hungry for video content."
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), December 18, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5563

6. NUCLEAR INDUSTRY ADS CHALLENGED AS MISLEADING
cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2006/12/18/pf-2859919.html
  The Canadian Nuclear Association's $1.7 million ad campaign touting
  nuclear power as "clean, reliable and affordable" is the target of a
  false-advertising complaint filed by a coalition of environmental,
  health and church groups. "Our concern is that the nuclear
  industry's advertising budget and approach distorts objective
  decisions ... about the future of [Canada's] electricity system,"
  explained Julia Langer of WWF-Canada. The formal complaint, filed
  with Canada's Competition Bureau, says that presenting nuclear power
  as "clean" is misleading, given hazardous byproducts "from the
  mining of uranium fuel" and the radioactive waste generated by
  nuclear reactors, which "remains dangerous for thousands of years."
  Dennis Bueckert reports, "Canada still lacks a plan for permanent
  disposal of nuclear waste although the problem has been under study
  for many years." The Competition Bureau "receives 40,000 complaints
  a year," and does not investigate every one.
SOURCE: CNEWS (Canada), December 18, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5562

7. SAVING THE INTERNET
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt0XUocViE
  The Save the Internet Coalition has released a new video explaining
  the issues at stake in the net neutrality debate. CMD's own
  recently-released Falsies Awards gave the telecom industry a Bronze
  Falsie for its deceptive use of more than a dozen industry-funded
  front groups to oppose net neutrality.
SOURCE: Save the Internet Coalition
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5561

8. TRANS FAT SPIN DOCTORS CHART LEGISLATIVE RISKS
www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3200
  The spin-driven restaurant and beverage industry front group, the
  Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), has created a grass roots
  compilation of city, county and state efforts to ban added trans
  fats in restaurant food. From Boston's Health Commissioner to
  Cleveland's City Council to Washington State's Board of Health,
  various government agencies nationwide are sponsoring ordinances,
  regulations and laws to forbid partially hydrogenated oils. "We know
  that trans fat consumption leads to serious health problems and we
  believe that it's government's role...to do what we can to encourage
  people to consume healthy food," CCF's "Daily Headlines" quotes
  Boston Public Health Commission executive director John Auerbach.
  CCF also notes budding Chicago action and quotes Alderman Edward
  Burke--once famous for stalling progressive ordinance proposals
  under the late Mayor Harold Washington--calling trans fats "cruelty
  to human beings." CCF calls New York City's landmark December 2006
  ban "outrageous" and derides all the anti-trans fat lawmakers as
  "having nothing better to do."
SOURCE: Center for Consumer Freedom, December 15, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5554

9. GLARING PRODUCT PLACEMENT FALLS TO NEW LOW IN NEW MOVIE "BOBBY"

  A full-page ad in Variety magazine (the trade magazine of the
  entertainment industry) calls attention to the odd, front-and-center
  placement of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in the movie "Bobby," a
  fictionalized account of the 1968 assassination of U.S. Senator
  Robert F. Kennedy. At a time when cigarette brand identification in
  movies is finally getting rarer, the Marlboros are displayed
  prominently in the hand of an actress in a long, 30-second,
  two-angle, center-screen shot. The placement is even weirder
  considering that Bobby Kennedy's leadership helped finally push
  cigarette ads off the airwaves for good over 35 years ago.
  Real-world smoking rates have declined tremendously in the last 40
  years, but smoking in the movies has mysteriously skyrocketed back
  to levels not seen since the 1950s, when smoking was considered
  alluring. Nothing happens by accident in the production of a
  high-dollar motion picture, which leads us to believe we smell the
  stench of product placement.
SOURCE: Variety Magazine, Monday, December 18, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5557

10. A CAUSE (-RELATED MARKETING) FOR JOY?
www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-watson/consumer-philanthropy-no_b_36261.html
  "Large American nonprofits spend at least $7.6 billion per year on
  marketing and public relations," according to a consulting firm's
  analysis of U.S. tax data. "$7.6 billion annually in spending for
  advertising, communications, public relations and branding ... is
  not an insignificant business sector," writes Tom Watson. "Total
  spending on public relations in the U.S. reached some $3.7 billion
  last year. ... So while corporations are increasingly tying their
  brands to nonprofit causes, the nonprofits themselves are -- in a
  way -- increasingly competing with corporations for consumer
  attention, and consumer dollars. Clearly, causes sell. ... According
  to projects sponsorship consultancy IEG, Inc., cause-marketing
  spending will rise 20.5% this year to $1.34 billion -- that means
  cause-marketing sponsorships are now outpacing sports sponsorships."
  While Watson sees this as good news for both nonprofits and
  marketers, Huffington Post readers seem less enthusiastic. "Couldn't
  that money be used to directly serve people?" one commenter asks.
  "In the end, the corporate-allied nonprofits wear out their
  welcome," warns another.
SOURCE: The Huffington Post, December 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5553

11. WITH ONLY 23 MONTHS LEFT, UNDECLARED CANDIDATES ARE POSITIONING
hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121306/overture.html
  The 2008 U.S. presidential race is already taking shape. Sen.
  Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani "are lining up on opposite
  sides of their home state's debate over a controversial nuclear
  power plant," reports The Hill. Giuliani, "whose security firm works
  for the plant's owners," supports the Indian Point plant's
  re-licensing bid. Clinton has called for "an independent safety
  assessment," while "three House Democrats and Gov.-elect Eliot
  Spitzer (D-N.Y.) have called for Indian Point's closure," due to
  radioactive leaks and the 9/11 Commission's finding that "al-Qaeda
  members considered hitting Indian Point on their way to the World
  Trade Center." But what about campaign advertising? Sen. John McCain
  "will likely be lining up with Mark McKinnon, who headed the Bush
  Maverick Media ad team," reports Advertising Age. Gov. Mitt Romney
  will turn to Alex Castellanos of National Media, Inc., and Sen. Sam
  Brownback will use Wilson Grand Communications. Clinton "looks to be
  aligning with Mandy Grunwald," while Sen. Barack Obama "is expected
  to go with David Axelrod's AKP Media & Message," and Sen. Joe Biden
  will likely tap Joe Slade White.
SOURCE: The Hill, December 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5552

12. PLAYING HIGH-STAKES MEDIA GAMES IN CHINA
online.wsj.com/article/SB116613117276750595.html
  As the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approach, "the Chinese
  government knows cameras and notebooks are just as likely to record
  angry farmers protesting, practitioners of the banned Falun Gong
  discipline clashing with police, or Hollywood stars campaigning for
  Tibet's independence -- if reporters have the access." While China
  has 31 journalists in jail -- more than any other country -- the
  government has "pledged to temporarily relax limits on foreign
  journalists" reporting on the Olympics. (China has declined to
  extend the new freedoms to domestic journalists.) For a gentler
  approach to media control, the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee
  has put the PR firm Hill & Knowlton on retainer, while "Ogilvy
  Public Relations Worldwide has been conducting training sessions for
  local governments." "I think it is a part of the process of reform
  for them," said the president of Ogilvy's China office. Sun Weide,
  the Beijing Olympics Committee's "message man" who "works
  extensively with Hill & Knowlton," stressed, "The Olympic charter
  says very clearly that the Games are about sports, not politics."
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), December 15, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5551

13. DRUG-ADDLED AGENCY FAILING ON OVERSIGHT
adage.com/article?article_id=113819
  The U.S. Government Accountability Office "released a scathing
  report on the way the Food and Drug Administration handles
  direct-to-consumer prescription-drug advertising." The FDA "has just
  six reviewers on staff" to "screen, review and track the 10,000
  pieces of advertising generated by drug makers each year in what has
  become a $4.5 billion-a-year industry." The FDA's response time for
  problematic drug ads has ballooned, from an average of two weeks in
  the years 1997 through 2001, to four months in 2002 to 2005, to
  eight months in 2004 and 2005. Senator Herb Kohl, one of three
  legislators who requested the GAO report, commented, "We need an FDA
  capable of reviewing DTC ads and taking swift action when
  necessary." For a rebuttal, Advertising Age quoted the head of the
  Coalition for Healthcare Communication, who said, "Better government
  oversight doesn't necessarily mean spending more money and adding
  more staff." However, AdAge neglected to point out that the
  "coalition" was formed by advertisers and publishing companies who
  rely on advertising dollars.
SOURCE: Advertising Age, December 15, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5550

14. A LETTER WRITER'S IMAGINATION
www.bioethicsforum.org/Bruce-Pollock-GlaxoSmithKline-ghostwriter-FDA-advisory-committee-conflict-of-interest.asp
  A doctor who featured in the PR plans of the drug company
  GlaxoSmithKline has been appointed by the U.S. Food and Drug
  Administration to a committee reviewing possible links between
  anti-depressant drugs and suicidality. In December 2004, internal
  GlaxoSmithKline documents revealed that Dr. Bruce Pollock had been
  identified by the PR firm Ruder Finn (RF) as one of four
  psychiatrists who could be approached to submit a letter to a
  medical journal downplaying withdrawal symptoms experienced by those
  who stopped taking the drug Paxil. Carl Elliot writes that a letter
  by Pollock, similar to RF's draft, was published in the Journal of
  Clinical Psychiatry. "There was no disclosure, no mention of
  industry funding, no mention of 'editorial assistance,' and no
  mention of Ruder Finn," Elliot wrote. In 2004, Pollock stated that
  the letter was his work. However, he said that he "could imagine a
  scenario where a representative from the makers of Paxil said,
  'Could you make this point?'"
SOURCE: BioEthics, December 12, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5548

15. TACO BELL SEEKS PR ANTIDOTE TO E. COLI CASES
online.wsj.com/article/SB116596104973148101.html?mod=us_business_whats_news
  Taco Bell has hired a safety expert, tested its produce, eliminated
  green onions, changed suppliers, and hired a PR crisis-response
  firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland. The firm's advice: publicize safety,
  which the company has done in big market newspaper ads. Still, with
  69 reported East Coast cases of E. coli and no smoking gun, the
  restaurant chain faces what reporters Janet Adamy and Suzanne
  Vranica call "a difficult marketing challenge: how to convince
  consumers its food is safe when it doesn't know what has made people
  sick." The last reported case occurred on December 2, 2006. The
  outbreak has produced calls from lawmakers to establish new rules
  and regulations to prevent food contamination. The brand has also
  taken a shot from the Produce Marketing Association, which stated
  that Taco Bell is not a member of an industry safety coalition that
  investigated sources of contaminated California spinach that killed
  three persons and sickened 200 nationwide in September.
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), December 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/5546

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