It's an "open secret of lobbying," writes Jeffrey Birnbaum. "Public relations firms regularly solicit authors of opinion-page articles,
draft the pieces for them and place the articles in publications where they will have the most impact -- all for a fee."
Recently, an op-ed criticizing a bill that would reduce credit card fees appeared in Southern newspapers, attributed to Charles Steele Jr., the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
The column -- which neither Steele nor his office authorized -- complains that the bill "would boost the profits of Wal-Mart," an SCLC sponsor.
Steele's attorney blamed "the K Street public relations shop LMG" for the mix-up.
LMG admitted that it had "reached out through its contractors" to send "advocacy materials" to the SCLC and "urged the group to go public with opposition to the bill."
Among LMG's clients is the Electronic Payments Coalition, a group of credit card and financial companies that opposes the legislation.
The SCLC investigated and concluded that "the wrong draft of the op-ed" had been sent to papers.
"The correct draft should not have referenced Wal-Mart or Home Depot," another SCLC sponsor. ----------------- And here is the same strategy, with the pharmaceuticals and NYTimes and Wall St. Journal!
Source: Bioethics Forum, June 27, 2008
"The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a recently created front group for pharmaceutical interests,
has been churning out industry-funded propaganda that demonizes evidence-based medicine, universal health care, the government, and all critics of pharma
while attempting to portray industry as a selfless provider of cures and education," write Norman Kelley and Adriane Fugh-Berman.
CMPI's Peter J. Pitts has written opinion pieces for publications including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal,
which fail to mention that Pitts is a senior vice president at Manning, Selvage and Lee (MS&L), a leading PR firm for the pharmaceutical industry.Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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