Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Republican congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham recently resigned after pleading guilty to graft and tearfully admitting that he took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors, prompting an interesting question from Joshua Micah Marshall: "How did Duke Cunningham manage to get so far entangled in an ethics mess that he had to plead guilty to federal charges of accepting bribes without anyone re
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Fenton Communications is promoting Venezuela's discounted oil program for disadvantaged families in Massachusetts, New York and maybe Maine," reports O'Dwyer's. The left-leaning PR firm "promoted the Nov.
"Myself and others felt violated by the first bill," said Doug Simon, the founder, president and CEO of D S Simon Productions, a major producer of the faux television news reports known as video news releases (VNRs).
Simon was referring to the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). In its original incarnation, this bill would have required a "conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or -funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse," former U.S. Vice President Al Gore told the We Media Conference in New York.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
For the first time in his presidency, George W. Bush has an approval rating below 40 percent, according to a new CBS News opinion poll. Also, "Sixty-nine percent of Americans say things in the United States are pretty seriously off on the wrong track—the highest number since CBS News started asking the question in 1983. ... And for the first time in this poll, fewer than half the public approves of the way he is handling the campaign against terrorism."
"Maybe something good can come from this hurricane," Senator Lindsey Graham (R - S.C.) told FOX News Sunday's Chris Wallace on September 18th.
Graham and Wallace were discussing the "torrent of federal spending" on relief and reconstruction projects in the Gulf coast states devastated by Hurricane Katrina that is "just exploding the deficit" (both Wallace's phrases). The Senator was advocating for budget cuts to balance the disaster spending, which is expected to total as much as $200 billion.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
California's November 8 elections on "several controversial propositions" dealing with state redistricting, the school system, budget and drug prices "could be one of the biggest political scrapes of the year, involving $125 million in ad spending," reports Advertising Age.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"The White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina," reports the New York Times.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Katsuya Okada, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and the main rival to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has hired PR firm Fleishman-Hillard to help buff his image ahead of the September 11 national election.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Kenneth Clarke, a British Conservative Party leadership aspirant, is resisting calls to resign as non-executive deputy chairman of British American Tobacco (BAT) and chair of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee. Clarke's supporters have suggested he would resign the roles only if elected leader.
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