THE WEEKLY SPIN, August 23, 2006

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Drug Company's Hearing Too Sensitive For Criticism

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Iraq for Sale: The Movie
2. How Bizarre is a CSR Bazaar?
3. It's an Increasingly Anti-U.S. World, After All
4. Product Placement Picking Up Steam
5. Troops, Hoops and Antichoice Brutes
6. Labor Lobby Spending on Nukes Revealed
7. Roche PR Spins Straw into Golden Cure
8. Wal-Mart Front Group Loses Front Man
9. Don't Mind the Tritium, Says NRC
10. In Iraq, Reporters Quote the GIs That Embed Them
11. Labor Department Official Does Punditry On the Side

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== BLOG POSTINGS ==

1. DRUG COMPANY'S HEARING TOO SENSITIVE FOR CRITICISM
by Bob Burton

One of the marketing success stories in the world of herbal pills is
the hype and advertising that has made Tebonin one of the big-time
sellers. If you believe the ads, popping a Tebonin pill a day will
relieve tinnitus (the ringing sound some people have in their ears),
dizziness and even improve mental alertness. The promoters claim the
drug, which is based on a patented extract from the ginkgo biloba
tree, improves "impaired micro-circulation," reduces "free radicals"
and "promotes optimum cell function."
According to the German manufacturer, Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH
& Co KG, eight million pills are consumed every day. Schwabe, like
so many companies in the herbal supplements sector, trades on its
feel-good image. "From Nature, For Health," its website claims.
That's the story the company wants you to hear. However, when a
small group of Australian doctors and pharmacists, AusPharm Consumer
Health Watch, drafted a report raising doubts about the benefits of
Tebonin, they discovered a company that was not so warm and fuzzy.
Soon after sending a copy of their draft report to the company, they
were hit with a writ seeking an injunction that may bury their
critical assessment forever.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5080

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==

1. IRAQ FOR SALE: THE MOVIE
http://iraqforsale.org
Robert Greenwald, the director of last yearbs influential
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," has a new film coming out in
October, titled bIraq for Sale: The War Profiteers.b The film
will expose the hidden truth of rampant profiteering in Iraq through
the stories of soldiers, whistleblowers, survivors, and families of
loved ones lost to corporate greed. The filmmakers are organizing
screenings in homes, churches, businesses and schools. You can visit
the Iraq for Sale website now to sign up for a screening or
pre-order the DVD.
SOURCE: Iraq for Sale website
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5101

2. HOW BIZARRE IS A CSR BAZAAR?
http://www.iirme.com/csr/index.cfm/Link=16
The Institute for International Research notes that it is
transmitting information about its September 2006 corporate social
responsibility meeting in Dubai solely via the web in order to
conserve paper. But one of IIR's sessions--the "CSR Bazaar"-- might
lead some to wonder if the organization sees the forest or only the
trees. The Dubai meeting, scheduled for September 17-20, 2006,
features a "CSR Bazaar" (their choice of titles) at which corporate
presenters will each take five to ten minutes to tell other
companies about their corporate social responsibility efforts.
Symposium speakers include Hill & Knowlton's Middle East director,
Coca Cola, and a primary sponsor is Shell Oil. Advance literature
for the events, which also include presentations by United Nations
officials states: "...[C]ontroversy and doubt" about CSR "are also
increasing; the media are now suspicious of all corporate activity
that claims to be driven by more than sheer short-term profit and
"feel-good PR". Perhaps "selling" others on CSR initiatives in five
to ten minute snippets has something to to with the public
impression that CSR is becoming one more corporate sales pitch
rather than a genuine commitment to improvements in labor standards,
the environment and human rights.
SOURCE: Institute for International Research, August 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5108

3. IT'S AN INCREASINGLY ANTI-U.S. WORLD, AFTER ALL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400938_pf...
"With nearly 50 years in marketing, Keith Reinhard knows when a
brand is in trouble," Christopher Lee writes in the Washington Post.
"Even before the war in Iraq bred new resentment of the United
States abroad, the country had developed an image problem, says
Reinhard," who in 2004 founded Business for Diplomatic Action, to
get U.S. corporations involved in public diplomacy. "We're trying to
change visa policies and the entry attitudes," Reinhard says. "For
example, we have offered Disney to help orient customs and
immigration agents. Disney handles large crowds, long queues and
still has a way of making people feel welcome." Reinhard says "it is
in the best interest of business to address this problem," because
tourism to the U.S. is down and U.S. brands are less popular
overseas.
SOURCE: Washington Post, August 15, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5106

4. PRODUCT PLACEMENT PICKING UP STEAM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4801135.stm
Product placement in movies and on television is expected to triple
by the end of the decade according to a report issued by PQ Media.
The market, estimated as worth $2.21bn (B#1.2bn) in 2005, is
projected to reach $7.6bn (B#4bn) by 2010, with TV dramas, sports
broadcasts and reality shows the most popular venues. The U.S. is
the largest market for product placement, with Brazil and Australia
coming in second and third thanks to lax restrictions. France ranks
fourth due to placements in its sizeable film output, and Japan
rounds out the top five. Currently product placement is banned on
television in the European Union, but there are efforts underway to
loosen those restrictions. Consumer advocate groups like The
European Consumers' Organization want a total ban on product
placement instead of the EU Commission's suggestion that the ban
affect only children's shows and news programs.
SOURCE: BBC News, August 17, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5104

5. TROOPS, HOOPS AND ANTICHOICE BRUTES
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/troops_and_hoops
USA Basketball is in a slump, suffering more losses in 2004 "than
the team had in its entire Olympic history." To inspire the players,
managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski turned
to U.S. "soldiers maimed and crippled by the war in Iraq," arranging
a televised meeting between the veterans and the athletes. Using
soldiers wounded in "a deeply unpopular war from which, according to
a recent Zogby poll, 72 percent of troops want to escape ... feels
more like exploitation than motivation," writes Dave Zirin.
Colangelo has a history of "using sports to project his politics."
In 2003, he designated a Phoenix Suns game as "Arizona Right-to-Life
Day." Colangelo also co-founded Battin' 1,000, "along with other
baseball executives and ex-players." The campaign "uses baseball
memorabilia to raise funds for Campus for Life, the largest
antichoice student network." Battin' 1,000 opposes "all abortions,
even in the case of incest or rape."
SOURCE: The Nation (U.S.), August 20, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5100

6. LABOR LOBBY SPENDING ON NUKES REVEALED
http://www.sundayherald.com/57437
As the Center for Media and Democracy noted previously, British
government funds were used "to campaign in favour of Tony Blair's
new nuclear power programme." Scotland's Sunday Herald reports on
the more than B#15,000 spent on "Nuklear21," a "campaign group that
brings together workers from five trade unions at nuclear plants
across the UK to lobby for new reactors." The money covered
"airfares, hotels, dinners and 'refreshments'" for union members to
lobby ministers, members of parliament and trade union leaders. The
labor lobbyists say they are "defending our jobs, our livelihoods
and our communities." However, one union leader criticized the
lobbyists for compromising their independence by "get[ting] into bed
with the employer." A Greenpeace anti-nuclear campaigner commented,
"They have a right to fight for their jobs, but they are using
illegitimate means -- taxpayers' money."
SOURCE: Sunday Herald (Scotland), August 20, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5099

7. ROCHE PR SPINS STRAW INTO GOLDEN CURE
http://www.theecologist.org/current.asp
Pat Thomas writes that the breast cancer drug Herceptin "prolongs a
few lives for an average of four months at a cost of B#400,000 per
life extended, and for the majority of women for whom it does not
work there is an increased risk of severe heart damage and the
spread of their cancer to the central nervous system." Yet, the
British press has declared it a "miracle cure," thanks to savvy PR.
On behalf of drugmaker Roche, a Ketchum employee called reporter and
cancer patient Lisa Jardine, offering her "the chance to ... do paid
talks at Roche seminars and ... help find[ing] funding for her own
use of Herceptin. ... 'She said she would make it worth my while,'"
Jardine said. An employee at another of Roche's PR firms, Porter
Novelli, volunteered her services to the group Women Fighting for
Herceptin. The group successfully promoted many "unhappy women who
couldn't get their hands on the drug, [who were] willing to tell
their stories to TV, radio and the newspapers."
SOURCE: The Ecologist (UK), July / August 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5096

8. WAL-MART FRONT GROUP LOSES FRONT MAN
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-young18aug18,1,1856004.stor...
Andrew Young, the former civil rights leader turned chair of the
front group Working Families for Wal-Mart, resigned from the
pro-Wal-Mart group, after making remarks he now calls "demagogic"
and "racist shorthand." During an interview with the Los Angeles
Sentinel, Young said Wal-Mart should cause small local stores to go
out of business, because "those are the people who have been
overcharging us. ... First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now
it's Arabs." Wal-Mart PR head Mona Williams said the retail giant
was "appalled" by Young's remarks. A Financial Times overview of
Wal-Mart's response to its increasing inclusion in political debates
reveals that, on August 15, the company "sent 18,000 'voter
education' letters to its employees in Iowa, pointing out what it
said were factual errors made by politicians who had attacked the
company. The group is to dispatch similar letters to its staff in
other states."
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5094

9. DON'T MIND THE TRITIUM, SAYS NRC
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-0608100279aug10,1,1774116...
Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Dale Klein "said he supports the
'groundwater protection initiative,' a self-policing effort proposed
in May by the Nuclear Energy Institute trade organization. 'I think
as a nation we need to be cautious about putting unneeded
regulations in place,' Klein said." He spoke at the Braidwood
nuclear power plant in Illinois, "where tritium in groundwater
spread beyond plant boundaries, sparking state and federal
legislation, three lawsuits and an Exelon cleanup effort being
monitored by state and federal agencies." Tritium contamination of
groundwater has been found at at least 10 U.S. nuclear plants, most
recently Wisconsin's Kewaunee and California's defunct San Onofre
plants. Tritium is a low-energy nuclear isotope readily cleared by
the body, though in high concentrations it has been linked to cancer
and birth defects.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5092

10. IN IRAQ, REPORTERS QUOTE THE GIS THAT EMBED THEM
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2006/embedreporting.html
When considering the practice of embedding journalists with U.S.
military units in Iraq, the question is not whether they "can
provide neutral reporting," but "whether embedded reporters had the
access or opportunity to talk with people other than the soldiers."
That's the conclusion of a Penn State study that reviewed nearly 750
print articles in major outlets by more than 150 journalists -- some
embedded, some reporting from Baghdad hotels, and others reporting
independently. Embedded reporters relied heavily on soldiers for
information; 93 percent of their stories featured soldiers as
sources. Only 43 percent of independent reporters' stories featured
soldiers as sources. Iraqis were sources in just 41 percent of
embedded reporters' articles, compared to 73 percent for independent
reporters. The study also found that "articles by embedded reporters
were both more prominent and more widely available than other types
of reporting." From mid-March to May 2003, 100 percent of USA
Today's Iraq articles came from embedded reporters.
SOURCE: Penn State University (U.S.), August 11, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5091

11. LABOR DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL DOES PUNDITRY ON THE SIDE
http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2006/08/conservative_commentator_unmasked_anonymously...
"'Conservative commentator' is not an appropriate label, by itself,
for someone in her position, even if she is not speaking on
government time or is speaking for herself and not the department,"
PBS ombudsman Michael Getler wrote of Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Labor Karen Czarnecki. Czarnecki is a regular commentator on the PBS
show "To The Contrary," but her position in the Bush administration
is not disclosed to viewers. She receives $100 for each PBS
appearance. Czarnecki's dual role as government official and TV
pundit was first reported by Al Kamen in the Washington Post. Kamen
noted that Czarnecki has also appeared on Fox News, identified only
as a "conservative strategist." Her TV appearances have been cleared
by Labor Department ethics staff, but "the quick appearances are
supposed to be freebies." Think Progress pulled out some of
Czarnecki's quotes, including, "Intelligent design doesn't equate
religion with science. It is based on scientific premise." Czarnecki
has also worked at the Heritage Foundation and the American
Legislative Exchange Council.
SOURCE: PBS Ombudsman Column, August 16, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5090

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