{"article":{"id":33468,"heading":"The Weekly Spin","author":"PR Watch","created":"2003-03-06 23:17:15","modified":"2003-03-06 23:17:15","last_modified":"Fri, 07 Mar 2003 06:17:15","article":"

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

1. No More Beers for America

2. Hot Flash, Cold Cash

3. Feed a Flack, Bomb Iraq

4. Unleashing \"Shock And Awe\" At Home & Abroad

5. Star Wars

6. Psyops in Iraq

7. Words vs. Deeds

8. Swallow This

9. Marching on Washington for Peace - Virtually

10. Grassroots PR for Nuclear Power

11. Pentagon Denies That Depleted Uranium Keeps On Killing

12. MSNBC Cans Donahue

13. US Radio Station Alter Playlists for War on Iraq

14. TV Networks Censor Anti-War Ads

15. Media Questioned Over War Protest Coverage

16. Bush Faces Increasingly Poor Image Overseas

17. Bogus \"Consumer Group\" Stripped of Domain Names

----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. NO MORE BEERS FOR AMERICA

http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2003\/03\/04\/international\/middleeast\/04BEER.html?pagewanted=print<\/a>

\"Charlotte Beers, the former advertising executive who has been in

charge of the Bush administration's global campaign to enhance the

image of the United States among Muslims, resigned today for what

she said were health reasons,\" reports Steven Weisman. Under Beers'

supervision, the U.S. State Department produced videos, pamphlets,

booklets and other materials, but her efforts were largely seen as

ineffective. Most of the comments on the O'Dwyer's PR web site

celebrated her departure, saying \"Good riddance!\" and \"About time!

She was horrible and the U.S. has lost all post-9\/11 support.\"

SOURCE: New York Times, March 4, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/March_2003.html#1046754000<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046754000<\/a>

2. HOT FLASH, COLD CASH

http:\/\/www.washingtonmonthly.com\/features\/2001\/0301.mundy.html<\/a>

\"Last April, several hundred black-tie and couture-clad worthies

crowded into the ornate ballroom of the Washington Ritz-Carlton for

one more dinner on the spring charity circuit,\" writes Alicia Mundy

- namely, the annual gala of the once-respected Society for Women's

Health Research (SWHR), a Washington, DC-based nonprofit

organization whose stated mission is \"to improve the health of

women through research.\" In recent years, however, SWHR has become

increasingly dependent on corporation contributions from

pharmaceutical companies. Last year's gala was underwritten by

Wyeth, which makes Prempro, the drug most widely used in

hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) for post-menopausal women. The

event celebrated HRT, complained one participant, \"like they were

doing an ad for Wyeth.\" Worse yet, SWHR has attacked research by

the National Institutes for Health showing that Prempro increases

women's risk of heart attacks, stroke, blood clots, and breast

cancer.

SOURCE: Washington Monthly, February\/March 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046742022<\/a>

3. FEED A FLACK, BOMB IRAQ

http:\/\/www.odwyerpr.com\/members\/0303get_iraq_over_with.htm<\/a>

\"Let's have this damn war and get it over with it,\" said Doug

Dowie, a senior vice president at the Fleishman-Hillard PR firm.

Speaking at a Los Angeles meeting of the Public Relations Society

of America, Dowie complained that uncertainty connected with the

Iraq war has paralyzed client spending. \"The sooner we get there

the better off most of us are going to be,\" he predicted.

SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 3, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046667600<\/a>

4. UNLEASHING \"SHOCK AND AWE\" AT HOME & ABROAD

http:\/\/www.laweekly.com\/ink\/03\/15\/on-powers.php<\/a>

\"[O]n the first day of Gulf War II: Die Harder, the Pentagon

reportedly intends to launch 300 to 400 cruise missiles at targets

in Iraq -- more than during the entire 40 days of the first Gulf

War. '[Y]ou have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear

weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but in minutes,\"

says Harlan K. Ullman, who ... did co-author the 1996 book that

defined the strategy that the U.S. military will be following.

Euphemistically known as 'Shock and Awe,' the plan is designed to

cow those Iraqis it doesn't blow up into immediate submission. A

similar strategy has been employed here at home. ... Seeking to

unite the republic with fear, the government has cranked up the

scare tactics -- orange alerts, anti-aircraft missiles on the Mall,

talk of Iraqi drone planes dropping biochemical weapons on American

cities. Meanwhile, in an infuriatingly circular bit of reasoning,

Vice President Dick Cheney has argued ... that we must use our

troops precisely because we've committed them -- if not, we'll seem

weak.\" It might shock some to learn that Mr. Ullman himself is

rather skeptical of Bush's pending attack on Iraq. The St.

Petersburg Times reports that \"Having fought wars, studied them and

written about them, he's not convinced that this one, at this time,

makes sense.\"

SOURCE: LA Weekly, St. Petersburg Times, March 2, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/March_2003.html#1046581202<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046581202<\/a>

5. STAR WARS

http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/life\/2003-03-02-stars-war_x.htm<\/a>

The conservative organization Citizens United has teamed with Fred

Thompson, the former U.S. Senator turned actor on NBC's \"Law and

Order,\" to produce and air a TV commercial supporting war on Iraq.

Citizens United president David Bossie says his ad is necessary to

\"combat the left-wing propaganda\" he says has come from such stars

as Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon and Janeane Garofalo. Other

celebrities who have expressed anti-war sentiments include Sean

Penn, Ed Norton, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, Dustin

Hoffman and Richard Gere.

SOURCE: USA Today, March 2, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/March_2003.html#1046581201<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046581201<\/a>

6. PSYOPS IN IRAQ

http:\/\/www.bayarea.com\/mld\/cctimes\/news\/5300247.htm?template=contentModules\/printstory.jsp<\/a>

The U.S. has already launched psychological warfare operations in

Iraq, including \"leafleting, radio and TV broadcasts, even personal

phone calls and e-mails, as well as secret techniques the public

knows little about,\" reports Michael Kilian. \"Since Jan. 18, U.S.

psyops planes have made no fewer than 10 runs over southern Iraq,

dropping as many as 480,000 leaflets at a time.\" Other psyops

planners are discussing strategies such as sending misleading text

messages to the cell phones of Iraqi commanders, hacking computers,

jamming radar, and disrupting bank accounts.

SOURCE: Contra Costa Times, March 2, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/March_2003.html#1046581200<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046581200<\/a>

7. WORDS VS. DEEDS

http:\/\/www.house.gov\/appropriations_democrats\/caughtonfilm.htm<\/a>

Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have produced

a web page titled \"Caught on Film: The Bush Credibility Gap,\" which

contrasts statements by George W. Bush at various photo ops around

the country with his actual deeds.

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046357694<\/a>

8. SWALLOW THIS

http:\/\/www.odwyerpr.com\/members\/0227ephedra.htm<\/a>

PR Watch has reported previously on the dietary supplement

industry's successful campaign to evade federal safety regulations.

Now O'Dywer's PR Daily reports that the Ephedra Education Council

(EEC), a PR front created by the PR firm of Aker Partners, is

\"handling crisis PR to counter a media firestorm following the

death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.\" A coroner's

report suggested that Bechler's death could be linked to ephedra,

and the Food and Drug Administration has reports of at least 100

deaths and thousands of adverse reactions linked to the supplement.

The EEC has been trying to suppress or attack scientific studies

critical of ephedra, including a study last year that found it was

\"by far the most dangerous herbal product on the market.\"

SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily, February 27, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046322000<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046322000<\/a>

9. MARCHING ON WASHINGTON FOR PEACE - VIRTUALLY

http:\/\/www.winwithoutwarus.org\/html\/new.html<\/a>

The burgeoning US anti-war movement is showing a sophistication for

grassroots lobbying normally only used by major corporate PR

efforts. Today, for instance, hundreds of thousands of US citizens

are participating in \"a massive march on Washington without leaving

your living room. The Virtual March on Washington is a

first-of-its-kind campaign from the Win Without War coalition.

Working together, we will direct a steady stream of phone calls --

about one per minute, all day -- to every Senate office in the

country, while at the same time delivering a constant stream of

e-mails and faxes. Our message: Don't Attack Iraq. To register to

send a free fax and make phone calls to Senate offices and the

White House, visit: MoveOn.org\"

SOURCE: Win Without War

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046267447<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046267447<\/a>

10. GRASSROOTS PR FOR NUCLEAR POWER

http:\/\/www.reformer.com\/Stories\/0<\/a>,1413,102%257E8862%257E1205372,00.html

\"Less than a week before a Town Meeting Day vote on the future of

Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, a David-and-Goliath-style

public relations war is heating up between the multibillion dollar

corporation that owns the plant and a small group of volunteers who

want the plant closed in 2012,\" writes Eesha Williams. \"Nuclear

Free Vermont, the citizens' group, is spending about $2,000 to

distribute 'Vote Yes' yard signs to supporters, mail literature,

and possibly air a handful of radio ads. Meanwhile, the

Entergy-funded Coalition Against Shutting Down Vermont's

Electricity Options is in the midst of a $200,000 public relations

blitz that includes mass-mailings, newspaper ads, and 'Vote No'

radio ads featuring the voice of a former Vermont governor.\"

SOURCE: Brattleboro Reformer, February 26, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046235600<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046235600<\/a>

11. PENTAGON DENIES THAT DEPLETED URANIUM KEEPS ON KILLING

http:\/\/www.bayarea.com\/mld\/mercurynews\/news\/politics\/5258148.htm<\/a>

\"If war again comes to Iraq, depleted uranium munitions will be a

mainstay of the American arsenal. For years, the Pentagon has

discounted reports that the shells and bullets, made of solid

nuclear-waste byproduct and used for the first time on a large

scale in the Iraq war, bore calamity. ... 'There just isn't any

scientific foundation to draw a connection between exposure and the

incidents of leukemia, other cancers or birth defects,' said

Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of deployment health support at

the Pentagon. ... Last month, the Bush administration, intent on

launching those munitions again if war breaks out, accused Iraq of

tricking the media into reporting on false links to depleted

uranium arms and cancer deaths. ... Dr. Doug

Rokke...worked...securing depleted uranium depots for the army.

Today, Rokke ... has become an opponent of depleted uranium arms .

All of the soldiers assigned to the cleanup in Iraq have suffered

chronic health problems, he said. ... 'When you go to war, you go

to kill. The problem with (depleted uranium),' he said, 'is that it

keeps on killing.' \"

SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, February 25, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046149201<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046149201<\/a>

12. MSNBC CANS DONAHUE

http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2003\/02\/25\/business\/media\/25CND-PHIL.html?pagewanted=print<\/a>

MSNBC has abruptly cancelled the Phil Donahue show. To fill his

slot, the network is expanding the news show that precedes him on

the air, \"Countdown: Iraq.\" Although the network cites poor ratings

as the reason for the cancellation, the New York Times reports that

Donahue \"was actually attracting more viewers than any other

program on MSNBC, even the channel's signature prime-time program

'Hardball with Chris Matthews.'\" According to an internal NBC

report, however, Donahue was axed because he presented a \"difficult

public face for NBC in a time of war. ... He seems to delight in

presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the

administration's motives.\" The report went on to outline a possible

nightmare scenario where the show becomes \"a home for the liberal

antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the

flag at every opportunity.\" A source close to Donahue says, \"It's

not a coincidence that this decision comes the same week that MSNBC

announces it's hired Dick Armey as a commentator and has both Jesse

Ventura and Michael Savage joining the network as hosts. They're

scared, and they decided to take the coward's road and slant

towards the conservative crowd that watches Fox News.\"

SOURCE: New York Times, February 25, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046149200<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046149200<\/a>

13. US RADIO STATION ALTER PLAYLISTS FOR WAR ON IRAQ

http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2003\/02\/24\/business\/24RADI.html?ex=1047624093&ei=1&en=4831937ce4eb754f<\/a>

\"After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, listeners denounced many

radio stations for playing songs insensitive to a nation in

mourning. Now, program directors are planning to adjust their

playlists if the United States goes to war with Iraq. Expect to

hear more patriotic tunes, and songs that appear right for the

moment. ... Music stations will also increase their news reports if

war breaks out. Because radio has become so segmented in the last

15 years, news had vanished from many music stations. But since

Sept. 11, stations have added feeds at the top of every hour.

'We're certainly stepping up our news coverage,' said Gabe Hobbs,

vice president of news for Clear Channel Radio, part of Clear

Channel Communications, which owns 1,200 stations. 'We have all

sorts of plans and they vary from market-to-market. But overall,

we're prepared to offer news twice an hour on our music stations.'

\"

SOURCE: New York Times, February 24, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046062803<\/a>

14. TV NETWORKS CENSOR ANTI-WAR ADS

http:\/\/www.adage.com\/news.cms?newsId=37202<\/a>

\"The political battle over the Bush administration's planned war in

Iraq is filtering down to impact the U.S. media and advertising

industry. A growing number of groups opposed to the war allege

cable networks are censoring citizens' political views by refusing

to accept placements of their anti-war TV ads. Some peace groups

are thwarting the networks' rejection by buying local time in major

cities for the same anti-war ads. One set of spots seen last week

in Washington feature Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders

of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and were produced for

TrueMajority.org by Too Much Media. Mr. Cohen, who has been active

in efforts by True Majority and the Business Leaders for Sensible

Priorities, expressed dismay last week that CNN would not allow

True Majority to buy time on Larry King Live. He said one spot that

was rejected by CNN features actress Susan Sarandon asking former

U.S. Iraq ambassador Ed Peck, 'Before our kids start coming home

from Iraq in body bags and women and children start dying in

Baghdad, I need to know what did Iraq do to us?' \"

SOURCE: Ad Age, February 24, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046062802<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046062802<\/a>

15. MEDIA QUESTIONED OVER WAR PROTEST COVERAGE

http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/life\/columnist\/mediamix\/2003-02-24-media-mix_x.htm<\/a>

\"Did the media stumble on Iraq, downplaying opposition to war with

Saddam Hussein until the USA's recent confrontation with Germany

and France in the United Nations and worldwide protests gave them

no choice?\" asks Peter Johnson. New York Times columnist Paul

Krugman writes, \"For months both major U.S. cable news networks

have acted as if the decision to invade Iraq has already been made,

and have in effect seen it as their job to prepare the American

public for the coming war.\"

SOURCE: USA Today, February 24, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1046062801<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046062801<\/a>

16. BUSH FACES INCREASINGLY POOR IMAGE OVERSEAS

http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/ac2\/wp-dyn\/A55326-2003Feb23?language=printer<\/a>

\"The messages from U.S. embassies around the globe have become

urgent and disturbing,\" reports the Washington Post. \"Many people

in the world increasingly think President Bush is a greater threat

to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.\"

SOURCE: Washington Post, February 24, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1046062800<\/a>

17. BOGUS \"CONSUMER GROUP\" STRIPPED OF DOMAIN NAMES

http:\/\/www.cspinet.org\/new\/200302201.html<\/a>

The Center for Consumer Freedom, a front group for the restaurant,

alcohol and tobacco industries, has been forced to give up the

domain names of two web sites used to attack the Center for Science

in the Public Interest (CSPI), in what CSPI called an \"Orwellian\"

effort to create confusion among Internet users looking for CSPI's

websites. CCF, part of a \"shadowy trio of tax-exempt front groups

run by Washington lobbyist Richard Berman\" has been involved in

several other failed attempts to impersonate web sites owned by

health, consumer and enviromental groups.

SOURCE: CSPI news release, February 20, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/spin\/February_2003.html#1045717202<\/a>

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http:\/\/www.prwatch.org\/forum\/discuss.php?id=1045717202<\/a>



----------------------------------------------------------------------

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editor@prwatch.org<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"www.prwatch.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, March 5, 2003\r\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\r\nsponsored by PR WATCH (www.prwatch.org)\r\n---------------------------------------------------------------------","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/03\/33468.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}