| WORLD: GM crops slow to win over the world by Stephen Leahy, Mail & Guardian Online January 10th, 2007 Widespread use of GM crops remains limited worldwide, even as growing weed and pest issues are forcing farmers to use ever greater amounts of pesticides. |
| US: Ads Test Payola Case Settlement by Jeff Leeds, The New York Times October 25th, 2006 Hardly more than a year has passed since the nation’s biggest record labels started agreeing to a series of measures that were intended to end the industry’s long history of employing bribes and other shady practices to influence which songs are heard on the radio. |
| US: Tobacco firms to face US class action over 'light' cigarettes by Simon Bowers, The Guardian (UK) September 26th, 2006 Leading tobacco firms in the US, including British American Tobacco, are to face a class action lawsuit seeking punitive damages of up to $200bn (£105bn) relating to the alleged fraudulent promotions suggesting "light" branded cigarettes are safer, or less addictive, than regular ones. |
| US: Schering-Plough Agrees To Plead Guilty, Pay Fine by Denise Lavoie, Associated Press August 30th, 2006 Schering-Plough Corp. on Tuesday agreed to pay $435 million and plead guilty to conspiracy to settle a federal investigation into marketing of its drugs for unapproved uses and overcharging Medicaid for certain drugs. |
| INDIA: Pesticide Charge in India Hurts Pepsi and Coke by Amelia Gentleman, International Herald Tribune August 22nd, 2006 When claims were first published on the front pages of Indian newspapers this month that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo beverages were contaminated with pesticides, executives at the two companies were breezily confident that they could handle the issue. Three weeks later, though, they are still struggling to win back Indian consumers. One-quarter of India’s component states have imposed partial bans on their products, and a complex legal battle to overturn those bans is only just beginning. |
| US: Study Documents ‘Ghetto Tax’ Being Paid by the Urban Poor by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times July 19th, 2006 |
| US: The Next Niche: School Bus Ads
by Caroline E. Mayer, The Washington Post June 4th, 2006 BusRadio, a start-up company in Massachusetts, wants to pipe into school buses around the country a private radio network that plays music, public-service announcements, contests and, of course, ads, aimed at kids as they travel to and from school. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Urged to Stop Paying Iraqi Reporters by David S. Cloud, The New York Times May 24th, 2006 |
| IRAN: Iran Target of Apparent Disinformation Campaign by Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service May 23rd, 2006 A story authored by a prominent U.S. neo-conservative regarding new legislation in Iran allegedly requiring Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive colour badges circulated around the world this weekend before it was exposed as false. The article by a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Iranian-American Amir Taheri, was initially published in Friday's edition of Canada's National Post, which ran alongside the story a 1935 photograph of a Jewish businessman in Berlin with a yellow, six-pointed star sewn on his overcoat, as required by Nazi legislation at the time. The Post subsequently issued a retraction. |
| US: Wal-Mart Tries to Enlist Image Help by Michael Barbaro, The New York Times May 12th, 2006 |
| UK: Roddick Targets Nestlé after Corporate 'Sell-Out' by Jonathan Brown, The Independent May 11th, 2006 Dame Anita Roddick has admitted that she harbours concerns over the ethical record of Nestlé, a major shareholder in the French cosmetic giant L'Oréal, which bought the Body Shop for £652m. |
| US: Disney Loses Its Appetite for Happy Meal Tie-Ins by Rachel Abramowitz, Los Angeles Times May 8th, 2006 Disney is not renewing its cross-promotional pact with the fast-food giant, ending the arrangement with this summer's release of "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." One reason, say multiple high-ranking sources within Disney, is that the company — which prides itself on being family friendly — wants to distance itself from fast food and its links to the epidemic of childhood obesity. |
| GERMANY: EU to take Germany to court over tobacco ads Reuters April 12th, 2006 Germany could face legal action for failing to implement a ban on advertising tobacco, a European Commissioner was quoted on Wednesday as saying. |
| UK: Body Shop's Popularity Plunges after L'Oreal Sale by Cahal Milmo, The Independent (UK) April 10th, 2006 The sale of the Body Shop to the French cosmetics giant L'Oréal last month has dented the reputation of the British high street retailer once vaunted as the champion of ethical beauty products. |
| US: America's Fake News Pandemic by Timothy Karr, Media Citizen April 7th, 2006 A report released yesterday by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and Free Press exposes corporate propaganda’s infiltration of local television news across the country. |
| US: Food Companies Criticized Over Health Commitments by Kate Holton, Reuters April 4th, 2006 Many of the world's top food companies are not doing enough to help cut the salt, fat and sugar which are contributing to a global, diet-related health crisis, according to a report on Tuesday. |
| US: Unwitting Shoppers Recruited for Wal-Mart PR Fight by Marilyn Geewax, Cox News Service April 4th, 2006 Last December, Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., created its own grassroots group, Working Families for Wal-Mart. It hired Edelman, a global public relations firm, to organize the group out of its Washington office and launch a nationwide campaign. |
| US: Wal-Mart Begins Quest for Generals in P.R. War by Michael Barbaro, The New York Times March 30th, 2006 Wanted: two people to help defend the nation's largest retailer against critics. Requirements: plenty of experience managing a crisis. |
| US: The Conservative Hand of Hollywood by Justin Clark, Nerve.com March 29th, 2006 The Christian leader of megaplex Regal Cinemas is trying to shape what audiences see -- and don't see -- at the movies. |
| US: Google hires D.C. lobbyist with a friend in high places by Verne Kopytoff, San Francisco Chronicle March 16th, 2006 Facing increasing congressional scrutiny, Google Inc. has hired a lobbying firm that includes the son of U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. |