THANKS FOR THE (FALSE) MEMORIES: THE 2004 FALSIES AWARDS
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This year marks the beginning of a new tradition for the Center for
Media and Democracy. To remember the people and players responsible
for polluting our information environment, we are issuing a new
year-end prize that we call the "Falsies Awards." The top ten
finalists will each receive a million bucks worth of free coupons, a
lifetime supply of non-fattening ice cream, an expenses-paid vacation
in Fallujah, and our promise to respect them in the morning. The
winners of the Falsies Awards for 2004 are:
1. I'M KAREN RYAN, REPORTING
Let's hear it for video news releases finally getting a smattering of
the public scrutiny they deserve. A video news release or VNR is a
simulated TV news story. Video clips paid for by corporations,
government agencies, and non-governmental organizations are commonly
passed off as legitimate news segments on local newscasts throughout
the United States. VNRs are designed to be indistinguishable from
traditional TV news and are often aired without the original
producers and sponsors being identified and sometimes without any
local editing.
When a VNR touting the controversial Medicare reform law ended with
"In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan, reporting," Senate Democrats called
foul. The VNR, which aired on 40 stations between January 22 and
February 12, 2004, was paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. Ryan, the "reporter," was in fact employed by a
production company contracted by the Ketchum PR firm to create the
VNR for HHS. An investigation by the U.S. General Accounting Office
concluded that the VNR had violated a ban on government funded
"publicity and propaganda." According to The Hill, a newspaper based
in Washington, D.C., "VNRs are standard practice in the
public-relations industry and local news reports often rely on them.
... However, the GAO said in its decision, 'our analysis of the
proper use of appropriated funds is not based upon the norms in the
public relations and media industry.'"
Karen Ryan was back in the news in October, when the liberal-leaning
People for the American Way identified another Ryan VNR. This time
Ryan "reported" on the Bush Administration's No Child Left Behind
law. A Freedom of Information Act investigation revealed that the
U.S. Education Department paid $700,000 to the PR firm to produce two
VNRs as well as to rate newspaper coverage according to how favorably
reporters described No Child Left Behind. "A number of local stations
ran the VNR as is, and added a local twist by simply having their own
reporter read the script," reported CampaignDesk.org, a journalist
watchdog website. "The stations that took the time to have their own
reporters record the script of the No Child Left Behind VNR had to
have been fully aware of what they were doing: knowingly deceiving
their viewers about the origins of the story -- not to mention
committing plagiarism -- by passing off as their own original
reporting words actually written by a PR company hired by the Bush
administration."
2. WAR IS SELL
The formerly exiled Iraqi Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National
Congress were exposed as hucksters who befriended powerful men in
Washington and played an instrumental role in selling the Iraq War.
The U.S. major media finally examined the extent to which the INC and
Chalabi used funding provided by the U.S. Congress to position
themselves as a central source for much of the now-discredited
"intelligence information" that the Bush administration used to
justify the March 2003 invasion.
"The former Iraqi exile group that gave the Bush administration
exaggerated and fabricated intelligence on Iraq also fed much of the
same information to newspapers, news agencies and magazines in the
United States, Britain and Australia," Knight Ridder reported in
March 2004. "A June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress
to the Senate Appropriations Committee listed 108 articles based on
information provided by the Iraqi National Congress's Information
Collection Program, a U.S.-funded effort to collect intelligence in
Iraq. The Information Collection Program was financed out of the at
least $18 million that the U.S. Congress approved for the Iraqi
National Congress, led by Ahmed Chalabi from 1999 to 2003."
"Chalabi appears to have recognized that the neocons, while ruthless,
realistic and effective in bureaucratic politics, were remarkably
ignorant about the situation in Iraq, and willing to buy a fantasy of
how the country's politics worked. So he sold it to them," John Dizard
wrote for Salon.com in May 2004. In a detailed profile of Chalabi and
the INC, the New Yorker's Jane Mayer included some fairly candid
admissions by Francis Brooke, the INC's PR guru. Without Chalabi, he
said, "This war would not have been fought." Beginning in the late
1990s, Chalabi and Brooke had designed a campaign to influence "only
a couple of hundred people" in Washington with the ability to shape
Iraq policy -- people like Trent Lott, Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle
and Dick Cheney. Following 9/11, their marketing strategy switched to
terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Brooke claimed, "I sent out
an all-points bulletin to our network, saying, 'Look, guys, get me a
terrorist, or someone who works with terrorists. And, if you can get
stuff on WMD, send it!'"
Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. gave Chalabi one
of the 25 seats on its hand-picked new Iraqi Governing Council. The
Pentagon's $335,000 monthly payments to the INC's intelligence
program continued until May 2004, when U.S. intelligence agencies
began reporting that Chalabi may have actually been a double agent
working for Iran. American troops raided Chalabi's headquarters and
home in Baghdad, arrested two of his aides, and seized documents.
"Only five months ago," observed Andrew Cockburn, "Chalabi was a
guest of honor sitting right behind Laura Bush at the State of the
Union. What brought about this astonishing fall from grace of the man
who helped provide the faked intelligence that justified last year's
war?" According to Newsweek, "Bush administration officials say the
latest intelligence indicates [Chalabi] may have been supplying the
Iranians with information on U.S. security operations in Iraq that
could 'get people killed.'"
Chalabi responded by demanding that the U.S. leave Iraq. "Let my
people go," he said, adding, "It is time for the Iraqi people to run
their affairs." More recently he has aligned himself with Muqtada
al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia battled U.S. troops
in August in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
3. THE HIDDEN (IN PLAIN SIGHT) PERSUADERS
Stories of so-called "guerrilla marketing" abounded in 2004. From
martinis to cell phones to TV programs, this stealthy form of
advertising usually features paid agents subtly promoting a product
to an unsuspecting audience. According to Shawn Prez of the marketing
agency Power Moves, stealth techniques are especially effective with
teens. "By the time the message gets out, they don't even know
they've been hit; they don't know that theyve been marketed to. All
they know is that their interest has been piqued," Prez said. Our
favorite examples of guerilla marketing include the following:
* In New York, attractive men and women flashed their underwear at
strangers outside Grand Central Terminal to promote a local health
club. The underwear featured the logo of the club along with the
words "Booty Call" to promote an exercise class that works the butt
muscles. (We swear we're not making this up.)
* A fictional blogger, invented by an ad agency, posted blog entries
claiming that a new Sega video game caused him to suffer blackouts
and uncontrollable fits of violence.
* At Fourth of July cookouts throughout the United States, guests
brought Al Fresco chicken sausages to throw on the grill, without
telling the other guests that they were actually working to earn
premiums from a PR firm that was hired to promote sales of the
product.
"This idea -- the commercialization of chitchat -- resembles a
scenario from a paranoid science-fiction novel about a future in
which corporations have become so powerful that they can bribe whole
armies of flunkies to infiltrate the family barbecue," observed Rob
Walker in the New York Times.
4. FOOD INDUSTRY FOXES GUARD THE FDA HEN HOUSE
Food industry lobbyists met repeatedly and privately with Bush
administration officials while the administration was drafting rules
to protect the nation's food supply from bioterrorism. "The resulting
regulations don't fully protect the public interest," stated the
Center for Science in the Public Interest. The Grocery Manufacturers
of America, Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) and others lobbied
to weaken proposed regulations requiring importers to notify the Food
and Drug Administration before food shipments arrive from overseas.
One GMA lobbyist explained, "We all want regulations to protect
against bioterrorism, but in a way to achieve the goals and allow the
business to operate in an efficient manner." The Bush administration's
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson had nothing to
say about the problem until after the 2004 presidential election,
when he announced his resignation plans. In his departure speech in
December, Thompson warned of possible health-related terrorist
attacks. "For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists
have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do," he
said.
5. SHELL GAME WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Corporate lobby groups such as the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC) launched a fierce counter-campaign against the proposed Norms
on Business and Human Rights, which were developed by a subcommission
of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Norms require
businesses internationally to refrain from activities that violate
human rights, coonstraints that have been vigorously opposed by the
ICC and a the Royal Dutch/Shell oil company, a self-proclaimed leader
in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement. "Is this not
the kind of campaign one could expect only from companies lagging
behind and from free-riders refusing to adapt to social and
environmental concerns?" asked the Corporate Europe Observatory
(CEO). The motive behind Shell's opposition, CEO suggested, is that
"the company generally gets away easily with its inflated claims
concerning its social responsibility record." A 2004 report by
Christian Aid documented that Shell's operations in the Niger Delta
(Nigeria) are still causing serious problems for local communities.
The report also found that most of the community development projects
presented in various glossy Shell reports on CSR are in fact failing.
"Hospitals, schools and water supply systems are built but never
start working, and roads are mainly used to boost oil production,"
reported CEO. "But beyond the debate about the extent to which
Shell's CSR claims are actually greenwash and poor-wash, it is clear
that the company is determined to prevent the emergence of
international mechanisms through which communities could hold it
accountable to its pledges."
6. GHOSTWRITERS FOR BUSH
In August, the Daily Kos weblog uncovered an astroturf (fake
grassroots) initiative by the George W. Bush reelection campaign,
which generated ghostwritten letters to the editor that found their
way into at least 60 newspapers. This wasn't the first time that the
Bush administration tried this trick, as we've reported in the past.
According to Editor and Publisher, however, the National Conference
of Editorial Writers (NCEW) is now taking the issue seriously. "On
its NCEW e-mail listserv, some 600 subscribers who are mostly
editorial page writers and editors, can alert one another of
suspicious letters," writes Charles Geraci. "In fact, this is the
most consistent topic on the listserv."
7. FRANK TALK
A leaked memo by Republican advisor Frank Luntz advised GOP
politicians to avoid the words "preemption" and "war in Iraq" when
talking about the Bush administration's pre-emptive war in Iraq. "To
do so is to undermine your message from the start," he advised. "Your
efforts are about 'the principles of prevention and protection' in the
greater 'War on Terror.'" According to the June 2004 Washington Post
story, Luntz also recommended that "No speech about homeland security
or Iraq should begin without a reference to 9/11."
8. NOT-SO-DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
"One cannot conceive of other elements [that could be] put in place
to create a space that's more of an affront to the idea of free
expression," said U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock, after touring
the Democratic National Convention's "free speech" protest zone in
Boston. The zone is "bordered by cement barriers, a double row of
chain-line fencing, heavy black netting, and tightly woven plastic
mesh," with "coils of razor wire" along elevated train tracks, the
Boston Globe reported. A lawyer for activists challenging the zone
compared it to "a maximum security prison, Guantanamo Bay, or a zoo"
-- comparisons Woodlock called "an understatement," although he
upheld the zone for security reasons. That's not to say the
Republican National Convention in New York City was a celebration of
civil liberties. The New York Police Department engaged in
pre-emptive arrest tactics to stop activities planned by
demonstrators.
9. IRAQ WAR SUPPORTERS PROFIT FROM RECONSTRUCTION
Several key advocates for the invasion of Iraq are now profiting from
Iraq's reconstruction. "As lobbyists, public relations counselors and
confidential advisors to senior federal officials, they warned
against Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, praised exiled leader
Ahmad Chalabi, and argued that toppling Saddam Hussein was a matter
of national security and moral duty," reported Walter F. Roche Jr.
and Ken Silverstein in the Los Angeles Times. "Now, as fighting
continues in Iraq, they are collecting tens of thousands of dollars
in fees for helping business clients pursue federal contracts and
other financial opportunities in Iraq." Among the profiteers are:
* former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Jr., a founding member of the
Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) who used his Pentagon
connections to help arrange for a debriefing of a Iraqi defector
provided by the Iraqi National Congress who gave false information
about Iraqi biological warfare laboratories (see award-winner #2
above);
* Randy Scheunemann, founding president of the CLI; and
* Washington lobbyist K. Riva Levinson, who while at
Burson-Marsteller's BKSH & Associates did PR work for the INC on the
U.S. State Department's tab.
10. WAL-MART GETS PR HELP FROM HILL & KNOWLTON
"Wal-Mart is working with Hill & Knowlton on a PR campaign designed
to rehabilitate the much-maligned company's reputation in California
and pave the way for 40 new Wal-Mart Supercenters in the state in the
next few years," PR Week reported in October. The world's largest
retailer published an "open letter to California residents" in 15
California newspapers on September 23. "As the company has grown,
we've become a target for negative comments from certain elected
officials, competitors and powerful special interest groups,"
Wal-Mart wrote. PR Week reported that several of H&K's California
offices had been working with Wal-Mart for several months on the PR
effort, "primarily handling media relations tasks." Wal-Mart has
announced plans to increase retail space by 8 percent. The company,
which is also facing a class action suit for sex discrimination, had
a record setting in net sales for the six months ended July 31, 2004.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
PR and advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather tied Fleishman-Hillard,
another global PR firm, for sheer audacity at draining the public
well.
* The U.S. indicted executives from Ogilvy and Mather for
participating in an "extensive scheme to defraud the U.S. Government
by falsely and fraudulently inflating the labor costs that Ogilvy
incurred" for its work on a media campaign for the Office of National
Drug Control Policy. According to O'Dwyer's PR Daily, O&M's anti-drug
media campaign work was part of a five-year $684 million dollar
project. The government said it was overcharged by O&M from May 1999
to April 2000.
* Several former employees of Fleishman-Hillard say F-H routinely
overbilled the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power some $30,000
a month. According to the Los Angeles Times, one described F-H's
attitude as, "Get as much as you can because these accounts may dry
up tomorrow." Questionable charges include $50 for leaving a phone
message and $850 for a two-hour business lunch (not including the
cost of the meal).
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Center for Media and Democracy would also like to recognize the
following efforts to expose and counter spin in 2004:
* The post-debate media feeding frenzy where campaign officials talk
up their candidates has come to be called Spin Alley. Comedian Jon
Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" appeared on CNN's
Crossfire in October, calling it as he saw it. "You go to Spin Alley,
the place called Spin Alley," he said. "Now, don't you think that, for
people watching at home, that's kind of a drag, that you're literally
walking to a place called deception lane?" On Jay Rosen's PressThink
weblog, Lisa Stone offered an illuminating history of Spin Alley.
Stewart, she wrote, "was hitting on a practice that had grown more
and more disreputable. As a designated spot for the practice of spin,
the Alley only fell from legitimacy when an alternative practice rose
up and called out to conscience of the press. It was one lesson of
Campaign 2004: Forget about spinning the outcome, just fact check the
debates."
* Tami Silicio and the Seattle Times brought the first images of U.S.
military casualties to the American mass media in April 2004. Silicio,
a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of
fallen U.S. soldiers was published in the Times, was fired along with
her husband. Her employer, a private contractor, said it decided to
fire her after receiving a complaint from the military about her
violation of the Pentagon's ban on images of soldiers' caskets.
For additional details, including links to further information about
the recipients of the 2004 Falsies Awards, visit this story online
at:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/3144
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