Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
What brings together a former director of Greenpeace and the Republican ex-director of the Environmental Protection Agency? Answer: PR firm billings and promoting a new public radiance for the nuclear power industry.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Common Cause has produced a report, titled "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing," which describes some of the astroturf front groups that have been created by the cable, telephone and internet industry to lobby for legislation favorable to corporate interests.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Paul Thacker reports on "one short-lived 'grassroots' organization" based in Oregon, whose leaders "played a key role in passing President Bush's Healthy Forests legislation and are now promoting changes" to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Controversy over LNG [liquid natural gas] terminals is growing as demand soars," reports the Boston Globe. There are four proposals for new LNG terminals in Massachusetts -- and one has its own astroturf group. The Coalition for an LNG Solution, which describes itself as "a grass-roots neighborhood organization," supports new LNG terminals on Boston Harbor islands.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
When Citizens Against Unfair Health Care Taxes called Californians warning that a proposed state tax on Botox might lead to new taxes on other drugs, the group failed to disclose that it had been created by a PR firm working for Allergan Inc., the maker of Botox, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
When White House Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten introduced a "single mom" from Iowa to promote President Bush's plan to dismantle Social Security, she was presented as one of the "regular folks" in favor of private savings accounts. But Sandra Jaques, who addressed a White House economics conference on Thursday, "is not any random single mother," the New York Times' Edmund Andrews wrote.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Daily Kos recently uncovered an astroturf (fake grassroots) initiative by the George W. Bush campaign, which generated ghostwritten letters to the editor that found their way into at least 60 newspapers. This isn't the first time that the Bush administration has tried this trick, as we've reported in the past.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"A grassroots PR effort that included giving away American flags for the Fourth of July has helped Donald Trump win the right to build a new casino in Orange County, an economically depressed area in Indiana," reports PR Week.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed's public affairs firm Century Strategies "has raked in millions of dollars by mounting grassroots lobbying drives" for corporations, Republicans and "controversial lobbyists." Reed is also the
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Small, growing cities are trying to use their authority, "under California law... to assign themselves rights to the infrastructure that developers of new housing and commercial tracts," or greenfields, "install for electricity, natural gas and any other utility." Municipal officials believe they can provide electricity at lower rates while generating income for local governments.
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