In an attempt to "taint the al-Qaida brand," a British counter-terrorism unit has targeted the BBC and other domestic media outlets. A report from the UK research, information and communications unit described efforts to discredit al-Qaida (AQ) by promoting messages that the terrorist group is losing support, that "they are not heroes and don't have answers," and that "they harm you, your country and your livelihood." The unit is mostly sending information to "overseas communicators" such as British embassy and consulate staffers and others "working with overseas influencers and opinion formers." But the counter-terrorism report adds: "We are pushing this material to UK media channels, eg, a BBC radio programme exposing tensions between AQ leadership and supporters. And a restricted working group will communicate niche messages through media and non-media." The report also advocates using new media to "channel messages through volunteers in internet forums." The counter-terrorism unit's material "is a mixture of recent news reports and articles from Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African news sources illustrating the theme of 'AQ is in decline' as well as articles from the New York Times, the Observer, Newsweek and American websites," reports Alan Travis.

The Pentagon's new Defense Media Activity (DMA) -- which "combines formerly separate Pentagon media organizations, such as the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, the Stars and Stripes newspaper, and the Pentagon Channel" -- needs someone to run it. The Defense Department is looking for an "energetic and imaginative executive" to oversee "2,400 military, government and contract employees around the world and a budget of more than $225 million." The DMA is tasked with communicating "messages and themes" from Pentagon officials and providing "a wide variety of information products" to Pentagon staff, servicemembers and their families, veterans and "external audiences." The DMA also provides "high quality visual information products, including Combat Camera imagery depicting U.S. military activities and operations." According to the Army Times, "development of the group and its first-year budget has been given to [Bryan] Whitman, since the job of his supervisor ... is vacant." Whitman's name frequently appears in the Pentagon pundits documents. The DMA "will not include the America Supports You public relations program," which is currently under investigation for funneling PR and marketing contracts through Stars and Stripes. Whitman said America Supports You "wasn't placed under the DMA because it is not of the same 'nature' as other external information programs."

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.

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.

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!

Cigarette ads and smoking in the movies influence kids to smokePhilip 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."

Wounded Iraqi child (U.S. Army picture)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 mosques." 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."

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.

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.

From a Center for Union Facts adThe 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."

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.

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.

Pro-Tibet Protest During the OlympicsIn a scathing review of the Chinese government's handling of the Olympics, Jacquelin Magnay writes "there has been the fake singer, the fake fireworks, the fake minority kids (they were all Han, and not from the 55 different ethnic groups as portrayed), the fake press freedoms, fake internet access, fake promises. ... Beijing Olympic vice-president Wang Wei and other International Olympic Committee officials repeatedly claim the press is free to report on the Olympic Games, yet venue managers, under instruction from the organisers, will not allow reporters to ask topical non-sporting questions of Georgian or Russian athletes. Transcripts of the press conference questions about censorship are themselves heavily censored." But, regardless of the edicts from the Chinese government's propaganda unit, "global headlines ... have detailed the screech of armoured personnel carriers, human rights issues, visa restrictions, protest parks, military thuggery, deceptions and trickery."

Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "Daily Show"An article in the New York Times asks whether Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's Daily Show has become the most trusted man in America, pointing out that his fake news comedy show has emerged in recent years as a "genuine cultural and political force." While 24-hour news networks like FOX, MSNBC and CNN have been pumping out infotainment-style news about topics like dead celebrities and sexual predators, the Daily Show has been critically tracking the cherry-picking of prewar intelligence, the politicization of the Department of Justice and the efforts of the Bush Administration to increase the power of the executive branch. Stewart has proven to be a master at calling out government and corporate spin, hypocrisy and red herrings, and helping his audience see them, too. A 2008 study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism at the Pew Research Enter for the People and the Press found that the Daily Show has had an impact on American dialogue and that it is "getting people to think critically about the public square."

The UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled that a Shell ad that repeatedly referred to extraction from Canada's oilsands as "sustainable" was "misleading." The advertising regulator noted the "considerable social and environmental impacts" of oilsands development, adding that Shell has not explained how it will manage "carbon emissions from its oilsands projects in order to limit climate change." The World Wildlife Fund filed a complaint accusing Shell of "greenwashing," after the ad appeared in the Financial Times. Shell agreed not to run the ad again. Oilsands development "uses enormous amounts of fresh water and natural gas and produces about three times as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional oil output." The Canadian province of Alberta, where the oilsands are located, "launched a three-year, $25-million campaign" earlier this year, "to market Alberta and correct what the government insists is misinformation about the oilsands." Calgary Herald business editor Charles Frank opined, "We have to reframe the debate ... if we are to have even the faintest hope of making sure this province's most valuable resource isn't sabotaged by people and organizations who do not have our best interests at heart."

The Whooping Crane population has recovered in large part due to being designated as endangeredCurrently, the Endangered Species Act requires independent scientific assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service of proposed construction projects. But the Bush administration has proposed allowing construction to proceed, if the agency whose project it is sees no problem -- even if the agency has no biologist on staff. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne "described the new rules as a 'narrow regulatory change' that 'will provide clarity and certainty to the consultation process under the Endangered Species Act.'" Others see it differently. Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, said, "I am deeply troubled by this proposed rule, which gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with the Endangered Species Act. Eleventh-hour rulemakings rarely, if ever, lead to good government -- this is not the type of legacy this Interior Department should be leaving for future generations." Bob Irvin of Defenders of Wildlife called the change "a case of asking the fox to guard the chicken coop."

Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) -- is in financial meltdown. Almost two years ago the Center for Media and Democracy reported that Medialink had placed its faith in selling off assets, trying to boost international income and investing in the digital watermarking system Teletrax. The company's latest quarterly report reveals that, faced with accelerating losses, the company has agreed to sell Teletrax to Philips Electronics and sold "certain assets of its UK-based media communications services operation" to World Television Group. Not surprisingly, Medialink's share price has collapsed to an all-time low of just 30 cents, down from $3.65 at the start of the year. PR Week reports that, according to industry sources, Medialink is "considering offering itself up for sale."

The senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, Joshua Green, thinks some commentators may be too quick in claiming that a political consulting career is over for Mark Penn, the CEO of Burson Marsteller and former "chief strategist" for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Penn has been widely criticized after an internal memo he wrote for the Clinton campaign was recently made public. In it, Penn suggested that Clinton criticize Barack Obama's "lack of American roots." Penn wrote, "I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values." Obama is reportedly considering Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as a possible vice-presidential running mate. However, Green notes that "for years, Penn and his wife, Nancy Jacobson, have been close advisers" to Bayh. If Obama picks Bayh, Green writes, "Penn is right back in the presidential race -- if not in an official capacity, then certainly in a functional one."

Jack Abramoff; graphic from the Village VoiceWhile Jack Abramoff serves a six-year prison sentence stemming from his role in one of the most elaborate corruption standals in American politics, one of his most prominent former lobbyist associates, Ralph Reed, is raising funds for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Previously, notes Alexander Lane, Reed "was credited as a key operative in George W. Bush's sharp-elbowed effort against McCain in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary in 2000. McCain, in turn, chaired the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2006 when it investigated and unveiled Reed's deep personal and business ties to Abramoff, a lobbyist who pleaded guilty to three felonies." Apparently all is forgiven. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published an email by Reed, inviting recipients to a McCain fundraiser and praising his commitment to "economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values."

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 not-so-endangered species, burying media access, and why it doesn't matter what "green" means. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," how to boost your image after the world's worst industrial accident. 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!

Canada's Tory government is taking heat for using Friday afternoons to release negative news to the public. "The Tories took office promising clean, open governance and vowing not to practice the same old politics as previous government," reports the Canadian Press. "But they've stuck to one tried and true tactic -- releasing negative news when it will get the least media attention." Recent examples include a Foreign Affairs report on the misplacement of government documents and a major climate change report that questioned Conservative claims about greenhouse gas reductions. Public relations professional have long understood that releasing unwanted news late on Friday helps minimize bad press, although some are saying that the internet and the rise of a 24/7 news cycle has made this tactic less effective.

If there's a questionable opinion column promoting a corporate viewpoint, chances are the secretive Washington DC public affairs firm LMG -- also known as LawMedia Group -- is involved. As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, LMG helped place a column attributed to the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he didn't write and which criticized some SCLC donors. Now, it appears LMG is behind another column. The author supposedly was Mel King, a community organizer and network neutrality advocate. However, his column questions the need for net neutrality provisions. King admitted that LMG was involved and refused to say whether "he was paid for the use of his name," reports Declan McCullagh. LMG's clients include Comcast, which opposes net neutrality, and Microsoft, which hired LMG in an attempt to block a Google-Yahoo advertising deal. Another strange aspect of King's anti-net neutrality column is that "portions are identical to a Rainbow Push coalition statement attributed to the Rev. Jesse Jackson and dated three months before." A source told McCullagh that "LMG has a relationship with Jackson that includes ghost-written articles on behalf of corporate clients."

"The former spokeswoman for Arlington National Cemetery says the facility's No. 2 official has been calling military families to try to talk them out of media coverage of their loved ones' funerals, despite his denials that he does so," reports William H. McMichael. "Gina Gray, who was fired June 27 after 2½ months on the job, said Deputy Director Thurman Higginbotham told her in early May that he had been making such calls for about a year -- while denying he did so at least three times, including once in an April 30 meeting with Pentagon reporters to discuss the cemetery's media policy." Gray said she reviewed the cemetery's paperwork for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 and found that 63 percent of the families agreed to media coverage. She says that her support for granting media access "led her supervisors to limit her authority, constantly track her comings and goings, occasionally refuse to reply to her e-mails or even speak to her and, finally, to fire her."

Last month, when pop singer Alicia Keys protested Philip Morris International's (PMI) sponsorship of her concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, PMI was forced to pull down posters and billboards that promoted the event. That debacle was hardly over when health advocates started pushing for PMI to end its involvement in yet another concert, the August 30 reunion of the Filipino group Eraserheads, a band so popular in this part of the world that it has been dubbed the "Beatles of the Philippines." People seeking tickets to the free concert are directed to www.marlboro.ph, a Web site run by PMI's Philippine subsidiary. To obtain tickets and information, visitors must provide personal contact information that allows PMI to send them promotional materials for cigarettes. The Eraserheads concert is generating tremendous buzz on the Internet that often mentions the Marlboro web site and brand name, conferring substantial positive publicity upon PMI and its best-selling cigarette brand. But last week, the Philippines Department of Health warned PMI that it is violating the country's tobacco regulation law, which, as of July 1, 2008 prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising in mass media, including the Internet, places strict restrictions on other tobacco promotional activities and bans tobacco company sponsorship of concerts and other events.

"Wal-Mart has been taking many major steps [to] go green in recent years," writes Eoin O'Carroll. "So you can imagine my surprise when I came across Wal-Mart's comment on the Federal Trade Commission's attempts to standardize carbon offsets." As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, the FTC is revising its environmental advertising guidelines, prompted by the booming trade in carbon offsets, environmental "credits" that can be purchased to balance the impact of activities (like plane flights) that emit greenhouse gases. The FTC plans to issue guidelines for carbon offsets and renewable electricity credits (RECs). Wal-Mart suggested (PDF) to the FTC, "rather than attempting to define offsets or RECs, the Commission should rely on the flexibility inherent in the 'reasonable basis doctrine.' ... Different authoritative and expert institutions have adopted different, but reasonable approaches." O'Carroll summarizes, "Wal-Mart is arguing that we should not seek to come up with a firm definition ... because there doesn't yet exist a firm definition." In response, Wal-Mart told O'Carroll that standards for RECs and offsets should be determined by "governmental entities and highly technical experts with vast environmental expertise," not the FTC.

BP solar ad with militaryBP North America recently launched "its first full-scale lifestyle effort," to promote its new gas with "Invigorate." Unlike a traditional product launch, which "simply discusses gas," BP's "Younger for Longer" campaign will compare its new gas formula to older athletes. The oil company says its new gas "cleans and extends the use of engine parts, in the same way a healthy lifestyle contributes to a longer lifespan." The campaign will run for five years, with support from the GolinHarris firm. It will include ads, "a mobile tour and interactive Web site." The tour -- of BP's "Invigoration Station" -- will visit 15 cities, offering "the chance to participate in activities related to the athlete spokespeople, such as rock climbing." The "older" athletes featured in the campaign are a 53-year-old mountain climber, a 55-year-old marathon runner and a 31-year-old surfer. Golin's Gary Rudnick said the goal of the campaign "is to build a relationship with our target consumer, and create the awareness and loyalty."

The CEO of the public relations firm Burson Marsteller, Mark Penn, likes John McCain's TV ad likening Barack Obama to celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. "Hillary Clinton's former top strategist wrote the ad tries to 'portray Obama's leadership for change as something fluffy and useless.' It bears a Republican political trademark 'attacking a candidate's strengths rather than the candidate’s weaknesses.'" In an essay posted on Politico.com, Penn contends that "clever negative ad can be devastatingly effective." He says that like the McCain ad, "Some negative ads crystallize voters' opinions without presenting any new information." Penn isn't troubled by that. "This year, you can expect a tough political season and plenty of negative ads. Done fairly, they serve a legitimate role." As CMD reported previously, Mark Penn was demoted from his role as "chief strategist" with the Hillary Clinton campaign after several embarrassing conflicts of interest came to light.

Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi (inset). Photo by Sydney Morning Herald.First the organizers of China's spectacular Olympic opening ceremony admitted that they digitally faked the dazzling "footprint" fireworks that viewers saw on TV leading up to the Bird's Nest stadium. Now it has emerged that the cute little girl who sang a patriotic song in the ceremony was lip synching for another little girl who, officials decided at the last minute, was not cute enough to adequately represent China's national image. Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke became an instant star in one of the most memorable moments of China's opening show, as she stood in her red dress and white shoes singing "Ode to the Motherland." But her voice was dubbed with that of Yang Peiyi, another little girl with crooked teeth who was originally chosen to sing the song. Chinese officials apparently felt the original little girl did not look perfect enough to adequately represent the country. Chen Qigang, musical director of the opening ceremonies, explained the last-minute switch by telling Beijing Radio, "The performer was Lin Miaoke, but the sound was Yang Peiyi. The reason...is this: One was for the benefit of the country. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression, and Lin Miaoke meets our requirements in those aspects."

Overexposure to manganese has caused Parkinson's-like symptoms for thousands of welders, but the makers of manganese-containing welding wire and electrodes are avoiding liability by manipulating science. Jim Morris writes that "the welding companies paid more than $12.5 million to 25 organizations and 33 researchers, virtually all of whom have published papers dismissing connections between welding fumes and workers' ailments. ... The pattern doesn't surprise George Washington University epidemiologist David Michaels, author of Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Corporate-funded research articles are often 'advocacy documents that are being produced purely for use in court cases,' he says. 'It's unfortunate, because it really pollutes the scientific literature.'" Industrial toxicologists have known since the 1930s that manganese exposure damages the brain and central nervous system. Morris notes that "if you were to graph out the welding industry's spending on science, you'd see a dramatic uptick in 2003 -- the year an Illinois jury awarded $1 million to a welder named Larry Elam." Since then, mounting lawsuits by injured welders have driven a funding boom for pro-industry scientists.

Remember the New York Times expose on the Pentagon's use of retired military officers who frequently appear as "military analysts" on television and radio news shows? The program was launched in 2002 to help sell the Iraq war, but soon expanded to other controversial issues. Most of the 8,000 pages of internal Pentagon documents used to document the illegal propaganda program haven't been analyzed or reported on. But now, thanks to the Center for Media and Democracy, those documents are now text searchable! Help us dig out the gems in the emails between Pentagon PR staffers, talking points and briefing transcripts. How did the Pentagon use the program to spin Guantanamo Bay or military operations in Afghanistan? Are John McCain or John Murtha mentioned in the Pentagon documents? What about Fox News or PBS? CMD has converted the Pentagon documents so that you can search them by keyword, and posted them on our SourceWatch site. Have a look -- some ideas to help you get started are here -- and post what you find on relevant SourceWatch articles. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can register here, and learn more about adding information to the site here, here and here. Have fun and thanks for your help!

As CMD previously reported, Eau Claire, Wisconsin news director Glen Mabie quit his job in January. Instead of going along with a deal that his station had struck with a local hospital to guarantee coverage of medical issues featuring personnel from that hospital and not others, Mabie left his position. The station later cancelled the agreement. Mabie is now being recognized for his stance. He has been selected to receive the Ethics in Journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Mabie said he was humbled to receive the honor and that "Many of the people in that newsroom deserve this honor just as much as I do. To see those people stand up for those ethical guidelines was really neat." Mabie was nominated by University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire professor emeritus David Gordon, who said: "I believe that Mabie's willingness to draw a line in the sand and to stand up for his ethical principles regardless of the personal cost is a perfect fit for the criteria set out for the SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award." Hopefully, the award will help Mabie find a new job -- he has been unemployed since leaving the station.

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 award-winning gutter journalism, an icy approach to immigrants and an explosive new assignment for the Lincoln Group. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," global warming skeptics. 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!

Better to use formula than risk preventing your next pregnancy by breastfeedingWilliam Saletan wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. In it, he commends HHS's proposal to allow pharmacists and other health workers to refuse to "facilitate any abortifacient chemical or activity." Saletan writes, "I commend the language of the draft, which would define abortion as 'any of the various procedures -- including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action -- that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.'" But he suggests that the proposal doesn't go far enough. Why not add breastfeeding, which "like oral contraception ... alters a woman's hormonal balance, thereby suppressing ovulation, fertilization, and, theoretically, implantation." He adds, "As research uncovers additional causes of miscarriage or preimplantation embryo loss, I look forward to further legislation against caffeine consumption, exercise, and other abortifacient activities among premenopausal women."

With polls showing increased public support for more U.S. offshore oil drilling, John Wihbey cautions, "the framing" of poll questions "is paramount and the media's interpretation crucial." For example, when asked, "Do you prefer more drilling or more investment in alternative energy?," most people choose the latter. But some polls cited in support of increased drilling didn't offer alternatives; one simply asked if respondents would support drilling to "attempt to reduce the price of gasoline." While the trend is clear -- high gas prices have increased support for drilling -- "it remains unclear what mix of remedies the public actually wants." The assumption that new drilling would reduce gas prices is also questionable, meaning that some poll questions may be "built on false premises, a pipe dream held out to a desperate and cash-strapped public." Wall Street Journal blogger Keith Johnson admitted that new drilling "is unlikely to have a near-term 'practical' impact on oil flow, though it could have a 'psychological' one on trading. 'Crude is priced in the futures market, and future price expectations are what moves the market,'" he explained.

Image from the Lincoln Group's websiteWondering what the Lincoln Group, the public relations firm that planted U.S. military-written propaganda in Iraqi newspapers, is up to now? It recently won a six month, $14.3 million U.S. Army contract, to promote the Army's "Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization campaign" in Afghanistan. The campaign is designed to separate the "bomb makers and users from the support of the populace," and to encourage Afghans to "take responsibility for their communities and report suspicious activities." The firm will develop "a broad-based information campaign about IEDs using billboards, radio messages, hour-long TV programming, video compact discs, posters, flyers and newspaper ads." An Afghanistan-based firm, CentenaGroup, received higher marks for its proposal, but Lincoln Group won the contract because it bid in at a lower price.

The British government's media regulator, Ofcom, issued a split ruling on "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a film commissioned and broadcast by Channel 4. Ofcom found that Channel 4 broke impartiality guidelines and the film misrepresented statements by former British government scientist David King, in a scene with global warming skeptic Fred Singer. Ofcom also found that the film unfairly treated the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and MIT professor Carl Wunsch. However, Ofcom ruled that the program did not "cause harm or offence" by "materially" misleading viewers. Ironically, Ofcom said that its impartiality rules did not apply to the majority of the film, because the rules require balance on "matters of political or industrial controversy" and human-induced climate change has "been almost universally accepted by governments around the world." Ofcom received 265 complaints about the film, including "a detailed 'group complaint' from scientists and concerned individuals that ran to 176 pages and accused Channel 4 of seriously misleading viewers."

Following a raid on a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa that's been condemned as "inhumane" and "a Kafkaesque travesty of justice," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is trying a new approach -- asking undocumented immigrants to deport themselves. Until August 22, immigrants in five cities who "got caught and ignored a judge's order to leave but avoided other trouble with the law" can take part in ICE's new "Operation Scheduled Departure." An ICE official said the program "allows them to leave on their own terms." ICE may also help cover immigrants' transportation costs. Many immigrant rights and reform advocates are skeptical. ICE calls "Scheduled Departure" a "compassionately conceived enforcement initiative." But the director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights says the program was designed "to put a happy face on what have been really brutal actions." He adds that those targeted by the program "are desperately trying to stay in the United States, because they have U.S.-born children ... they have spouses, they have jobs, many of them have homes."

The New York Times notes that, "in an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama's Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size. Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama 'bundlers,' fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. ... Given his decision not to accept public financing, Mr. Obama is counting on his bundlers to help him raise $300 million for his general-election campaign and another $180 million for the Democratic National Committee. An analysis of campaign finance records shows that about two-thirds of his bundlers are concentrated in four major industries: law, securities and investments, real estate and entertainment."

In a new book, Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Ron Suskind charges that in the autumn of 2003, the White House ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to forge and back-date a handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi Intelligence to Saddam Hussein, to fabricate a link between the Iraqi regime and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. In the book, The Way of the World, Suskind explains that the letter was to be backdated to July 2001, and say that "9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq -- thus showing finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the Vice President's Office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq." White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto dismissed the charge, saying "Ron Suskind makes a living from gutter journalism. He is about selling books and making wild allegations that no one can verify, including the numerous bipartisan commissions that have reported on pre-war intelligence." Suskind also gave an interview about his book on National Public Radio.

According to a survey of 252 U.S. chief marketing officers, nearly one in five "say their organizations have bought advertising in return for a news story." The survey was conducted on behalf of the public relations firm Manning, Selvage & Lee (MSL) and the trade publication PR Week (which doesn't appear to have reported on the results). "The survey also found that 10 percent of senior marketers said their organizations have had an implicit / non-verbal agreement with a reporter or editor that anticipated favorable coverage of their company or products in exchange for advertising," states an MSL press release. MSL's Mark Hass called the widespread use of pay for play "troubling," as "without full disclosure and transparency, media lose credibility and their value as an unbiased source of information." More than half of survey respondents also disagreed with the statement that marketers are "following ethical guidelines in new media more than they did a year ago."

Reviewing the continued campaign by climate change skeptics, David McKnight, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales (Australia), notes that there several reasons why companies such as Exxon have had some success playing the global warming denial card. "First, the implications of the science are frightening. Shifting to renewable energy will be costly and disruptive. Second, doubt is an easy product to sell. Climate denial tells us what we all secretly want to hear. Third, science is portrayed as political orthodoxy rather than objective knowledge, a curiously postmodern argument," he writes. While the tobacco industry is often referred to as the template for the fossil fuel industry's campaign, McKnight argues that there is an important distinction. "There are no 'smoke-free areas' on the planet. Climate denial may turn out to be the world's most deadly PR campaign," he concludes.

Internal documents from the global drug company Eli Lilly reveal that it trained its sales force to avoid discussing the diabetes risk from Zyprexa, a drug used to treat schiz