... in response to Re: Re: Re: Another Conspiracy Theory?, posted by valuedcustomer on Dec 20, 2005"Below is an interesting website to begin research. This website documents how public relation firms are employed by governments and business to create 'false news' and how the government puts journalists on its payroll."
And PR Watch is on the payroll of who?
I've got a bad habit. I ALWAYS read the "About Us" portion of a website, do some "background" on their "background," and try and uncover who's truly holding the purse strings. In the case of PR Watch, they weren't shy in hiding it:
--Bydale Foundation
A few of their other top grantees: Earth Action Network; Greenpeace
--Careth Foundation
Other top grantees: South African Reparations Movement; National Emergency Committee for a New U.S. ("Funding was provided for the Committee's first campaign entitled, the National Campaign to End U.S. Military Aid to Israel."); International Media Project ("The International Media Project received a grant for its Globalization Desk, which focuses on covering issues around global insecurity, ecological degradation, human rights, militarization, and other issues relevant to U.S. policies.")
--Carolyn Foundation
Sample grantees: Organic Consumers Association; Friends of the Earth; Land Stewardship Project; Environmental Defense
--CS Fund
Sample grantees: American Civil Liberties Union; Center for International Environmental Law; Earthjustice; Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
--Deer Creek Foundation
Sample grantees: Union of Concerned Scientists ("A radical green wolf in sheep’s clothing."); Environmental Media Services ("EMS is the communications arm of leftist public relations firm Fenton Communications. [EMS]...spoon-feeds the news media sensationalized stories, based on questionable science, and featuring activist 'experts.'")
--DJB Foundation
Sample grantees: Tides Foundation & Tides Center ("The Tides Foundation is quickly becoming the 800-pound gorilla of radical activist funding."); Environmental Research Foundation ("Our main goal is to strengthen democracy by helping people find the information they need to fight for environmental justice in their own communities." Inspiration: Rachel Carson. Search Carson/DDT ban/spread of malaria)
--Foundation for Deep Ecology ("Economic globalization needs to be reversed if we are to achieve ecological sustainability."
Sample grantees: Indigenous People's Council on Biocolonialism; Friends of the Earth; Sierra Club Foundation; Rethinking Tourism Project
--Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund
Sample grantees: Feminist Majority Foundation; American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc.; Abortion Access Project, Inc.; Environmental Defense; Earthjustice
--Grodzins Fund
Sample grantees: Center for Science in the Public Interest; Center for Media & Democracy
There's more, but I'll cut if off right there. I've come full circle anyways. Note the very last entry--Center for Media & Democracy (aka, prwatch.org). An activist watchdog site--www.activistcash.com--has this to say about this beacon of unbiased "investigative reporting":
"The Center for Media & Democracy (CMD) is a counterculture public relations effort disguised as an independent media organization. CMD isn’t really a center it would be more accurate to call it a partnership, since it is essentially a two-person operation.
"Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber operate, as do most self-anointed progressive watchdogs, from the presumption that any communication issued from a corporate headquarters must be viewed with a jaundiced eye. In their own quarterly PR Watch newsletter, they recently referred to corporate PR as a propaganda industry, misleading citizens and manipulating minds in the service of special interests. Ironically, Rampton and Stauber have elected to dip into the deep pockets of multi-million-dollar foundations with special interest agendas of their own."
PR Watch...objective???
To Michael Moore, sure.