AltWeeklies Wire
As PR Grows and Journalism Shrinks, Who Will Separate Fact from Fiction?new
The H1N1 vaccine rollout in Canada has been a complete gong show, a cacophonous torrent of contradictory messages flying in all directions. The communication has gone completely haywire, and it's not just government spreading confusion.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Jeremy Klaszus |
11-17-2009 |
Media
Don't Believe the Hype: Clean Coal Still Pollutesnew

To call today's coal "clean" requires a handful of mind-erasing psycho-somethings and a magic carpet ride to Fairyland. It's true -- the potential to burn coal far cleaner than in decades past is now here. But the best devices are expensive and only in use at a few power plants across the country.
Charleston City Paper |
Stratton Lawrence |
12-10-2008 |
Environment
Waging a PR War at Guantanamonew

U.S. officials are working hard to convince journalists that the military commission trial of Canadian Omar Khadr is fair. This is quite a feat given that Khadr is heading into a courtroom without a full investigation of charges that he was interrogated without access to legal counsel and under torture.
NOW Magazine |
Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine |
11-03-2008 |
War
Exposing the Bullshit Industrynew

Watch groups like the Center for Media and Democracy and DeSmogBlog.com shine the light on the public relations spin.
VUE Weekly |
Scott Harris |
08-29-2008 |
Media
A Not-Independent Analyst Might Have Skewed Media Coverage of Sprintnew
In June, when Sprint introduced the Instinct, its rival to the iPhone, industry analyst Jeff Kagan gave the launch a good review. The glowing review shouldn't have been much of a surprise -- that's what Sprint has paid him to do.
Too Many Journalists are Just Genetically Modified Mouthpiecesnew
In 2003, when I was working as an anchor for a San Francisco TV station, newscasters and reporters across the country were asked by the White House to refer to the Iraqi invasion as Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). We were asked to call the war in Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). With press releases in hand, journalists repeated genetically modified words as if their DNA depended upon it.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Leslie Griffith |
06-11-2008 |
Media
Tags: Iraq, War on terror, journalism, media, Afghanistan, language, war & peace, rhetoric, public relations