Edelman PR

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">see BLUE</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see exxpn 4</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>promoted to primary: walmart greenwash, Berman</b></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Krempasky (rather)</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

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</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">much bad code</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see also tag no e</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">evil pending</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">html arena --> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">coordinating efforts”</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://cleancreatives.org/learn">https://cleancreatives.org/learn</a></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Case studies of misleading campaigns:</b></font></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>United States: Exxon Exxchange</b></div><div><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Under the Biden Administration, the United States federal government has undertaken a number of climate policies that affect the business of major polluters, such as limiting fossil fuel extraction permits from public lands, re-instituting a ‘social cost of carbon’ for the purposes of environmental permitting, and rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition, they’ve backed major legislation that could transform the energy system to better address climate change.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>In response, energy giant ExxonMobil has aggressively targeted the Biden Administration through its “Exxchange” platform, which uses digital ads on Facebook to encourage Americans to oppose these measures.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Throughout 2021, Exxon has regularly been the top spender on climate issues across Facebook, and their total ad spending on the Exxchange likely extends into the millions of dollars. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Previously, Harris Media, a Texas-based PR firm that often works for far-right politicians in the United States and elsewhere has taken responsibility for managing the Exxchange project. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">However, a coding error preserved on archive.org also reveals that PR giant Edelman has played a role in managing the site,</span> and likely other aspects of the campaign as well. A link on the preserved site includes a Microsoft SafeLinks URL containing the email address with an edelman.com domain. This SafeLinks URL could have only been generated by an Edelman employee and appears to have been mistakenly embedded in the site.<b> It demonstrates that Edelman has had direct control over the site and its content, at least up until May of 2021.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Edelman has not previously disclosed their work on this project.</span></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">lnx</font></div><div><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; letter-spacing: -0.208px; background-color: rgb(255, 205, 4); white-space: pre-wrap; hyphens: manual !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> “Exxchange” platform, which uses <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=US&view_all_page_id=925007000949719&sort_data[direction]=desc&sort_data[mode]=relevancy_monthly_grouped&search_type=page&media_type=all" style="background-position: unset; background-size: unset; background-repeat: unset; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; white-space: initial; text-underline-offset: 0.2em; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: none !important;"><span style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">digital ads on Facebook</span></a> to encourage Americans to oppose these measures. Throughout 2021, Exxon has regularly been the top spender on climate issues across Facebook, and their total ad spending on the Exxchange likely extends into the millions of dollars. </font></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; letter-spacing: -0.208px; background-color: rgb(255, 205, 4); white-space: pre-wrap; hyphens: manual !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Previously, Harris Media, a Texas-based PR firm that often works for far-right politicians in the United States and elsewhere has <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/exxon-facebook-instagram-advertising-fracking-climate-fossil-fuels" style="background-position: unset; background-size: unset; background-repeat: unset; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; white-space: initial; text-underline-offset: 0.2em; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: none !important;"><span style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">taken responsibility</span></a> for managing the Exxchange project. </font></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; letter-spacing: -0.208px; background-color: rgb(255, 205, 4); white-space: pre-wrap; hyphens: manual !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, a coding error <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210517103748/https://www.exxchange.com/" style="background-position: unset; background-size: unset; background-repeat: unset; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; white-space: initial; text-underline-offset: 0.2em; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: none !important;"><span style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">preserved on archive.org</span></a> also reveals that PR giant Edelman has played a role in managing the site, and likely other aspects of the campaign as well.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">surveys what have YOU done? recycle eg up to 1 mill jobs at risk; tax hikes on mtg cost jobs [aa woman] take the pledge to support power of state ind = jobs...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ad library</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=US&view_all_page_id=925007000949719&search_type=page&media_type=all">https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=US&view_all_page_id=925007000949719&search_type=page&media_type=all</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref 2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/exxon-facebook-instagram-advertising-fracking-climate-fossil-fuels"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://inthesetimes.com/article/exxon-facebook-instagram-advertising-fracking-climate-fossil-fuels</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix gfx? italics</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INVESTIGATION GOODMAN INSTITUTE CLIMATE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Exxon Spends Millions on Facebook To Keep the Fossil Fuel Industry Alive</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aided by a right-wing political consulting firm, the company is rallying supporters to fight for oil and gas interests at every level of government.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CHRISTINE MACDONALD<b> OCTOBER 20, 2020</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://inthesetimes.com/article/exxon-facebook-instagram-advertising-fracking-climate-fossil-fuels</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In January 2019, an outfit called Santa Barbara for Safe and Local Transport (SBSLT) began running social media advertisements for select California residents. SBSLT’s name and logo — showcasing distant green mountains, a sliver of blue ocean and a highway slicing through them — could be mistaken for that of a typical grassroots group or a governmental highway agency. In reality, SBSLT is part of a campaign by the giant oil corporation Exxon Mobil to change public sentiment about its offshore drilling in California’s Central Coast.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon closed down its local offshore oil platforms in 2015, after a broken pipeline led to the catastrophic Refugio oil spill. Without that pipeline, Exxon has no way to move the oil it pumps from its offshore platforms. As a temporary replacement, the company wants to run oil trucks overland to refineries in central California. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Public support is not on Exxon’s side — a fall 2019 poll found 51% of county residents oppose Exxon’s trucking plan (compared with 32% supporting), and surveys show a majority of Californians oppose more offshore drilling — which might explain why SBSLT has paid for dozens of social media ads over the past two years. The ads have appeared on the screens of California Facebook and Instagram users around 3 million times, and often feature racially diverse school children and coverall-clad oil workers. The ads, of course, offer support for Exxon’s overland trucking plan. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will decide Exxon’s local fate, likely next year, but the Santa Barbara ad blitz is just one front in Exxon’s digital politicking onslaught — with battles taking place nationwide. The strategy suggests Exxon is girding for a prolonged fight to secure its increasingly tenuous “social license” to operate, despite the dire predictions of how continued fossil fuel business-as-usual is transforming the planet.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[A December 2019 Facebook ad suggests that restarting ExxonMobil's Santa Ynez Unit off the California Central Coast would increase local school funding, due to Exxon's property tax contributions. Santa Barbara for Safe and Local Transport spent between $5,000 and $6,000 to promote this ad. Local activists dispute whether offshore drilling is a safe or reliable source of property tax revenue. (Source: Facebook Ad Library)]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An In These Times investigation, supported by a year-long fellowship from the Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting, examined 11,622 Exxon social media ads containing around 350 distinct messages that ran in the two-year period from June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2020, and appeared on U.S. Facebook and Instagram users’ screens as many as 265 million times. Facebook (which owns Instagram) has allowed access to the ads it serves through its Ad Library since May 2018, created by Facebook after a number of transparency scandals. In These Times used Python scripts made publicly available by Facebook Research to search and download Ad Library data, then developed custom scripts to analyze and aggregate regional and demographic data. (The full methodology is publicly available here.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Exxon has spent more than any other major corporation on “social issues, elections, or politics” Facebook ads</b> (outside of Facebook itself), and is the country’s ninth-largest buyer of such ads overall: $15.6 million from May 7, 2018, to October 8, 2020. Almost every other top spender is an organization related to presidential campaigning. The top 100 pages are primarily politicians, nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations: The only major corporation outside of Exxon, Facebook and Instagram is Goldman Sachs, which spent less than a quarter of Exxon’s total.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In These Times examined about $10 million of that Exxon ad spend, a potent complement to the more than $23 million Exxon reportedly spent to directly lobby lawmakers in 2018 and 2019, and the $203 million it spent on traditional TV, radio, print and outdoor ads from June 2018 to June 2020, according to data compiled by Kantar Media’s AdSpender.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Digital advertising is “a very powerful tool to accelerate a range of strategies and tactics that [Exxon] already ha[s]</b>,” says Edward Collins, director of corporate lobbying at InfluenceMap, a London-based organization that analyzes and reports on how corporations influence climate policies. Through Facebook, Exxon can target its ads to users related to a particular region, demographic or other variable, communicating directly with any Facebook user who fits the company’s profile of who might be easily persuaded. Using techniques typically seen from activist groups and political campaigns, the ads then ask viewers to sign petitions, take surveys and contact lawmakers in support of Exxon, on issues from fracking to trade. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In many ways, this type of ad campaign on social media is more akin to lobbying or political organizing than advertising, and Exxon has worked with right-wing consulting firm Harris Media, a frequent collaborator with Republican electoral campaigns. Some states do require social media campaigns to be reported as lobbying efforts. Exxon tells In These Times it discloses all of its lobbying activities as required, but experts say inconsistent laws and enforcement means those requirements are generally scant.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The oil and gas industry is THE engine that powers America’s economy. Take action against ineffective, unnecessary regulations!”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The U.S. Department of the Interior is close to releasing the next iteration of its five-year offshore leasing plan. Opening these additional areas to drilling will enable the U.S. to access a greater portion of its significant energy resource potential.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America’s resurgent energy industry has achieved something few thought possible a decade ago - we are the world’s #1 energy producer! SIGN YOUR NAME: Support America’s strong energy industry!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“SURVEY: </b>The energy industry has been the backbone of America for decades. Do you think it’s important to keep our American energy industry strong? Sign your name today!”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Pipelines support more than 500,000 jobs in the United States. Defend them!”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Many of the Facebook and Instagram ads examined for this story include calls to action, such as a survey or petition. One of Exxon’s biggest campaigns, for example, told Facebook users to contact their lawmakers to support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreemen</b>t (commonly known as NAFTA) that President Donald Trump ratified earlier this year. Through the new agreement, the oil industry successfully lobbied for special protection allowing it to circumvent Mexico’s court system and use international arbitration in the event of an investment dispute. The campaign even had its own form letter to email to lawmakers. Exxon spent as much as $1.3 million on the campaign ads, appearing on users’ screens as many as 21.4 million times. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Because Facebook only publicly reports ad impressions — the number of times an ad appears, including multiple views by the same person — it is unclear how many people actually acted on the campaign.</b> Facebook also only offers a range of spending and impressions for each ad, rather than an exact amount. For example, on Dec. 20, 2019, Exxon published a series of ads with the text, “Pipelines support more than 500,000 jobs in the United States. Defend them!” For each individual post, Facebook provides a range for spending (for instance, $300 to $399) and impressions (for instance, 7,000 to 8,000). (The lower range is not reported on some ads, so this article presents the upper range unless otherwise noted.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even if people do not click an ad or sign a petition, Collins says, the ads “are probably still having an impact, especially if you are seeing it more than a few times — it’s like any other advertisement, after all.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When users do click, they are often sent to one of Exxon’s digital organizing websites. Exxchange.com, for example, is Exxon’s “advocacy community portal” complete with its own app for smartphones. Before reaching a promised petition, however, users must offer up their personal contact information, building Exxon’s database of supporters.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon declined to comment on how many people have signed up — Exxon says only that the Exxchange is “made up of energy supporters across the country” and “its broad membership is representative of the economic benefits of oil and natural gas in local communities across the nation.” But an ad that ran twice in March 2019 provides a clue. The ads are thank-yous for joining the Exxchange, suggesting they were served primarily to Exxchange members. According to Facebook data, the ads recorded 40,000 impressions, and more than 85% of those who saw the ad were older than 55. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon posted two ads in March 2019 thanking users for joining the Exxchange. (Source: Facebook Ad Library)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NationBuilder is a nonpartisan digital campaign startup company whose platform is the go-to technology for conservative and Republican causes, including the 2016 Trump campaign — and Exxchange.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NationBuilder (and similar companies favored by liberal causes) makes it quick and inexpensive for political campaigns to map detailed intelligence about, and maintain close contact with, supporters. These digital tools have transformed fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts by giving organizers targeted information about registered voters in every state. According to Exxon, the oil company “is just one of a number of corporations, associations and nonprofits that utilize digital grassroots advocacy as a necessary communications tool.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Exxchange website is built on NationBuilder and was developed by an employee of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Harris Media.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> That company is run by Republican consultant Vincent Harris, once dubbed in Bloomberg as “the man who invented the Republican Internet.” Harris presides over Harris Media in Austin, which develops digital campaigns from video to ghost tweets and text messages for clients. Harris emerged as an online savant during Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2012 primary race and has since continued his work with some of the most conservative Republicans in the country, including (briefly) the Trump 2016 campaign.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Harris’ clients have included Secure America Now, which calls itself a nonpartisan group dedicated to bringing “critical security issues to the forefront of the American debate” and has counted among its board of directors former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and national security firebrand John Bolton. The Secure America Now website features, among other things, anti-immigrant rhetoric and a conservative podcast series with such guests as former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">In another case, Exxon hired Harris Media for a campaign to help defeat an anti-fracking ballot measure in Colorado in 2018, known as Proposition 112</span>. The Exxon Mobil Colorado Issue Committee paid Harris Media $40,000 for that campaign alone, according to records on file with the Colorado Secretary of State, and paid Facebook as much as $20,000 to run the created ads. Those ads created more than a million impressions on targeted Colorado residents.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In another industry crossover, Rachel Cross, Exxon’s digital and social media advisor since April 2020, is a former Harris employee. Before that, she worked for Americans for Prosperity, a political arm of the Koch brothers. </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Abroad, the U.K.-based nonprofit group Privacy International has called out Harris Media for its “virulent” online ads with “law and order” themes during a 2017 presidential campaign in Kenya, where at least 33 people were killed in election violence. The organization also documented Harris Media’s work for extreme right-wing parties in Germany and France and with Israel’s Likud government.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lucy Purdon, acting policy director at Privacy International, says Harris Media is part of “<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">a whole ecosystem of companies that are all using this tactic of data collection, profiling and microtargeting in order to reach certain audiences.</span>” She adds, “There is no transparency and no accountability.” </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Look, how do you build a database?” Harris told Politico in a 2015 profile, explaining his methods. “You build a database with enthusiasm. How do you build enthusiasm? With a message. How do you push a message? With social media.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a 2018 presentation at a meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, Harris lamented how progressive politicians and advocacy groups like Earthjustice were shaping the narrative around the oil industry on social media. On the subsequent slides he laid out the way to neutralize critics and rally support:</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Before an issue arises Find OUR people, recruit OUR people, and educate them”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Using a bot to get physical address”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Activate your folks with tangible advocacy actions to sort and segment the database ahead of an issue”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Harris Media did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Exxon’s use of social media to lobby the public goes way beyond the rest of the industry.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As GOP digital strategist Mindy Finn explained to Politico: “[Digital organizing is] not just raw numbers. It’s analyzing and determining who those people [who are engaging] are and matching them back to voter profiles. … It’s not having the most Facebook likes and clicks, because the ‘who’ matters.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While only age, sex and state information for each ad is provided by the Facebook Ad Library, Facebook allows ad buyers to target ads based on actual online behavior, in addition to self-reported characteristics like work and education. It can target using online shopping and browsing history, for example, and whether a person is likely to engage with conservative or liberal political content. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“With that kind of targeting,” Lucy Purdon says, “you don’t know what information has been gathered about you, from who, and how you’ve been targeted.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Facebook says it’s not a one-to-one match of an identifiable individual,” says digital technology critic Sara Watson, “but the more elements that you start to target against,” the closer you can get to identifying individual people. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Exxon’s social media approach is unusually brazen, according to Collins of InfluenceMap</b>. He tells In These Times that Exxon’s use of social media to lobby the public goes way beyond the rest of the industry, a claim supported by the company’s abnormally high spending on Facebook political ads. Typically, such tactics would be used by political organizations or trade associations, not directly by corporations.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It does feel novel that the ads would not be about the product but the interests of the company,” Watson says. She likens Exxon’s use of social media ads to the workings of “a Super PAC, but on a much more granular scale.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the 11,622 Exxon ads examined for this article, on average, 16% of those who saw each ad were men older than 65, 16% women older than 65, and another 16% men between 55 and 64. In contrast, only about 15% were users 18 – 34 (of any gender).</b> Despite the fact that people older than 65 were a third of those who saw a typical Exxon ad, the group represents only 16% of the total U.S. population. Furthermore, younger people use social media more than older ones. Pew Research Center has used polling to track social media adoption for the past several years, reporting last year that 79% people 18- to 29-years-old are on Facebook and 67% use Instagram, compared to just 46% and 8%, respectively, of senior citizens. Although both Facebook and Exxon declined to comment on what filters Exxon uses to target its ads, this disproportionality suggests the ads are not being sent at random.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since Exxon’s primary business does not involve selling directly to individuals (the company decided to exit the gas station business in 2008), Watson says Exxon’s personal targeting could build a case for consumer protection, since “most consumers should not have a direct relationship with Exxon.” She adds, “So what right does Exxon have in collecting any consumer data at all, aside from aggregate information about consumer trends?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon declined to comment on how it uses individual data, but a few recent examples reveal how the oil industry as a whole is embracing the strategies Exxon has been relying upon.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Take the Texas controversy earlier this year over something called prorationing, the (now) rarely used government authority to regulate oil quotas to smooth out fluctuations in the U.S. oil market. The authority hasn’t been exercised in Texas since the 1970s, but this past spring, the Covid-19 shutdown led to an oil glut so large there was nowhere to store any more oil. The Trump administration ordered the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to fill “to the very top” in March, but his pro-oil policies weren’t enough to make up for the plummeting global demand. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Texas Railroad Commission considered limiting the number of barrels that oil companies could pump, but free marketeers — linked to the oil industry—succeeded in beating back that proposal.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Multiple energy companies circulated the same anti-proration form letter, including Exxon. The American Petroleum Institute (API), which includes Exxon among its members, fielded an operation under the name Energy Citizens that used the same language. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>API used a similar playbook in a 2017 Pennsylvania campaign, bankrolling an organization called Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts</b>. As revealed in a February Atlantic article, the group targeted residents with a barrage of Facebook ads, direct mail and phone calls. “Perhaps most surprising,” writer Robinson Meyer noted, “the industry has … actually borrowed tactics and ideas from climate activists.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s a really difficult question about what to do about” direct targeting of individuals with misleading information, says Kathie Treen, a Ph.D. candidate studying climate change misinformation at the University of Exeter, Devon, England. “It does raise all sorts of questions about freedom of speech and democratic rights. Is there a democratic right to be misinformed? Whose responsibility is it and who gets to say what counts, what is misleading and what isn’t, and whose responsibility it is to do something about it?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12.1 MILLION! That’s how many barrels of oil per day the United States produced in March. Sign up for energy updates and support America’s energy industry!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon sent the two ads featured above to social media users nearly 4 million times in April 2019. A year later, headlines about the company’s fortunes had taken a decidedly different turn. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Big Oil has fallen,” said May Boeve, 350.org executive director, in a triumphant statement emailed to the environmental group’s supporters August 25, the same day the Dow Jones Industrial Average kicked Exxon off its index. The Dow gave Exxon’s spot, which the company had held since 1928, to business software company Salesforce. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bloomberg called it “a stunning fall from grace,” noting Exxon’s “particularly rapid shift in fortunes” during the lethargic Covid economy. Exxon’s removal came a few weeks after the company reported a second straight quarterly loss. In August, the company announced it would suspend payments to the pension funds of its unionized workforce, though it continued paying stockholder dividends.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Exxon was the most valuable company in the United States as recently as 2011, but its stock began losing value well before the pandemic. “I’m done with fossil fuels.,” declared Wall Street guru Jim Cramer on the show Squawk Box in January. “They’re done. They’re just done. We’re starting to see divestment all over the world.</b>” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As easily accessible oil reserves decline, Exxon and the entire fossil fuel industry is shifting toward lower-profit “unconventional” activities, such as fracking — the process of fracturing shale rock and capturing the oil and gas that gets pushed out.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An August 2018 Exxon ad touts fracking.]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst with the progressive Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, says fracking has been “a complete and utter bust,” a “cash flow-negative” business with production costs so high they’ve driven many upstart independent drilling companies into bankruptcy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Are they moving into shale because shale is a great opportunity,” Williams-Derry says, “or is it that there is no better opportunity?” </b>He adds it’s only a matter of time before Exxon succumbs to competition from renewable energy companies and stockholders flee en masse.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the oil industry is attempting to market fracking as a climate-friendly “bridge fuel” to ease the transition from coal and oil to renewables. But new research suggests natural gas might actually be contributing more to carbon emissions than coal—because of gas flaring from wells and leaky pipelines. According to a 2020 study, 3.7% of the methane produced in Texas’ Permian Basin (where Exxon has invested in fracking) leaks away and never makes it to market, more than twice the official EPA estimate for the region. Climate scientists have already determined that if just 3.2% of gas leaks it becomes worse than coal for climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It breaks my heart,” says climate scientist Peter Kalmus, “that we are basically skewing the planet’s future for the next 10 million years in exchange for a few more years of fracking, of fossil fuel CEOs raking in record profits. … It’s just madness.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Exxon’s local fights aren’t all winners, like the time it spent $16,000 on ads urging Louisiana residents to “take action” in its fight against the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board over extending expiring industrial tax breaks in January 2019. Those ads were shown more than half a million times, though the company lost the vote</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the trend is clear: Exxon turns to social media to push its national agenda and try to reverse its general waning public support. Exxon spent up to $1.4 million on social media ads promoting pipeline jobs, for example, appearing 40 million times over the two-year period investigated for this article and particularly targeting residents in states such as Michigan, where pipeline construction is controversial. Other ads pushed for offshore drilling in federal waters and the new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For ads that were posted with the same or similar text multiple times, this shows the mean number of impressions and mean spending for ads with that text.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America is the world’s top energy producer. Do you want to see that continue?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SIGN the petition to add your name today!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">232,000 Colorado jobs are at risk. Tell Governor Polis to OPPOSE a moratorium on new oil and gas development.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In some states, political social media ads like Exxon’s may need to be disclosed as lobbying efforts. But many states — including Texas, where Exxon is based — have few rules or reporting requirements on social media spending. Even in states with regulations, enforcement is nearly non-existent. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Unlike direct lobbying efforts — in which Exxon would meet directly with lawmakers — “indirect” lobbying (also known as “grassroots”) generally refers to efforts that encourage other people to contact lawmakers, the types of campaigns that include petitions or that aim to influence public opinion about a ballot issue</b>. In some states, according to consulting firm State and Federal Communications, that definition includes ads on social media. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There really isn’t data [about how much indirect lobbying goes on in the U.S.] because every state is different,” Elizabeth Z. Bartz, State and Federal president and CEO, tells In These Times.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In New York, for instance, social media posts are considered lobbying (and subject to regulation and disclosure) when the post includes a “lobbying activity,” takes “a clear position on the issue in question” and attempts to “influence a public official,” according to a tip sheet from State and Federal. As Exxon tells In These Times, it “complies with all applicable laws and regulations and our lobbying reports are publicly available and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies and authorities. Where required, our reports to regulators and authorities disclose reportable grassroots lobbying activities.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But disclosure is often not required.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Facebook and other platforms aren’t going to care about it until the public cares.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Quite frankly, grassroots lobbying is probably the lion’s share of lobbying that goes on at the federal and state levels — and it goes entirely unreported,” says Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with the nonprofit group Public Citizen. <b>“As long as [lobbyists] don’t actually knock on the door in D.C. of a member of Congress, it’s not actually reported.</b>”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reported or not, indirect lobbying is changing the corporate lobbying business, as illustrated by the 2019 annual report of the New York State Joint Commission. In New York state alone in 2019, 24% of registered lobbyists had expanded into indirect lobbying efforts, though only 1% engage exclusively in indirect lobbying. Out of a total of $16.8 million that lobbyists spent on advertising in 2019, digital advocacy and websites accounted for $3.6 million, surpassing the $2.9 million spent on print advertising.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Holman adds that the extent of Exxon’s social media operation “probably is evidence that [indirect lobbying] is far more prevalent today than it used to be. Social media now and the internet provide a perfect vehicle for deceptive advertising.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Companies will do it until they can’t,” says Sara Watson. “Facebook and other platforms aren’t going to care about it until the public cares.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the mid-2000s, there was an attempt in Congress to pass a federal <b>indirect lobbying</b> disclosure requirement, but it was beaten by what Holman describes as a massive astroturf campaign. Holman adds that similar proposals do exist, but whether they even have a chance depends on the outcome of the presidential election and “whether or not the Democrats are sincere” about reining in corporate abuses.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I’m 24 and I worry every single day about what will become of my future if the oil companies keep drilling.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even if legal disclosure requirements are passed, Watson says, “there are huge questions about the enforceability of these laws,” particularly when it comes to platforms like Facebook with a business model utterly reliant on targeted online advertising.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since 2011, a coalition of more than 70 investor groups have pushed for more disclosure of all corporate lobbying efforts, submitting more than 400 lobbying proposals to dozens of companies in the past nine years. Only seven proposals have received majority votes, but the issue is gaining momentum. Multiple such proposals have been submitted to Exxon by the United Steelworkers, including one earlier this year. Exxon recommended shareholders vote against it. It failed to pass but will be resubmitted next year.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“ENERGY SURVEY: 94% of federal offshore acreage is off limits to development. Do you support expanding access to offshore energy production? Answer the survey today!”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2019, 58% of the oil refined in California was imported from other countries. Take action and support energy production and local jobs right here in California. Support American Energy in Santa Barbara County. Make your voice heard.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you have not had a chance, don’t forget to submit your comment letter in support of ExxonMobil’s Interim Trucking Permit. They’re due by 12pm on August 31st!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The address Facebook provides for Santa Barbara for Safe and Local Transport is the same address listed for ExxonMobil by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon’s efforts to use social media to shore up public support are being put to the test in Santa Barbara. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The issue concerns Exxon’s Santa Ynez Unit (SYU), consisting of three offshore oil platforms off the Santa Barbara coast and an onshore processing facility at Las Flores Canyon. In 2015, the pipeline Exxon used to send oil inland to refineries — operated by the Plains All American Pipeline company — spilled 140,000 gallons of crude onto the coastline and into the ocean near Refugio State Beach. It wasn’t the first spill along this breathtaking stretch of Pacific Coast. The Santa Barbara Spill in 1969 was the largest single event in state history. Historians say it helped launch the modern environmental movement and the first Earth Day held the following year.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Without that pipeline, Exxon’s three offshore SYU platforms were retired. Exxon applied, in 2017, for a temporary trucking permit that would enable the company to reopen these wells. If approved, the company would run up to 70 trucks each day (about one every 20 minutes) on Central Coast roads from SYU to California refineries.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On August 12, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission issued its long-awaited recommendations based on the environmental impact analysis on Exxon’s plan. A public hearing was scheduled for early September, but before that could happen, Phillips 66 announced it was closing its Santa Barbara County refinery — which Exxon had intended as its primary destination for the trucked oil. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A possible alternate path would be a longer route to the Plains Pentland Terminal in neighboring Kern County. In its environmental analysis, however, the commission had suggested Exxon abandon Pentland altogether “to limit truck travel, reduce air emissions, and reduce the likelihood of accidents resulting in spills due to fewer miles traveled.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The commission may still approve Exxon’s plan, however, and the next step would be a final decision from the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors. Errin Briggs, supervising planner in the Planning Commission’s Energy Division, says the project is still feasible depending on what modifications Exxon makes to its proposal and that county officials will have to weigh the risks of the oil against area economic benefits.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Santa Barbara for Safe and Local Transport (SBSLT), meanwhile, launched in December 2018. SBSLT’s direct ties to Exxon are apparent. The Santa Maria Sun, a local newspaper, spoke to Exxon Mobil’s then-SYU asset manager for a profile on SBSLT, and reported that SBSLT is “a joint effort between ExxonMobil and interested Santa Barbara County community members”; the group’s website says it’s “Powered by Exxon SYU.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[Oil workers and protestors pack the Santa Barbara County Building May 6, 2019, at a hearing on Exxon’s application to truck crude oil through Santa Barbara County. (Gabriel Vargas / www.gabrielvargasdp.com)]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The SBSLT website describes itself as “a coalition of residents and taxpayers, including local businesses, teachers, law and safety enforcement and ExxonMobil employees.” Exxon does claim support from several unions and business chambers, about 30 businesses and a half dozen local leaders, including some current and former elected officials. To date, SBSLT has spent more than $44,000 on social media advertising, and Exxon has spent more than $2 million in a variety of offshore drilling ads through its primary page.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We need people to be realistic about the decisions that must be made to live here,” Bob Setbacken admonished other local residents in a comment thread last year on the SBSLT page. He is a retired Santa Barbara resident, according to his Facebook profile, but didn’t return a phone call requesting an interview.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As of October 19, SBSLT’s Facebook page had only 408 likes and 422 followers in a county of 450,000. The page has drawn the ire of local residents. </b>“SYU is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Santa Barbara resident Maureen McFadden writes May 22. Amy Foss, another commenter on the page, calls SBSLT “an oil company propaganda page, not a ‘community.’ ”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In October 2019, Facebook said in an online post that it would be adding more information about who is behind Facebook pages, including adding confirmed page owner information and verified city, phone number or website. In October 2020, the SBSLT page continues to be listed as a “community organization,” and under the “Page Transparency” section, it reads: “Santa Barbara for Safe and Local Transport is responsible for this Page,” making no reference to Exxon. But the address provided for SBSLT in the Facebook Ad Library is an ExxonMobil address.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If we find a Page is concealing its ownership in order to mislead people, we will require it to show more information about who is behind it,” said a spokesperson for Facebook in an emailed statement. “We’re investigating if these Pages follow our rules.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beyond Facebook, opposition to Exxon’s Santa Barbara plans is fierce. The opposition has its own grassroots coalition of environmental and community groups, local government supporters and more than 80 businesses. They fear how another oil spill could impact the region’s tourism and fishing industries. Other locals complain the roads just aren’t made to truck that much oil.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Santa Barbara, as it does across the country, Exxon hopes to turn the tide on its pumping, trucking and fracking through its laxly regulated social media lobbying efforts; its political consultants and campaign software; and its well-funded and heavily motivated supporters. Exxon’s $16-million ad spending spree underscores that the fight against the fossil fuel industry is far from over.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stephanie Prufer, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, says she doesn’t think Exxon’s strategy will work for the company, especially among youth.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I’m not surprised that Exxon is targeting the demographic that they are,” she says, referring to the fact that Exxon ads disproportionately appear on the screens of older social media users. “They know they are not going to be able to get the support of people who are afraid for their own futures. I’m 24 and I worry every single day about what will become of my future if the oil companies keep drilling.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The science is so clear,” she adds. “We need to keep oil in the ground. We need to end drilling on our coast, not revive it.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article was supported by a grant from the Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting. David DeMaris served as a technology consultant on this story. Juan Caicedo contributed fact-checking.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CHRISTINE MACDONALD is an investigative reporter and author, whose work focuses climate change, environmental sustainability and greenwashing. She was a 2019-2020 fellow with the Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting.</font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><a href="https://www.desmog.com/s3ep3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://www.desmog.com/</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">s3ep3</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/</span></a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Featuring: Bob Brulle, environmental sociology researcher at Brown University; Christine Arena, former Edelman <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> executive; and clips from Daniel Edelman, founder of Edelman <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">WWI</span> news clip about Nazi propaganda: </span>These German pictures, destined for certain neutral countries, were intended to spread Nazi propagada, but Dr. Goebbels tripped up badly, very badly…</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>Just a few months after their meetings with Ivy Ledbetter Lee, the Third Reich’s propaganda machine kicked into high gear. Within a year they were at war, and using techniques they’d learned from Lee and others to cover up atrocities and to sell the German public – not only on the war effort but also the superiority of the Aryan race. In the final months of World War <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">II</span>, that propaganda took a very Ivy Lee-style turn into completely made up news stories about German wins in battles that had never even happened.. In those months, a young Jewish American reporter was charged with analyzing and combatting those claims. That man’s name was Daniel Edelman. Here he is, remembering those days.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Daniel Edelman</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Doing the psychological warfare thing was fascinating because we were offsetting the claims made by the Germans. It was all lies…. And we had to disclaim them.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>Edelman would ultimately spend four years working in psychological warfare. He became an expert on propaganda, and how to combat it. And he put that expertise to work for American industries, from beauty products and Sarah Lee to cigarettes and Big Oil. He added several new tactics to Big Oil’s propaganda machine, including a unique blend of lobbying and media relations, that he called “marketing public relations, and a fun new thing called <b>“astroturfing” that involves creating fake “grassroots” groups. </b>That’s the story we’re going to get into today.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> I’m Amy Westervelt and this is Drilled, Season 3: The Mad Men of Climate Denial.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Daniel Edelman was born in 1920 in Brooklyn. He was a diligent student and something of a<b> boy genius, so by 16 he was already at university. He ultimately went to Columbia Journalism School, </b>and spent the first year or so of his professional life as a journalist, mostly covering sports and human interest stories.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S.</span> joined World War <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">II</span>, Edelman wanted to enlist but his poor eyesight got in the way. Within a year, so many infantrymen had died the military no longer cared about things like eyesight, it needed bodies. Edelman was drafted. But his vision still made him ineligible for combat. And his b<b>ackground in journalism made him a perfect fit for counter-intelligence.</b> He was sent for training, and then on to join the Fifth Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company in London.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">WWII</span> mobile radio tape: </span>“This is your American expeditionary station, in the field with the fifth army.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>After learning for a time in London, <b>Edelman was tapped by a former Columbia classmate to join him in France, helping to prepare a nightly analysis of German propaganda. Edelman was soon in charge of the entire operation.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Daniel Edelman:</span> He says it’s a good job. You work in a truck and in psychological warfare and I said fine.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">W</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">hen the fighting ended, Edelman was transferred to Berlin to help shut down the German propaganda effort and state-owned media. He actually helped start the popular magazine Der Spiege</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">l which he and a few other Americans ran for a few months before turning over to German ownership. For a while, Edelman thought he might stay in Germany and take a job as a reporter there. Eventually his family dissuaded him and he returned home. And then, Like Ivy Lee before him, and plenty of journalists since, Edelman struggled with whether he wanted to report the news or make the news, live the modest life of a journalist or take advantage of the burgeoning post-war economy in America and get into the business side of communications.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By this point he had worked in psychological warfare for years and he knew that expertise would be valuable in the public relations business. So he went for it, and took a job for his brother-in-law’s music label<b>. Through that job he met the folks behind the Toni hair company, who eventually hired him to run their <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> department, which brough Edelman to Chicago.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> guy at Toni, he took the company’s ad campaign – which twin has the Toni? – on the road, with six sets of twins. The campaign featured side-by-side twins, both with perms, and dared customers to guess which had a salon perm and which had the Toni home perm.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Toni ad: </span>Which twin had the Toni? You can’t tell? Nobody can. Not yet, anyway. But wait. Only Toni gives you this twin guarantee.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>Media tours had been part of political campaigns forever, but product companies had never bothered with them. Edelman saw that as a missed opportunity to score hundreds of local press hits and move product in communities across the country. And he was right. In addition to getting coverage in local newspapers, radio and <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">TV</span>, at one point during the tour the twins were arrested, in Oklahoma, for “performing salon services without a license.” Edelman turned it into a national news story that made Toni a household name.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It also paved the way for another new approach to P.R., one that included a bit of lobbying on the side. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Oklahoma arrests happened because salon owners were pissed about these home perm kits taking their business. Salon owners in states across the country were mobilizing to push for laws that would ban kits like the </span><span class="caps" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">TO</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ni kit. So Edelman got busy meeting with state legislators and applying some of those</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> psy-opps moves, mocking the salon owners and their proposals until they were literally laughed out of state building after state building. A couple years later, he started his own firm, calling it Daniel J. Edelman and Associates, with Toni as his first client. But within a few years, he had signed several huge clients, including Mobil Oil, Sarah Lee, Heinz, and several tobacco companies and tobacco trade groups. His hunch was proving correct: What he’d learned about psychological warfare was extremely valuable to American industry.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If that sounds like an exaggeration, you don’t have to take my word for it. Edelman’s son Richard bragged about this history in a tribute to his father on the Edelman website.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Richard Edelman clip: </span>My dad was a real New York City kid. Born in Brooklyn, went on to high school, Columbia College, and Columbia Journalism School. He went on to work in Europe in the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S.</span> army for four years in psychological warfare, and when he got out, somehow the cumulation of all these experiences led him to become the father marketing <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">P.R.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>“Marketing public relations” was the term Edelman came up with to describe his 360-degree approach to <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> – it wasn’t just media relations, it was also legislator relations, and true public relations where you were creating a direct relationship between the company and the public. One way to do that was to pretend to be part of the public yourself.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Christine Arena: </span>I’m a 20-year communications industry professional. I’ve worked in corporate <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> for a long time, on lots of different kinds of accounts. Including fossil fuel accounts, which I hated.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That’s</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Christine Arena. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">She was an executive vice president at Edelman’s firm, by that time just called Edelman. Arena headed up the firm’s sustainability division right at the same time that it was representing the American Petroleum Institute. She and a few other executives at the Firm made the news when they quit en masse over the companies dealings with fossil fuel clients. She can’t share any specific inside information about her time there, so she’s speaking here generally about the firm’s reputation and about the techniques deployed by the fossil fuel industry.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Christine Arena: </span>That creation of fake, grassroots support which came to be known as astroturfing. Edelman was genius at doing that.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>Edelman and his firm worked with multiple tobacco and oil clients, all big fans of “astroturfing.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Christine Arena: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So fossil fuel industry organizations fund these fake front groups and they give these fake front groups, these names that sound there, like perfectly innocuous names like the California Drivers Alliance or the Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy. And these groups there are hundreds of them are usually secretly run by lobbying organizations like those two I just mentioned are</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> actually run by the <a href="https://www.desmog.com/western-states-petroleum-association" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none;">Western States Petroleum Association</a>, which is a top lobbyist for the oil industry. And that group, the Western States Material Petroleum Association, is in turn funded by members including <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">BP</span>, Shell, <a href="https://www.desmog.com/exxonmobil-funding-climate-science-denial" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none;">Exxon Mobil</a>, Chevron and Occidental, among others. So it’s fake activism, it’s corporate money posing as activism. And and it’s designed to undo all of the progress that real activism makes.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Working for both tobacco and fossil fuel clients,<b> Edelman also invented litigation <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span></b>. Basically making his clients’ cases in the media. A key part of this was what Arena calls the “attack the messenger” strategy.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Christine Arena: T</span>hey are relentless at the attack the messenger strategy. This has been ongoing for like 30 years. So the most effective attack the messenger strategy to me is like the use of labeling. So, for example, if climate scientists refer to facts and data rather than ideology, then they’re labeled liberal elites. If climate scientists or activists are alarmed by the data, then they’re labeled alarmists. If climate scientists apply for grant dollars to fund their research, then they are accused of being in it for the money.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Tom DeLay: </span>The report is made by scientists that get paid to further the politics of global warming.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Rick Santorum: </span>If there was no climate change, we’d have a lot of scientists looking for work. The reality is a lot scientists are driven by the money.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">President Donald Trump: </span>All of this with the global warming, and da da da, a lot of it’s a hoax. It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money making industry, ok?</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Amy Westervelt</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">: </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Arena says that while tobacco used the same strategy, the fossil fuel guys were just better at it</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Big Tobacco would attack the whistleblowers personally, Big Oil – they attacked the whole idea of fossil fuels being any sort of problem. Because they’d spent decades crafting the narrative that fossil fuel is an essential part of American life, it was easy to call anyone who thought otherwise un-American, effectively politicizing the issue.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course we know that Big Oil learned new tactics from Big Tobacco, too, namely in the form of science denial. And Daniel Edelman was right there, too. In the 1970s Edelman proposed an aggressive campaign for the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">RJ</span> Reynolds tobacco company. It contained more than a few echoes of the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> giant’s time in the trenches of psychological warfare.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Salem tobacco ad: </span>Country soft, country fresh, that’s the taste you get wherever you light up a Salem, because Salem genty’ air-softens every puff, for the smoothest, most refreshing taste of any filter cigarette.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>The proposal begins by suggesting, for example that, “The non-smoker must be made to feel that the smoker cares about him. It is our sense that the non-smoker is divided into two general groups – those who don’t really care if others smoke; and those who are growing more hostile to anyone who does smoke. We need to woo the former group to our side; we need to soften the opposition of the latter. Step 2 is pure science denial. Edelman recommends “We need to pierce the solidly-assumed notion that no additional research is necessary on the subject of cigarette smoking, Imaginative and creative ways must be found to correct this Impression.” Of course one of those creative ways is to create doubt. Edelman proposes: “We need to counter public impressions based on oversimplification by dramatizing pinpointed areas of study that are mysteries to researchers and scientists on both sides of this issue.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That proposal won Edelman a contract, and the firm would go on to work for Big Tobacco for more than a decade. If the science approach they recommended for tobacco sounds an awful lot like the climate science denial that starts showing up a few years later, there’s a reason for it. Edelman also worked for several fossil fuel clients, and the American Petroleum Institute. That’s important because<b> by the 1980s the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">API</span>, Ivy Lee’s brainchild, was pushing the industry away from researching climate change and toward denying </b>it. Former Exxon scientist Richard Werthamer told us that in Season 1. </font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Richard Werthamer: </span>The key is the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/american-petroleum-institute" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none;">American Petroluem Institute</a>.</span> Exxon had a huge influence, rightly so, in the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">API</span> and I think the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">API</span> changed its tune, and probably other majors went along with that.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Amy Westervelt</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">: </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">And you can hear exactly the same sort of strategy that Edelman suggested for <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">RJ</span> Reynolds in this speech from then-ExxonMobil <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CEO</span> and American Petroleum Institute president Lee Raymond in 1996:</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Lee Raymond:</span> Proponents of the global warming theory, say that higher levels of greenhouse gases, especially <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CO2</span>, are causing world temperatures to rise and that burning fossil fuels is the reason. By scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human activities affect the climate.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>You heard that right? Raymond said the evidence that humans contribute to climate change is “inconclusive.” But this speech was in 1996, long past the point where Exxon’s own scientists had said climate change would cause catastrophic damage for some percentage of the planet in the not so distant future if emissions weren’t curbed.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the late 1990s, Daniel Edelman’s son Richard took over as <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CEO</span>, but Dan remained involved for the rest of his life.</b> In various interviews, and in Edelman’s biography, Richard said he talked to his dad daily about the business. They didn’t always agree, of course. When he took the reins, Richard almost immediately decided to drop tobacco clients, for example. The writing was on the wall about tobacco by that point, and what it cost the firm in tobacco billings it more than made up for in good <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> and new clients.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The firm did continue to apply the same strategies for Big Oil for several more years though, including, as </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Daniel Edelman’s biography puts it, “putting a human face on Big Oil for the American Petroleum Institute.”</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">American Petroleum Institute ad:</span> Leading the world in oil and gas production. I vote to keep it going. With the right policies we can produce, refine and supply, more oil and natural gas.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Edelman picked up where Ivy Lee had left off, continuing to tie the extraction of oil, coal, and gas to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, And again, it’s hard not to see the roots of Edelman’s World War <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">II</span> work in the approach the firm crafted for Big Oil. Suddenly anyone who wasn’t pro-oil was anti-American</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Daniel Edelman died in 2013, </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">but the firm that bares his name continued to apply the same tactics that he’d been using effectively for decades. <b>In 2014, Greenpeace leaked several documents that showed an</b></span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> aggressive campaign that Edelman had come up with for TransCanada</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> to push the</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Keystone pipeline</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. It includes all the same tactics we’ve talked about here: aggressive opposition research, fake grassroots groups, attacking the messenger, and a big nationalistic messaging push. </span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2015, the firm announced that it would no longer be working with coal companies or any company that denied climate science. By that point, they’d already lost not only executives but also clients, and the reputational risk was just too great. However, that same year</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">, Edelman spun off its internal advertising group, Blue, which continued to work for the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">API</span>.</span></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">American Petroleum Institute ad: </span>More secure American jobs opportunity and economic growth for our children and grandchildren, that’s why this election I’m voting for American energy.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">For all the rah rah America stuff the oil industry pushes, these campaigns often work to subvert democracy. In his most recent research, environmental sociologist Bob </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Brulle found that the biggest indicator of fossil fuel <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> spend was the likelihood of any sort of climate legislation passing</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Bob Brulle:</span> When you look at their public relations spending, the more the more Congress starts to have hearings and write bills dealing with climate change, the more they start spending on public relations the next year. In other words, you start having hearings this year. Next year, you’re going to have a public relations onslaught from the oil companies, telling you how good they are, how they’re so responsible and good corporate citizens, and that whatever problem it is that you’re talking about, they’re right on top of it and handling it. And the hidden messages is: so therefore, there’s no need to regulate us at all.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In some cases they move even faster. As the Washington Post just reported, the oil guys just dropped a $1million targeted ad buy the day after a couple of current Democratic candidates said they might ban fracking. And in 2008, when Demcrats won control of all branches of the government heading into the global climate negotiations in Copenhagen, they were spending preemptively.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> The <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">API</span> alone spent a whopping $75 million with Edelman.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Bob Brulle: </span>I don’t think there’s any other way to call it other than propaganda, which is a one sided message designed to create a certain impression, that’s exactly what it was. And it’s very focused, targeted, extremely well done and apparently pretty effective.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Amy Westervelt: </span>So we went from Ivy Lee working with Standard Oil to World War I propaganda to Lee advising Hitler and Goebbels to Daniel Edelman learning the tools of the trade by studying and countering the Third Reich’s propaganda in World War <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">II</span>, and bringing those tactics right back to Big Oil.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Next time we’ll meet another key architect of the propaganda apparatus, Herb Schmertz, the <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span> legend who took on Mobil Oil after Edelman. And guess what? Schmertz also started out in military intelligence. He wound up adding so many new bells and whistles to the propaganda machine that we’re gonna spend two episodes delving into his story. See you then.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.9rem; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For more, visit the <a href="https://www.drillednews.com/podcasts" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">DrilledNews podcast website here</a>.</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see heated podcast</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">substack: <span style="" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px">Edelman, the largest PR firm on earth, has faced increased scrutiny for helping</span><span style="" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"> </span><a href="https://gizmodo.com/the-pr-firms-doing-big-oil-s-dirty-work-1848143802" rel="" style="font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, " segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px" rgb="rgb">fossil fuel clients</a><span style="" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"> </span><span style="" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px">— including Exxon, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, and others — mislead the public about climate change.</span></font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s a dangerous game that the company has played for years. As documented in investigative journalist Amy Westervelt’s podcasts, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s3-ep-3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-another/id1439735906?i=1000463881296" rel="" style="">Drilled</a> and <a href="https://rigged.ghost.io/daniel-edelman/" rel="" style="">Rigged</a>, Edelman’s work for tobacco clients in the 1970s pioneered dangerously deceptive marketing practices — from creating fake grassroots groups that refute environmental and public health concerns to helping companies manufacture the illusion of scientific doubt. Its work for Exxon has even been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/business/media/a-p-r-giant-is-caught-between-climate-pledges-and-fossil-fuel-clients.html" rel="" style="">cited</a> in Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s lawsuit against the oil giant over its “tobacco industry-style campaign to sow doubt and confusion among the public.” </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2015, Edelman announced that it would no longer “accept client assignments that aim to deny climate change.” But the PR giant’s current list of clients includes some of the same fossil fuel polluters and interest groups <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/house-oversight-subpoenas-big-oil/" rel="" style="">subpoenaed</a> as part of an ongoing Congressional investigation into climate disinformation. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now Edelman is the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f90562d6-6673-457a-901e-257eb4578d98" rel="" style="">target of mounting activist pressure</a> to drop its polluting clients, led by Clean Creatives, a group of communications professionals who want the industry to rethink what its work means for the climate. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Friday, Edelman concluded a piece of its response to that pressure: a 60-day internal climate review of its client roster. Instead of dropping its “emissions intensive” clientele, the company is now <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f90562d6-6673-457a-901e-257eb4578d98" rel="" style="">promising</a> to evaluate those relationships and “<a href="https://www.edelman.com/insights/6-am-climate-change-our-way-forward" rel="" style="">formalize clear criteria for climate communications</a>.” As of yet, the company hasn’t provided any specifics.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I spoke with Christine Arena, a founding member of Clean Creatives and a former executive vice president at Edelman, who was one of several employees to leave the company in 2015 over its stance on climate change. Our conversation about Edelman’s latest statements, and the PR industry’s predicament as a whole, edited for length and clarity, is below. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EK: You have a <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristineArena/status/1459924592915476480" rel="" style="">great thread on Twitter</a> explaining the difference between climate disinformation and greenwashing. How do you distinguish these practices from just exaggerating in order to sell a product?</font></strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CA: The key thing is that you're giving the audience a false indication of what's going on in reality, and that gap between what’s communicated and reality is actually potentially harmful. Fossil fuel products are some of the most dangerous products in the world. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/19/pollution-kills-9-million-people-each-year-new-study-finds/" rel="" style="">Nine million people</a> die just from pollution each year. Climate change <a href="https://www.who.int/heli/risks/climate/climatechange/en/" rel="" style="">causes</a> 150,000 or more deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization. Those products are more dangerous than tobacco and opioids combined, but fossil fuel marketers face none of the same restrictions that tobacco and opioid marketers do. They don't have to put a warning label on their products. They can do massive media buys so that you can't avoid their messages if you log on to Twitter or Facebook. And then a majority of the industry’s messaging that's environmentally focused contains, according to <a href="https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/America_Misled.pdf" rel="" style="">peer reviewed research</a>, factual omissions, distortions, or greenwashing, creating a false impression of what the industry is really doing.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These ads minimize risks that consumers face, and play up efforts that are de minimis compared to where the majority of the industry's investments are really going. There's that famous IEA statistic that shows that <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-oil-and-gas-industry-in-energy-transitions" rel="" style="">less than 1%</a> of the industry's investments are actually funneled to green or low carbon activities. A majority are invested in fossil fuel exploitation. When most of the industry's messaging sends an opposite message, that's an egregious gap. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that is the argument, by the way, behind the state attorney general lawsuits that are all filed on the basis of false and deceptive advertising and messaging. These state AGs feel that they have enough evidence to suggest that this is fraudulent, potentially, and dangerous to people. I think that's really important for everyone to understand — that it's not just some activists that are saying this. There's really substance behind this argument and it's why there's a congressional investigation into this whole situation as well. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How does it work when a fossil fuel client hires a PR company? Who is coming up with the concepts and language to greenwash the industry’s operations?</font></strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I can tell you that generally, the client comes to an agency with a request for proposal, which will say, here are the challenges we face, here are the objectives, and here's what we want to do. So, say it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BnZThae7n0&t=10s" rel="" style="">Exxon and blue-green algae</a> — they'll want to create impressions that are positive for Exxon and let the world know of their green investments. In the RFP, the client will often not willingly reveal what's really going on underneath the hood. The agency's job is to take that RFP and say, okay, well, let's create a campaign that shows that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/paidpost/exxonmobil/the-future-of-energy-it-may-come-from-where-you-least-expect.html" rel="" style="">biofuels are the future</a> — that ExxonMobil is all about biofuels. There is not a culture within agencies that encourages questioning the client.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But when we see Exxon spending <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-sees-green-gold-in-algae-based-fuels-skeptics-see-greenwashing-11633258802" rel="" style="">more money promoting</a> algae than actually investing in it, that's a factual omission, but it's a potentially egregious omission that gives the world a false impression, which allows Exxon to continue doing what it does without regulatory intervention or interference.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that's really the game here. They’re trying to drive public opinion and maintain their social license to operate. Their job is to achieve the client's objective. But we've really reached the point where we have to look at this through a different lens. I feel for agencies because that hasn't been part of our culture. But at this point we need more self policing from within the industry itself. And currently the industry actually seems to be unwilling to do that.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite all of the activity now, none of the big CEOs have come forward to say, yes, we acknowledge this problem of greenwashing and climate disinformation, or yes, we believe we played a role in perpetuating that problem. We need leadership inside agencies to step forward, acknowledge it, and then implement strategies to contain it.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Speaking of which, what’s your take on Edelman’s 60-day review process and the statements they put out about its conclusion last week?</font></strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I am less concerned about whether or not Edelman develops criteria to decide which clients it works and doesn't work with. What I'm more concerned with is how they're servicing these clients. Richard Edelman is on record. He did a Financial Times interview, and he <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f90562d6-6673-457a-901e-257eb4578d98" rel="" style="">said</a>, “we found zero examples of us erring on facts.” But that is of course a dismissive comment — the entire point of climate disinformation and greenwashing really is that no sentence is 100 percent false, but together it creates this misleading impression of a company or an industry and its climate efforts. </font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is an opportunity for Edelman and for all agencies representing these clients to really look at this issue. I know that they've hired sustainability experts, but that's not the issue. We need people that are seasoned at evaluating environmental messaging, figuring out, you know, has this claim failed to disclose negative information? It might be truthful, but does it distract consumers from the organization's greater environmental impact as a whole? Is the overall marketing budget larger than the investment in the environmental initiative? Those sorts of questions.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As someone who worked on the inside, what can be done to put real pressure on Edelman and other PR firms to stop promoting the oil industry’s spin? What is most motivating to them? </font></strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think a higher level, industry-wide conversation might be really motivating. Like folks, what do we stand for? What standards are we going to uphold? What does climate leadership mean? The industry is greenwashing itself, and becoming very comfortable using sustainability rhetoric and language, which they think connotes some sort of expertise. But again, looking at the data, looking at all of the campaigns, looking at all the peer reviewed research that shows that many of these environmental messages contain some sort of distorted perspective. Climate disinformation is considered such a problem that we have all of this legal activity and lawmaker intervention around it. What does it say about us that we haven't come together as an industry to acknowledge this crisis?</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This sort of change needs to start at the top. I think already for so many employees, especially younger employees, climate is a paramount concern, but their management is old guard. I think just continuing to question leadership and ask good questions is the next step.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" apple="Apple" color="Color" emoji="Emoji" symbol="Symbol" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The action that agencies can take now is to include the fine print and proactively correct those factual omissions, distortions and greenwash before lawmakers force you to do so. There's a lot that agencies can do today to make headway on this issue. I think it's just a matter of them being motivated enough to do so.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://www.desmog.com/2021/11/30/pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle/</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from coining “clean coal” to “carbon footprint,” public relations firms have been instrumental in shaping the public discourse around climate and energy policy, and as a new study underlines, their powerful efforts have flown under the radar for too long.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PR firms have played a key role in obstructing action on climate change over the past 30 years, engaging in PR campaigns on behalf of the fossil fuel industry to not only <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/10/29/dirty-dozen-documents-big-oil-secret-climate-knowledge-part-1/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">downplay the seriousness of climate change</a>, but also to position industry-favored solutions as the preferred course of action. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">A new peer-reviewed study, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-021-03244-4" target="blank" rel="noreferrer noopener external" data-wpel-link="external" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Climatic Change</em></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </em>on November 30 by Robert J. Brulle and Carter Werthman of Brown University, analyzes the role that PR firms have played in the climate misinformation ecosystem between 1988 and 2020.</b> The study looked at 214 organizations across five major sectors — coal/steel/rail, oil & gas, utilities, renewable energy, and the environmental movement — and found that electric utilities hired and used PR firms the most out of any other sector analyzed, followed by oil and gas.  </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the same time, those organizations used a very small number of big names in the PR world, including Edelman, Glover Park Group, Cerrell, and Ogilvy. Of more than 600 PR firms analyzed, the top 25 accounted for nearly a third of the engagement on climate work with companies and nonprofits.  </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The fossil fuel industry’s obstruction of climate action goes beyond misinformation and climate denial. A major part of the effort to obstruct climate action involves enhancing the positive public reputation for the fossil fuel companies and emphasizing the benefits of continued fossil fuel use,” said Robert Brulle, visiting professor at Brown University and co-author on the article. “From the severity of climate impacts to policies to address the problem, PR firms are a big part of the corporate propaganda machinery that guides the way Americans think about the issue.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The authors wrote that while much has been written about the role of right-wing think tanks, dark money, and corporate power in misleading the public on climate change, very little is understood about how PR firms fit into the story. They are often viewed as passive players in climate obfuscation, rather than active agents, which ignores the influential role they play in “conceptualization, design, and execution of communications and political campaigns,” the study said. PR firms intentionally try to remain invisible. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The study aims to shine a light on some of the most prominent companies, the role of which the authors say is “on par with conservative think tanks or environmental groups” in terms of influence over public climate discussions. The PR firms “remain unexamined, and not held to account for their activities.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This study adds a new cast of characters to our understanding of the key actors in climate change politics,” the study states. “Along with ExxonMobil, Koch Enterprises, Greenpeace, the Heartland Institute, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, we need to add in PR firms such as <b>Edelman, Glover Park, Cerrell, and Ogilvy.</b>” </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Edelman stood out with the most PR “engagements,” and also accounted for most of the PR work from the oil and gas industry.</b> The researchers found that Edelman was the only PR firm that worked across all five sectors identified in the study. It is relatively rare for PR companies to do work for both the oil industry and an environmental group, for example. Edelman could not be reached for comment in time for publication....While most sectors that encompass the fossil fuel industry and its affiliates long-ago eschewed outright climate denial as an overarching strategy to derail climate action, corporate entities have deployed a range of...other strategies to slow or block threatening policies. The most common PR tactic is “corporate image promotion,” or greenwashing, while explicit climate denial itself was rarely used, according to the analysis. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This study finds that PR firms are responsible for phrases that have become commonplace, such as “clean coal,” “renewable natural gas,” “coal country,” and “carbon footprint.” These concepts have become “taken-for-granted discourse regarding climate change, and subsequently shaped the public debate about the issue,” the authors note....Once such phrases catch on, they become a conventional way of framing the topic. For instance, U.S. Presidents from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/24/energy.uselections2008...The tactics used by PR firms include paid media campaigns, earned media placements, so-called grassroots events (or astroturfing), and social media campaigns. DeSmog and " /><a href="https://rigged.ghost.io/start/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">others in climate journalism</a> have long been working to expose how corporate interests employ these PR industry techniques to manipulate public opinion on climate and energy, from <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2014/11/17/edelman-transcanada-astroturf-documents-expose-oil-industry-s-broader-attack-public-interest/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Edelman’s 2014 work on behalf of a TransCanada tar sands pipeline</a> to <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2020/12/09/fti-consulting-fossil-fuel-pr-group-behind-europe-hydrogen-lobby/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">FTI Consulting’s recent efforts</a> to sell hydrogen and natural gas as climate solutions.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In particular, the use of PR by the oil and gas industry spiked a few times over the last three decades, the study found, most notably in 1989 and 1996. Those years coincide with two notable events: the Congressional testimony of climate scientist James Hansen in 1989 about the threat of climate change and the mid- to late-1990s push for the Kyoto Protocol,</b> an international agreement aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the authors cautioned that they cannot empirically draw a causal link between those events and the use of PR on climate change. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brulle and Werthman noted that the study is not comprehensive; they only looked at national PR campaigns, not state or local engagement on climate and energy. The research also does not...https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/02/footage-of-exxonmobil-lobbyists-sparks-calls-for-action-by-congress/...

include in-house PR created by companies themselves, only those done by external PR firms. And, importantly, many relationships between corporate entities and PR firms are private and not publicly disclosed, so this study likely underestimates the role of the PR industry....The advocacy group Clean Creatives, https://cleancreatives.org/news/clean-creatives-campaign-calls-on-pr-and-ad-agencies-to-stop-working-with-fossil-fuel-clients" ...launched last year, has been pushing for the PR and advertising industries to break ties with fossil fuel companies. Duncan Meisel, director of Clean Creatives, welcomed this study’s efforts to highlight those ties.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Agencies like Edelman, Ogilvy, and WeberShandwick</b> named in this report need to recognize that work for fossil fuel companies is doing significant damage to their reputation and legacy. The hard truth is that advertising and public relations agencies are essential to the fossil fuel industry’s propaganda machine, and work for fossil clients has stopped the world from adequately responding to the climate emergency,” Meisel told DeSmog in an email. “The best time to stop working for fossil fuel clients was 20 years ago, when we had much more time to stop the climate emergency, the second best time is now.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://link-springer-com.oca.ucsc.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s10584-021-03244-4.pdf">https://link-springer-com.oca.ucsc.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s10584-021-03244-4.pdf</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.8;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Table 5 PR frm engagements by sector, 1989–2020</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sectors: Oil/Gas Coal/Steel...=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/03/russia-hired-edelman/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/03/russia-hired-edelman/</a></font></p><div class="entry-content" style="margin: 5px 0px; word-wrap: break-word;"><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FLYNN former national security adviser was <a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/6406-Registration-Statement-20170307-1.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">paid more than $500,000 last fall</a> by a group linked with the Turkish government to discredit exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, an enemy of the Turkish president. An Egyptian intelligence agency hired public relations firms Weber Shandwick and Cassidy & Associates to improve its image.<b> Iraq sent letters <a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/322622-iraqs-lobbyists-mobilized-after-travel-ban-documents" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">to top Trump officials</a> such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis requesting meetings in the wake of the new president’s first travel ban, which included Iraq. The second iteration of the ban took Iraq off the list.</b></font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These stories could not have been told without the help of filings required by FARA, or the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/learn/glossary.php#F" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Foreign Agents Registration Act</a>. Passed in 1938 in response to secret Nazi propaganda efforts in the U.S., the law requires anyone representing a foreign government or quasi-governmental agency (as well as individual citizens of other countries and sometimes foreign companies) to file extensive reports with the Justice Department. The filings must disclose who they’re representing, how much they’re being paid, what they’ve been hired to do, the meetings and other contacts they’re having, the content of materials they’re distributing and more. But the data is normally <a href="https://www.fara.gov/quick-search.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">locked in PDFs</a> with limited search functions.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the spirit of Sunshine Week, the<em> Center for Responsive Politics</em> today releases a tool that makes looking through FARA filings a whole lot easier: <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/fara" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Foreign Lobby Watch</a>.</span> We standardized registrants, foreign principals and locations, and parsed the PDF text to allow for full-text searching. (We inherited this project from the Sunlight Foundation, which previously hosted a tool called Foreign Influence Explorer.)</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, a quick search of “Russia” in our database found 77 firms represented 170 governmental or pseudo-governmental entities, pulling up 274 records since 1950. <b>The last Russian lobbying registration shows that a group created by the Russian Federation hired the PR firm Edelman last year to help influence U.S. opinion on a massive court verdict involving the oil giant Yukos.</b></font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That ruling was the latest twist in a complicated set of events that started in the early 2000s, when the Russian government dismantled and sold off Yukos, Russia’s largest fully privatized oil company after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin jailed two high-ranking Yukos executives, including its head, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an act that was seen as retribution for Khodorkovsky’s political opposition to Vladimir Putin. (Khodorkovsky was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/20/mikhail-khodorkovsky-freed-putin-pardon-russia" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">freed and pardoned</a> in 2013 and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/russia-oligarch-mikhail-khodorkovsky-no-obligations-vladimir-putin-pardon" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">lives in exile</a>.)</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Yukos went bankrupt after the Russian government charged it with tax evasion, embezzlement and money laundering. Its former stakeholders sued the government, winning a $50 million verdict in 2014 at The Hague, the largest arbitration penalty ever. But a higher court overturned the award two years later.</b></font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yukos stakeholders are appealing the ruling and have pending enforcement lawsuits<strong> </strong>in a half-dozen countries, including the U.S., in efforts to collect Russian assets. The D.C. case in the district court of appeals has been put on pause until 2019, as the Netherlands case will impact what happens in the U.S. proceedings.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Amid the wrangling, the Russian Federation created a task force, the International Centre for Legal Protection, headed by a former director in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrey-kondakov-70704b90/" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Andrey Kondakov</a>, to help coordinate the various ministries involved in the case. And the task force hired Edelman to help turn the tide of public opinion — <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/1642/russia.aspx" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">often suspicious of anything Russia</a> — in their favor. Kondakov did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication. </span><strong>
</strong></font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Signing the contract on Edelman’s side was Randall Corley, the firm’s global compliance officer.</font></p><div style="margin: 5px 0px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Filings can fall short</font></strong></div><div style="margin: 5px 0px;"><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FARA filings are only as good as the filer, of course. We see Edelman was hired for public relations work, including drafting press releases, media outreach, helping build a website and “strategic counsel.” However, it’s not clear from the reports alone how much Edelman did. According to the FARA file, ICLP issued just one press release, on Aug. 8, which also appeared on <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/key-yukos-insider-reveals-billion-dollar-bribery-scheme-300310582.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">PR Newswire</a>: “Key Yukos Insider Reveals Billion-Dollar Bribery Scheme.”</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ICLP.png" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;"><img class="wp-image-20823 aligncenter" src="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ICLP.png" alt="ICLP" width="620" height="198" srcset="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ICLP.png 829w, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ICLP-300x96.png 300w, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ICLP-768x246.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin: 10px auto;" /></a>The release describes a filing in the D.C. case from a Yukos insider, Dmitry Gololobov, who “learned firsthand how the Oligarchs rigged the Russian government’s ‘loans-for-shares’ auctions in 1995 and 1996 to illegally acquire ownership of Yukos.”</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mr. Gololobov’s testimony represents another step forward,” said Kondakov in the press release. “It confirms the corruption, fraud and bribery perpetrated by the Oligarchs at the expense of the Russian people and it validates the position that the <span class="xn-location">Russian Federation</span> has maintained throughout the <i>Yukos </i>case – that the Oligarchs’ arguments are just lies about lies.”</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As for media outreach, Kondakov is quoted in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/business/international/yukos-russia-50-billion-ruling.html?_r=0" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">New York Times</a> piece reporting the overturning of the arbitration fine, but that was published before ICLP hired Edelman in June 2016. Filings and the press release show at least nine people at Edelman were affiliated with the project, and the agreement was <a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/3634-Supplemental-Statement-20170302-27.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">terminated on September 30, 2016</a>.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An Edelman representative said that they do not comment on clients, and that they filed all the necessary paperwork with FARA.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/3634-Exhibit-AB-20160615-50.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">The original filing</a> said “Work for client has begun and the contract is still being negotiated. This filing will be amended to included the contract once a signed copy is executed.” Yet <em>OpenSecrets Blog</em> found no amendment or contract in the filings that followed. And an August filing that lists receipts and disbursements for other clients <a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/3634-Supplemental-Statement-20160830-26.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">showed no line items</a> for ICLP from Feb. 1 through July 31, 2016. It’s unclear, without the inclusion of the required contract, how much Edelman was paid.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If you comply with FARA, the information is very extensive and does tell the public and the press most of what they would want to know,” said Joseph Sandler, Democratic attorney and FARA expert. “But there could be holes with what they actually include, or could include filings from nonprofit front groups and think tanks that are hard to immediately understand who is backing them.”</font></p><div style="margin: 5px 0px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A history of Russian lobbying</font></strong></div><div style="margin: 5px 0px;"><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are plenty of other Russia-related nuggets in the FARA files. For instance, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/oleg-deripaska/" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">billionaire</a> Oleg V. Deripaska paid <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3315551-5934-Exhibit-AB-20090508-1.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Endeavor Group</a> a $40,000 monthly retainer in 2009 and 2010 to provide “general legal advice involving his U.S. visa, as well as commercial transactions.” The State Department had revoked Deripaska’s visa in 2006 due to concerns about his possible links to organized crime ties, which Deripaska has denied.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Endeavor Group expects to engage with the U.S. government regarding the status of the foreign principal’s visa application; interact with the United States Trade Representative office to encourage U.S. participation in the intra-governmental global aluminum discussions; and engage with the Department of Treasury’s Auto Task Force regarding the prospective acquisition of General Motor’s European operations,” <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3315551-5934-Exhibit-AB-20090508-1.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">the FARA filing says</a>.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, <a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/5934-Exhibit-AB-20101006-3.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">also wrote a letter</a> to Adam Waldman, the founder of Endeavor Group, asking for updates on the case and saying he appreciates the work the firm is doing.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“[O]ver the past several years, there has been certain ambiguity upon his visa status in the United States,” Lavrov wrote. “A persistent state of limbo regarding Mr. Deripaska’s ability to travel freely between our two countries has become an impediment to the promotion of mutually advantageous contacts between the business communities of the two countries.”</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State-owned banks also hired up in an effort to ease sanctions levied in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. One of them, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3302651-6353-Exhibit-AB-20160511-1.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">VTB Group</a>, a financial services firm owned by the Russian government, brought on board Emaunuel Manatos (a lobbyist who <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/514/201604159012556514/201604159012556514.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">bundled almost $40,000</a> for Hillary Clinton this election) in May 2016 for $17,500 a month to “lobby Congress and Executive that affect imposition of US sanctions on Russian-affiliated banks.”</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And the name that crops up again and again is that of the <b>PR firm Ketchum Inc</b>., which has earned more than $60 million working for Russia over the past decade or so, <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/putins-washington-113894_full.html#.WMA9IW8rKUl" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">according to a POLITICO analysis of FARA filings</a>.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Russians first enlisted Ketchum’s help for “communications support” when it hosted the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006, paying the company $2 million. (The country was in need of a media revamp after Russia’s energy company Gazprom <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/02/world/europe/russia-cuts-off-gas-to-ukraine-in-cost-dispute.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">cut off natural gas to Ukraine</a>.)</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ketchum also works with subcontractors such as <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3264378-5549-Exhibit-AB-20140108-10.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Alston & Bird to monitor foreign policy legislation</a>, and <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3285220-5914-Exhibit-AB-20120106-7.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Clark & Weinstock</a> and <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3285424-5931-Exhibit-AB-20100621-5.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Venable LLP</a> to lobby on behalf of Gazprom and keep an eye on energy policy.</font></p><p style="padding: 5px 0px; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/from-russia-with-pr-ketchum-cnbc" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">ProPublica</a> reported in 2012 that the Huffington Post and CNBC published pro-Russia op-eds linked to Ketchum without noting the connection to the Russian government in the pieces. A year later, Ketchum placed an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">op-ed by Putin</a> in the <em>New York Times</em>.</font></p></div><footer class="entry-meta" style="line-height: 15px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

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</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.desmog.uk/2015/07/31/edelman-pr-s-ties-fracking-and-climate-denial-still-cause-concern-new-petitions-show">http://www.desmog.uk/2015/07/31/edelman-pr-s-ties-fracking-and-climate-denial-still-cause-concern-new-petitions-show</a></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">UK frack task force bs</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.59px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In August 2014, some of the world’s biggest<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="caps">PR</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>firms issued a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/04/worlds-top-pr-companies-rule-out-working-with-climate-deniers" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">declaration</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>stating that they would not represent clients who deny manmade climate change or take campaigns seeking to block regulations limiting carbon pollution.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/07/edelman-pr-climate-change-denial-campaigns" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Edelman eventually responded, confirming</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that “we do not accept client assignments that aim to deny climate change.”</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.59px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In February this year, it was thought that Edelman was making progress. It was unveiled in February that Edelman had<a href="http://www.holmesreport.com/latest/article/edelman%27s-american-petroleum-institute-assignment-set-to-end" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">gradually cut its ties</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with America’s powerful oil lobbyist, the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="caps">API</span>, after it was reported that the subsidiary company (Blue Advertising) that handled the bulk of its advertising contracts with<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="caps">API</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>– worth $327.4 million – is, eventually, to cut itself off from Edelman’s central operations.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.59px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In light of this news, campaigners have launched a separate<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://act.credoaction.com/sign/edelman/?utm_content=buffer7b282&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">petition</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to tell Edelman to stop “promoting” climate change. The petition was launched on<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> </span></span><span class="caps"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">CREDO</span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> </span></span><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Action</span> – a social change organisation funded by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="caps">CREDO</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Mobile – which has over 27,000 signatories. It says: “The fact is, in the face of the overwhelming evidence on climate change, any attempt to continue promoting fossil fuels and fossil fuel expansion is outright denial.”</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p dir="ltr" style=" line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In contemporary reports on the 2010 Ukrainian election, Manafort declined to discuss the specifics of his work for Yanukovych. Consultants who worked with him on the race described him as a “hands-on” manager with a sharp sense of how to communicate the Yanukovych message. He brought on other American politicos, including Democratic ad man Tad Devine and the public relations giant Edelman, to bolster his efforts both in Ukraine and internationally.”</span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span id="docs-internal-guid-eae00a4f-cbe4-7ea6-66e1-b4d141f41b78">

<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A 2008 disclosure form filed by </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edelman</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> under the Foreign Agents Registration Act described the Yanukovych team’s determination to “share [Yanukovych’s] vision for Ukraine, his reform slated for 2008, his accomplishments in economic development as well as Ukraine’s business development.” The PR firm earned $35,000 a month for its services.</span></span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Greenpeace yes man'd them</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

 </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong style=" box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Edelman’s Make-Or-Break Moment</strong></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fast forward to last fall, 2014: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/business/media/edelman-pr-firm-is-taking-steps-to-address-faux-pas-.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">Edelman suffered a months-long PR crisis</a>—the last thing a PR firm wants—over its representation of API and other climate science denial organizations. Edelman’s chairman, Richard Edelman, hastily put out a <a href="http://www.edelman.com/p/6-a-m/edelmans-position-climate-change/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">statement</a> affirming his company’s commitment to climate change.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Edelman was <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-worlds-biggest-pr-firm-is-in-denial-about-its-climate-change-denial" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">personally urging the press</a> that he cared about the issue, and fired a top executive who was uncooperative with the <a href="http://www.climateinvestigations.org/edelman_submits_new_answers_to_cic_climate_change_quiz" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">Climate Investigations Center</a>, which was surveying PR firms on their climate change policies. It was <a href="http://www.climateinvestigations.org/wbez_interview_pr_firm_edelman_faces_pr_scandal" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">awkward</a>.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The mess was intensified by another round of <a href="http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2014/11/20/leaked-edelman-transcanadas-pr-attack-plan/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">documents showing Edelman was helping TransCanada</a>—the operator of the proposed <a href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/keystone-xl-pipeline-2/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">Keystone XL</a> tar sands pipeline—with campaign planning to subvert local activism in Canada against TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline. After the plan was leaked, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/business/transcanada-cuts-ties-with-edelman-over-energy-east-communications-plan.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s linear; background: transparent;">TransCanada dumped Edelman</a>.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CPd1RFP4Y&feature=youtu.be" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Audio recordings</a> released by Fossil Agenda show <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:prHO_R856JkJ:www.hennesseypr.com/section_about/about_intro.htm+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Lauri Hennessey</a>, a Vice President at<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/laurihennessey" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Edelman</a> and the spokeswoman for <a href="http://createnwjobs.com/" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports</a> (ANJE), laughing with coal company executives on a number of topics including climate change and international development in the "far east."</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The transcript of the conversation exemplifies the extent to which some in the public relations industry will go to push additional fossil fuel development. Edelman is one of many companies working to distort the facts and spin the energy debate on behalf of their fossil fuel industry clients.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Stark writes "[Hennessey] told me that the Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports is making the case that thermal coal from the Powder River Basin will displace coal with lower thermal content from Asia, thus reducing GHG emissions." But, ANJE is also "countering the decision to evaluate the ultimate emissions footprint of the coal that would move through the proposed export terminals" in an attempt to undermine the environmental review of the proposed export terminals.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Instead of upholding the free flow of accurate and truthful information about coal exports, Edelman and the ANJE are spinning the facts and claiming that exporting U.S. coal would "reduce emissions." David Roberts at Grist made it very clear -- "digging up and burning that Powder River Basin coal will put enough carbon in the atmosphere to<a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-biggest-oversight-in-obamas-climate-plan-and-its-a-doozy/" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">undo all of Obama's other climate work</a>."</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This distortion goes against the Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) Code of Ethics, which <a href="http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics#.UlbcxmSc5cc" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">asserts</a> "ethical practice is the most important obligation of a PRSA member" and "professionals should be honest and accurate in all communications." PRSA's Board of Ethics goes on to <a href="http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/ProfessionalStandardsAdvisories/Documents/PSA-07.pdf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">say</a> [PDF] that "protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving the public interest and contributing to informed decision making in a democratic society."</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>ALEC</b> n May 2012, <em>PRWeek</em> <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/pages/under-fire-advocacy-group-alec-works-with-edelman/article/240419/" title="reference on reported" target="blank">reported</a> that <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ALEC had hired the notorious global PR firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edelman" title="reference on Edelman" target="self">Edelman</a>.</span> <b>Edelman</b> is the firm of choice for big <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">tobacco, big oil, and big pharma</span>, all key sponsors of ALEC. ALEC also held a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11458/alec-sends-out-sos-breibart-bloggers" title="reference on special meeting" target="_blank">special meeting</a> asking right-wing bloggers, such as the Breitbart operation,for help in "a very aggressive campaign to really spread the word about what we actually do," as CMD has reported.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">An "aggressive campaign" is clearly underway.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ALEC's note to legislators claims that CMD's "top investigative reporter" has a "lengthy criminal background." It links to a attack-piece published by a newly created entity called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Washington_Free_Beacon" title="reference on The Washington Free Beacon" target="self">The Washington Free Beacon</a> (<b>WFB)</b>, the online publication of the self-proclaimed "conservative advocacy group" the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_American_Freedom" title="reference on Center for American Freedom" target="self">Center for American Freedom</a>.</span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In that piece, recent college grad CJ Ciaramella focuses on Beau Hodai, a freelance reporter who has written for <em>the Center for Media and Democracy, </em>In These Times, <em>Prison Legal News</em>,<em> Extra!</em> (a publication of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), and the investigative news publication he founded, <em>DBA Press</em>.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Beau has been researching and reporting on ALEC since late 2009. His reporting has detailed the relationship between ALEC and private prison contractors in the dissemination of bills based on Arizona's SB 1070, and has identified ALEC as one of the key forces behind attempts to destroy public employee unions and privatize public services.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Notably, the WFB<em> </em>attack job<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> does not find any material errors </span>in any of Beau's extensively documented reports on ALEC, but focuses on misdemeanor court records. <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It dwells on the fact that his legal first name is Mohamad.</span> Beau has been nicknamed "Beau" since birth. (It is worth noting that "CJ" is not Ciaramella's legal first name but the nickname he uses instead of "Carl.")</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Beau recently stirred the pot with a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11498/quid-pro-status-quo-alec-state-sanctioned-corruption-ohio" title="reference on special report" target="_blank">special report</a> detailing corruption in the Ohio General Assembly based on public records that raise questions as to whether the state's elected officials in ALEC are complying with Ohio's ethics laws regarding gifts.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Interestingly enough, Beau learned that exactly one week following the publication of the Ohio ALEC corruption story, a private investigation firm requested court records concerning a past arrest. Allegations from those same court records emerged as the centerpiece of the WFB attack article.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/11717">http://www.prwatch.org/node/11717</a></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===

 </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><div class="GGD0W3FBET"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Center for Am Freedom</font></div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">n May 2012, <em>PRWeek</em> <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/pages/under-fire-advocacy-group-alec-works-with-edelman/article/240419/" title="reference on reported" target="blank">reported</a> that ALEC had hired the notorious global<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> PR firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edelman" title="reference on Edelman" target="self">Edelman</a></span>. Edelman is the firm of choice for big tobacco, big oil, and big pharma, all key sponsors of ALEC. ALEC also held a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11458/alec-sends-out-sos-breibart-bloggers" title="reference on special meeting" target="_blank">special meeting</a> asking <b>right-wing bloggers, such as the Breitbart</b> operation,for help in "a very aggressive campaign to really spread the word about what we actually do," as CMD has reported.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">An "aggressive campaign" is clearly underway.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ALEC's note to legislators claims that CMD's "top investigative reporter" has a "lengthy criminal background." It links to a attack-piece published by a newly created entity called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Washington_Free_Beacon" title="reference on The Washington Free Beacon" target="self">The Washington Free Beacon</a> (WFB), the online publication of the self-proclaimed "<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">conservative advocacy group" the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_American_Freedom" title="reference on Center for American Freedom" target="self">Center for American Freedom</a>.</span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===

 </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">NB crisis mgmt</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span id="name" class="n fn"><span class="full-name"><span class="given-name">Wilhelm</span> <span class="family-name">Meierling</span></span>  </span>Senior Director, Public Affairs at<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> American Legislative Exchange Council</span></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><dl id="headline" class="demographic-info adr">

<dd><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="locality">Washington D.C. Metro Area </span></font></dd>

<dd class="industry"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Public Relations and Communications</font></dd>

</dl><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><div id="nprofile-overview" class="join-linkedin name-button">

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</font><h2 class="section-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wilhelm Meierling's Overview</font></h2><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><dl id="overview">

<dt id="overview-summary-current-title" class="summary-current" style=" display: block;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Current</font></dt>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Senior Director, Public Affairs <span class="at">at </span>American Legislative Exchange Council</font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Director of Media and Public Relations <span class="at">at </span><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/united-way-worldwide?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">United Way Worldwide</span></a></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Adjunct Professor of Multicultural Marketing and Engagement <span class="at">at </span><b>George Washington University</b></font></li>

</ul>

</dd>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Communications Director, International Network <span class="at">at </span>United Way Worldwide</font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Senior Account Supervisor <span class="at">at </span><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/edelman?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">Edelman</span></a></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Partner <span class="at">at </span>OpinionMakers International</font></li>

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</dd>

<dt id="overview-summary-education-title" class="summary-education" style=" display: block;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Education</font></dt>

<ul>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The George Washington University</font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Hampden-Sydney College</font></li>

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<dt><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Recommendations</font></dt>

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<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong>5</strong> people have recommended Wilhelm</font></p>

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<dt><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Connections</font></dt>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong>500+</strong> connections</font></p>

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</font><div class="section subsection-reorder" id="profile-experience" style=" display: block;">

<h2><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wilhelm Meierling's Experience</font></h2>

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<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Senior Director, Public Affairs</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/alec?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">American Legislative Exchange Council</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details current-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Nonprofit; 11-50 employees; Construction industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2013-01-01">January 2013</abbr> – <abbr class="dtstamp" title="2013-04-24">Present</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P4M"> </span>(4 months)</span> <span class="location">Washnigton, DC</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Public affairs and communications lead for the American Legislative Exchange Council--the largest nonpartisan membership organization of state elected officials.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Director of Media and Public Relations</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/united-way-worldwide?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">United Way Worldwide</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details current-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Nonprofit; 201-500 employees; Nonprofit Organization Management industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2012-01-01">January 2012</abbr> – <abbr class="dtstamp" title="2013-04-24">Present</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P1Y4M"> </span>(1 year 4 months)</span></font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Adjunct Professor of Multicultural Marketing and Engagement</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/george-washington-university?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">George Washington University</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details current-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2010-03-01">March 2010</abbr> – <abbr class="dtstamp" title="2013-04-24">Present</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P3Y2M"> </span>(3 years 2 months)</span> <span class="location">Washington D.C. Metro Area</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Adjunct professor of multicultural engagement focusing on Latino and African America political advocacy and public relations.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Communications Director, International Network</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/united-way-of-america?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">United Way Worldwide</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details past-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Nonprofit; 51-200 employees; Nonprofit Organization Management industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2010-08-01">August 2010</abbr> – <abbr class="dtend" title="2012-01-01">January 2012</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P1Y6M"> </span>(1 year 6 months)</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Plan, implement and oversee United Way's international communications strategy among 500+ member organizations in 40+ countries.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Senior Account Supervisor</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/edelman?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">Edelman</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details past-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2008-09-01">September 2008</abbr> – <abbr class="dtend" title="2010-08-01">August 2010</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P2Y"> </span>(2 years)</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Multicultural Practice Senior Account Supervisor; Direct outreach and provide communications counsel to clients seeking inroads with multicultural communities.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Partner</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><span class="org summary">OpinionMakers International</span> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2007-01-01">January 2007</abbr> – <abbr class="dtend" title="2010-01-01">January 2010</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P3Y1M"> </span>(3 years 1 month)</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">OpinionMakers International is a public/government relations firm that specializes in foreign relations with the United States and European Union. Specific expertise on African development, Central and South America.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Advocacy Account Executive</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-washington-times?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">The Washington Times</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details past-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Newspapers industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2006-04-01">April 2006</abbr> – <abbr class="dtend" title="2007-02-01">February 2007</abbr> <span class="duration"><span class="value-title" title="P11M"> </span>(11 months)</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">While at the <b>Washington Times</b>, I assisted clients in delivering targeted, strategic messages to legislators and other opinion leaders.</font></p>

</div>

<div>

<h3 class="false"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="title">Grassroots Coordinator</span></font></h3>

<h4><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><a class="company-profile-public" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-leadership-institute?trk=ppro_cprof"><span class="org summary">The Leadership Institute</span></a> </strong></font></h4>

</div>

<p class="orgstats organization-details past-position"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Nonprofit; 51-200 employees; Political Organization industry</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As a Grassroots Coordinator, I traveled the country to train state and federal candidates, campaign staffs, and volunteers on effective methods of voter turnout, coalition development, and outreach.</font></p>

</div>

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</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===

 </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><h3><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">NW coal fronts: </font></h3><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">edelman PR</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2012/12/13/look-whos-taking-coal-money/?utm_source=Sightline+Newsletters&utm_campaign=8434eb1aa7-SightlineWeekly&utm_medium=email">http://daily.sightline.org/2012/12/13/look-whos-taking-coal-money/?utm_source=Sightline+Newsletters&utm_campaign=8434eb1aa7-SightlineWeekly&utm_medium=email</a><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2012/12/13/look-whos-taking-coal-money/?utm_source=Sightline+Newsletters&utm_campaign=8434eb1aa7-SightlineWeekly&utm_medium=email"> </a></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><div class="blog-info">

<h1 class="entry-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Look Who’s Taking Coal Money</font></h1>

<div class="kicker"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The face of the coal industry in the Northwest.</font></div>

<div class="entry-meta"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/eric-de-place/" title="Posts by Eric de Place">Eric de Place</a> and <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/nickabraham/" title="Posts by Nick Abraham">Nick Abraham</a> on December 13, 2012 at 1:00 am</font></div>

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</font><div class="entry-content"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><div class="series-label"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This post is part of the research project: <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/projects/northwest-coal-exports">Northwest Coal Exports</a></font></div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><em>This is great: the redoubtable Joel Connelly, over at the <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/">Seattle P-I</a>, is on the case. Take a look at his story: <a title="Permalink to Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work”: study" href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/12/13/seattle-pr-firms-are-doing-coals-dirty-work-study/" rel="bookmark">Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work.”</a></em></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">If ever an industry needed good PR, <a href="http://grist.org/coal/2011-09-30-coal-is-enemy-of-human-race-mainstream-economics-edition/">it’s coal</a>.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The industry can’t hope to promote its own coal export schemes in the Northwest so instead it buys support from local consulting and PR firms willing to do coal’s dirty work. By taking money from Big Coal, these firms—many of which have carefully groomed reputations for sustainability and public-interest work—have themselves become a part of the coal industry.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Most of these firms might rather not have the public know about the work they do, with the blinds pulled down, on behalf of out-of-state coal giants. After all, their livelihoods depend on appealing to green-minded governments, nonprofits, and businesses in the Northwest. So as an exercise in letting in the sunlight—and as a sort of <em>caveat emptor</em> for clients—here is a look at the Northwest’s homegrown coal industry.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

 </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Edelman</span></strong></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">The </span><a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">world’s largest</span></a></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> independent PR firm,</span><a href="http://www.edelman.com/"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> Edelman</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> operates with a dizzying hypocrisy that is on bold display in its </span><a href="http://www.edelman.com/office/seattle/"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Seattle office</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">. Although CEO Richard Edelman </span><a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/editorial/1122edelman-deadly-spin-distorts-pr-field.html"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">says publicly</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">: “I do not subscribe to the use of front groups to cover up the true intent of a client,” the firm is in fact </span><a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">the shadowy force behind</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> the newly constituted front group </span><a href="http://createnwjobs.com/"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> (ANJE). The </span><a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/26/astroturf-group-media-blitz-for-coal-exports/"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Seattlepi.com calls ANJE an “astroturf” group</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> for its work supporting the proposal to ship 48 million tons of coal each year from Cherry Point.</span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

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</font><div class="widget-holder"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

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</font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Edelman has a </span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-09/wal-marts-jim-and-laura-the-real-storybusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">well-documented</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> </span><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/20/news/companies/walmart_blogs/index.htm"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">history</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> of astroturf activities and although its name is mentioned nowhere on ANJE’s glossy website, multiple news agencies (</span><a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> and </span><a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/11/12/coal-ports/111355/coal-ports-hearings-environmental-scoping/?page=2"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">) report that the firm manages the group. In fact, </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lauri-hennessey/6/321/1b"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Edelman vice-president Lauri Hennessey</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKyWygZicqY"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">identifies herself</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> in public—and is routinely cited in the media—as a spokesperson for ANJE (</span><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/03/fight-intensifies-over-whether-northwest-should-become-us-coal-export-hub/"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">, </span><a href="http://www.inlander.com/spokane/blog-7192-day-laborers-being-used-as-pro-coal-placeholders-for-todays-public-hearing.html"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">, </span><a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/04/shipping-of-coal-topic-of-hearing"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">, and </span><a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20121119/washington-state-coal-export-terminals-northwest-governor-jay-inslee-clean-energy-economy-oregon-california-epa"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">here</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">). (Hennessey also runs her own PR firm—</span><a href="http://www.hennesseypr.com/section_about/about_intro.htm"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Hennessey Communications</span></a><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">—where she touts her environmental values.)</span></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Berk Consulting

</strong>Seattle-based <a href="http://berkconsulting.com/">Berk Consulting</a> takes coal money. The firm produced a <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Economic_Study-Executive_Summary.pdf">economic analysis</a> for Millennium Bulk Terminals, the company that wants to ship 44 million tons of coal annually from a site on the Columbia River. Opponents have <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/07/12/coal-ports/109550/coal-ports-trains-seattle-edmonds-bellingham/?page=1">disputed</a> the Berk study, arguing that it fails to consider <a href="http://www.heavytrafficahead.org/pdf/Heavy-Traffic-Ahead-web.pdf">traffic impacts</a> and <a href="http://powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/WORC-Exporting-PRB-Coal-Risks-and-CostsFINALFINAL9-111.pdf">economic costs</a>, both public and private.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Nyhus Communications</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With offices in Seattle and Washington, DC, <a href="http://www.nyhus.com/">Nyhus Communications</a> features a website with rotating photos of renewable energy projects and green hero<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Van Jones</span>. Yet Nyhus also carries water for coal interests, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/arch-coal-elects-deck-slone-as-svp/article_89e596ce-8d47-11e1-a22b-0019bb30f31a.html">working with Arch Coal</a> (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/oira_0710/0710_12062011-1.pdf">p73</a>) to promote coal shipments from Longview. Nyhus is also <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/move-forward-washington-coalition-created-to-promote-international-trade-in-washington-162219395.html">actively involved</a> with <a href="http://www.moveforwardwashington.org/">Move Forward Washington</a>, a newly minted group that emphasizes coal among other exports. (One founding member of the group is <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/">Millennium Bulk Terminals</a>.)</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Gallatin Public Affairs</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/">Gallatin</a> is a natural fit with the coal industry. The firm has a history of pushing through controversial projects, including Monsanto’s <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/gallatin-public-affairs/03A9E5E6-1408-4E9C-A6FF-282A898BC6A5">Blackfoot Bridge phosphate mine</a> and Formation Metals’ <a href="http://www.formationmetals.com/s/News.asp?ReportID=122037">Cobalt Mine proposal</a>. So it’s no surprise that Gallatin has gone to work for Millenium Bulk Terminals’ coal project in Longview, Washington.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The most troubling dimension to Gallatin’s role may be partner <a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">Bruce Grynie</a><a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">wiski</a>. He’s the former head of Washington Conservation Voters and a current board member of the <a href="http://mtsgreenway.org/">Mountains to Sound Greenway</a>. He says that he joined Gallatin to “win support for even the most controversial projects.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He’s trying to do just that. Gryniewiski is the prime mover in Gallatin’s efforts to put 44 million tons of coal on the Columbia River each year to be burned at power plants in Asia. He is<a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=_top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false"> listed as lobbyist</a> and also as a <a href="http://tdn.com/news/local/millenium-to-restart-coal-terminal-permit-process/article_abb5534c-4f5f-11e0-b8ef-001cc4c03286.html">spokesperson</a> for the coal company.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>ECONorthwest</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Portland-based economic consulting firm, <a href="http://www.econw.com/">ECONorthwest</a> has a long history of work supporting conservation, so many were surprised to learn the firm took money from Ambre Energy to produce an <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/economy">economic impact analysis</a>. ECONorthwest’s analysis has become a key piece of support for the <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/">Morrow Pacific Project</a>, a complicated scheme to move as much as 8 million tons of coal annually in barges on the Columbia River for onward shipment to coal plants in Asia.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Gard Communications</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Headquartered in Portland, <a href="http://www.gardcommunications.com/">Gard Communications</a> is <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/uncategorized/press-release-12612">the public face</a> for Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific Project. The firm produces a range of publicity materials and president Brian Gard himself appears to be acting as Ambre’s press flak for the project. Gard has the distinction of being the only Northwest consulting firm so far to attract attention for its coal work when several Portland groups <a href="http://www.portlandoccupier.org/2012/09/19/speaking-power-to-truth-brian-gard-and-ambre-energy/">protested</a> it.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Strategies 360</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Headquartered in Seattle, the <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/">Strategies 360</a> consulting group has done some worthy environmental work in the past, even sponsoring <a href="http://www.ecotrust.org/">Ecotrust</a>‘s <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/blog/uncategorized/ecotrust-honors-native-american-leaders-at-indigenous-leadership-awards-dinner/">annual leadership award in 2011</a>. Less well known is the firm’s work in the coal industry. <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/steuerwalt.html">Matt Steuerwalt</a>, former climate and energy adviser to Gov. Gregoire, was the lead <a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=_top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false">lobbyist</a> for RailAmerica’s plan to ship 5 million tons of coal from Gray’s Harbor to Asian power plants. After months of <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/port-officials-wondering-about-railamerica%E2%80%99s-coal-intent.html">delay and confusion</a>, <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/railamerica-drops-pursuit-coal-terminal-grays-harbor.html">the plan collapsed</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Drawing a line in the sky.</strong></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate activist Bill McKibben makes <a href="http://math.350.org/">a forceful case for divestment</a>—removing fossil fuel companies from big institutional portfolios, helping to starve them of the cash they require to continue damaging the global climate.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet divestment need not be all about multinational fossil fuel corporations. It could take the form of withholding support from the consultants and publicists who act as the Northwest front for coal exports. What if Portland State University stopped working with Gard Communications? What if Forterra backed away from Nyhus? What if the Seattle Parks Department severed ties with Berk, and King County fired ECONorthwest?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Imagine a Northwest where local governments, nonprofits, and farsighted corporations drew a sort of line in the sky, refusing to do business with the coal industry—including its local agents. Losing even a client or two might be enough to induce more local firms to refuse coal money. Denied Northwest connections and credible local advocates, the <a title="Coal Exports Are Bigger Threat Than Tar Sands Pipeline" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2011/11/16/coal-exports-are-bigger-threat-than-tar-sands-pipeline/">hugely destructive export plans</a> would have more difficulty gaining traction in a region that has long prided itself on its growing clean-energy economy. Perhaps this form of divestment could speed the day when all of Cascadia says “no” to a dirty, climate-wrecking fuel whose highest and best use is to hold up the ground in <b>Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.</b></font></p>

</div>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

 </font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Daniel J. Edelman Public Relations</b>, also known as "Edelman," is the largest independently owned PR company, with 46 offices and 50 affiliates around the world.</span><sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup> It was founded by Daniel J. Edelman, current chairman, in 1952.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">According to a marketing executive, an Edelman executive providing media training to his firm said:<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-1">[2]</a></sup></font></p>

<dl>

<dd><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie. Make the audience or the reporter believe that everything is ok. How many times have you heard a CEO stand up and say, 'No, I'm not leaving the company,' and then -- days later -- he's gone. Reporters understand that you 'had' to do it and they won't hold it against you in your next job when you deal with them again."</font></dd>

</dl>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ties_to_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council">Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council</span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In May 2012, <i>PRWeek</i> reported that the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="American Legislative Exchange Council">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) hired Edelman to "help it deal with recent corporate fallout and opposition to its legislative positions."<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-2">[3]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The company was founded in 1952.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">According to <i>O'Dwyer's PR Services</i> listings, the largest contributors to Edelman's 2002 earnings were from its<b> healthcare practice ($56.71 million), high technology ($44.1 million), financial and investor relations ($33.1 million) and food ($21.46 million)</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-3">[4]</a></sup></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Edelman tops <i>O'Dwyer's</i> rankings of all PR companies, earning $604.7 million in 2011.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-4">[5]</a></sup> (However, it is worth noting that a number of the largest PR companies do not participate <i>O'Dwyer's</i> rankings.)</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="UK_climate_activists_target_Edelman" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">UK climate activists target Edelman</span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On July 16, 2008, activists with Oxford Climate Action blockaded Edelman's headquarters. Several protestors gained access to the firm's offices while others climbed onto the roof to unfurl a banner reading "Edelman: Spinning The Climate Out Of Control".<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-5">[6]</a></sup> Edelman PR was hired by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/E.ON" title="E.ON">E.ON</a>, the world’s largest investor-owned energy service provider.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-6">[7]</a></sup> E.ON is proposing to upgrade its <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">coal</span>-fired Kingsnorth power station to use supercritical coal technology. Kingsnorth is currently considered to be a conventional coal plant but under the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/European_Union_Large_Combustion_Plant_Directive" title="European Union Large Combustion Plant Directive">European Union Large Combustion Plant Directive</a>, the plant would eventually have to be closed without the upgrade.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-7">[8]</a></sup> According to activists, Edelman PR is engaging in a campaign to 'greenwash' E.ON's continued investment in burning coal.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-8">[9]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Edelman_extols_the_benefits_of_working_with_NGOs">Edelman extols the benefits of working with NGOs</span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Edelman has been one of the leaders in the PR industry in advocating the benefits of corporations "engaging" with non-government organisations. "We recognized before anyone that <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NGO" title="NGO" class="mw-redirect">NGOs</a>, such as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Greenpeace" title="Greenpeace">Greenpeace</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Amnesty_International" title="Amnesty International">Amnesty International</a>, were influencing corporate social responsibility by highlighting environmental and labor practices," Edelman used to claim on its website. <sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-9">[10]</a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman PR tells clients that activists are winning because "they play offense all the time; they take their message to the consumer; they are ingenious at building coalitions; they always have a clear agenda; they move at Internet speed; they speak in the media's tone."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The solution, it argues, are partnerships between NGO's and business. "Our experience to date is positive," they say, citing examples such as "<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Chiquita-Rainforest Alliance"</span> and "Home Depot-Forest Stewardship Council." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2001Q3/endangered.html">[2]</a> (Download a copy of the February 2001 <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/f/ff/EdelmanNGOPresentation-2-28-01.pdf">Edelman presentation</a> 347k pdf file).</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A media release issued by Edelman touting for business described their advocacy of "partnerships" between business and environmental groups more bluntly. "You've got an environmental disaster on your hands. Have you consulted with Greenpeace in developing your crisis response plan? Co-opting your would-be attackers may seem counter-intuitive, but it makes sense when you consider that NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are trusted by the public nearly two-to-one to 'do what's right' compared with government bodies, media organizations and corporations." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2000.html">[3]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2001 they launched a short-lived series of "Edelman NGO Seminars" to "discuss the ramifications of the NGO phenomenon." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.edelman.com/people_and_perspectives/insights/the_edelman_ngo_seminars.asp">[4]</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="U.S._Government_PR_contracts">U.S. Government PR contracts</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform Minority Office, Edelman received the following amounts per year, for federal PR contracts: <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/investigations.asp?Issue=Covert+Propaganda">[5]</a></font></p>

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<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Campaigns">Campaigns</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman works for the Mormon Church (<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints" title="The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints">The Church of Jesus Christ of<span style=" background-color: #FFF200;"> Latter-day Saint</span>s</a>). While details of their work on the account are scarce, in 1997 Edelman did the PR for re-enactment of thousands of Mormons travelling from Illinois to Utah in covered wagons. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/march/0320mormons.htm">[6]</a></font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Boosting_PepsiCo.27s_reputation">Boosting PepsiCo's reputation</span></font></h3>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In July 2009, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PepsiCo" title="PepsiCo">PepsiCo</a> announced it was retaining Edelman, for a "multimillion-dollar corporate reputation campaign." According to Pepsi's vice-president of strategic communications, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=P.J.Sinopoli&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="P.J. Sinopoli (page does not exist)">P.J. Sinopoli</a>, the contract includes "rais[ing] awareness among PepsiCo stakeholders about the totality of the PepsiCo brand," along with "showcasing the company's healthier snacking options and its CSR (<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corporate_social_responsibility" title="Corporate social responsibility" class="mw-redirect">corporate social responsibility</a>) work." Also working on the contract are the firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Luntz,Maslansky_Strategic_Research" title="Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research"><span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Luntz,</span> Maslansky Strategic Research</a>, on "message management," along with Edelman's research arm, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/StrategyOne" title="StrategyOne">StrategyOne</a>. <sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-10">[11]</a></sup></font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Hustling_for_Microsoft">Hustling for Microsoft</span></font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In April 1998 the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> revealed that Edelman had drafted a campaign plan to ensure that a dozen state attorney-generals did not join anti-trust legal actions against Microsoft. Documents obtained by the <i>LA Times</i> revealed that the plan included generating supportive letters to the editor, opinion pieces and articles by freelance writers.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the doucments a goal of the campaign was to counter “negative, reactive coverage that is driven by state attorneys general”. According to the documents the press clippings that would be generated were described as “leveragable tools for the company's state-based lobbyists" for use by state-based political consultants in their lobbying. The supportive clippings were intended to complement other materials – such as consumer surveys and economic studies – supporting Microsoft’s contributions to regional economies.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the documents, Edelman – which boasts on its website that it was the PR company that pioneered litigation PR – planned to time one phase of stories to “will coincide with April 21 oral arguments before U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Microsoft motion to disqualify Lawrence Lessig as special master in Microsoft antitrust case.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The internal documents identified <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rory_Davenport&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rory Davenport (page does not exist)">Rory Davenport</a>, Edelman's director of "grass-roots and political programs" in Washington and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Neal_Flieger&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Neal Flieger (page does not exist)">Neal Flieger</a> as having been involved in the preparation of the strategy and scheduled to appear at a meeting to co-ordinate the implementation of the plan. When contacted by the <i>LA Times</i>, Davenport stated only that “there is no agreement for a campaign like that” while Fleiger said “I'm not prepared to amplify on that at all.”</font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Boosting_the_dot_coms">Boosting the dot coms</span></font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May 2001, Richard Edelman, the President & Chief Executive Officer of Edelman, said that PR companies had to accept part of the blame for the over-hyping of the tech-sector that led to its eventual melt-down. “We willingly canonized CEOs, created buzz and relied on hype”, Edelman told the Reputation.com conference in London. According to <i>O’Dwyers PR Services</i>, Edelman said PR companies conducted "whoopee-cushion PR."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman said “We must have transparency, disclosing sources of information and revealing our presence in chat rooms. … We must also offer fact-based information, not hype or spin … We need to encourage dialog and inform all stakeholders simultaneously as information becomes available”. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/may/0503edelman.htm">[7]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an on-line response to the article, Jim Monahan, from PR IMPACT in Illinois, challenged Edelman’s speech as blame-shifting. “Richard Edelman would like to put a blanket of guilt over the entire public relations industry because his agency and others over-hyped the dot.com businesses that are failing faster than physical flatulence. Keep the blame yourself, Richard. And, for all the guilt you feel and admission you took client money and then let them down --- hey, start up a foundation with the forum topic being How PR Practitioners Should Point Guilty Fingers at Themselves First and Foremost---and Return Fees to Clients Upon Admission of Major Failure”, he wrote.</font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Edelman_and_the_tobacco_industry">Edelman and the <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">tobacco</span> industry</span></font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1987, Daniel Edelman produced a plan for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/INFOTAB" title="INFOTAB">INFOTAB</a>, the international tobacco industry group made up of the major worldwide tobacco companies and their associated trade organizations.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perceiving a major threat from the secondhand smoke issue, the global tobacco companies realized that they lacked coordination among themselves, and that they would need to coordinate to uniformly fight public health efforts which were increasing around the world. Thus they formed INFOTAB. According to industry documents, the goals of INFOTAB were to establish an "early warning" system for anti-smoking initiatives worldwide, to "track activities of pressure groups and international consumer unions" and "to take industry programs to the grass roots and municipal levels" to help the industry to prevail over public health. Edelman prepared a presentation for INFOTAB on how the tobacco industry could mount a coordinated, international campaign to fight the secondhand smoke issue around the world. The document is titled <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cjj24e00">INFOTAB ETS Project: The Overall Plan</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A 1978 <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/R.J._Reynolds" title="R.J. Reynolds" class="mw-redirect" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">R.J. Reynolds</a> document produced by Edelman Public Relations company, proposes Reynolds begin a comprehensive public relations effort to "slow or reverse the growing negative trends in public opinion regarding smoking." Edelman proposes a number of tactics including a "press event on the passive smoking issue," "a whimsical feature [publication] which seeks to bring out the humor of the smoker vs. non-smoker conflict," "excerpts from some leading civil libertarians and editorialists on the 'freedom' issue," a courteous-smoking appeal to smokers, a "Traveling Etiquette Spokesperson," production of a film on "Smoker and the Non-smoker" that would address "issues that divide them other than the primary health issue," and a Smokers' News Bureau based in New York that would "generate news stories...showing that smoking is not as annoying to the nonsmoker as is widely perceived." Edelman also proposes commissioning a survey by a "nationally famous research organization" that would poll people on the "degree of annoyance of a whole range of obnoxious habits--i.e., body odor, bad breath, whiskey breath, loud talkers, foul language, sneezing, uncurbed dogs, etc. " Edelman says, "The survey would include smoking, but our sense it that it will show that smoking is relatively insignificant as an annoyance compared with scores of other personal practices, against which there are no organized efforts."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman notes that surveys done by both companies (RJR and Edelman) showed that "the smoker himself has no pride, feels guilty, ashamed, is not willing to defend or describe the pleasure he gets from smoking." Edelman seeks to correct this by undertaking a campaign to associate smokers with "elegance, style, class, and intellectual responsibility -- personality traits that can give him pride."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This document, titled <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wki99d00">Taking the Initiative on Smoking: A Total Program</a> shows how the tobacco industry sought to minimize the health dangers associated with primary and secondhand smoke exposure, and reinforce the social acceptability of smoking, even as public health efforts were ongoing to discourage smoking.</font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Other_campaigns">Other campaigns</span></font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In November 2001 Edelman was called on to advise the Red Cross is America after it decided to set aside $264 million of the $564 million it raised for its Liberty Fund in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks for victims of any future terrorist attacks. It was a decision that angered the families of victims and legislators. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/november/1108redcross.htm">[8]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman was hired in February 2002 by financial services companies to organise <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Sensible_Estate_Tax_Solutions&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Americans for Sensible Estate Tax Solutions (page does not exist)">Americans for Sensible Estate Tax Solutions</a>, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_group" title="Front group" class="mw-redirect">front group</a> to reduce estate tax. The campaign argued that the reduction of the tax would reduce the need for the rich to resort to tax shelters and increase donations to charities. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/february/0222edelman.htm">[9]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman was called on to assist <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wampler_Foods&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wampler Foods (page does not exist)">Wampler Foods</a> after a US federal investigation into products from the<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> poultry packing company were identified as likely to have caused a fatal outbreak of listeria. </span>According to a report in <i>O'Dwyer's PR Services Report</i>, the Centers for Disease Control, the US Department of Agriculture and local authorities identified that precooked turkey deli meat was the likely suspect of the outbreak which infected 46 people, killing seven, since July. The agencies said one food product and 25 environmental samples taken at a Pilgrim's Pride plant in Pennsylvania tested positive for listeria.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wampler had claimed in a media release that "no illnesses associated with the listeria strain in the Northeastern U.S. outbreak have been linked to any Wampler products" and argued that listeria often occurs naturally in the environment. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2002/october/1016wampler.htm">[10]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Council_for_Fitness_and_Nutrition" title="American Council for Fitness and Nutrition">American Council for Fitness and Nutrition</a> (ACFN) -- a coalition of food and beverage companies</span> -- in November 2002 selected Edelman and Dittus Communications to counter calls for regulatory action to deal with the obesity epidemic in the US. ACFN funders include American Frozen Food Institute, <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Altria_Group" title="Altria Group">Kraft Foods</a>, Chocolate Manufactuers Assn., Sugar Assn., Grocery Manufacturers of America, National Restaurant Assn., National Council of Chain Restaurants,</span> and the Assn. of National Advertisers. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/spin/November_2002.html">[11]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In October 2002, Edelman signed a pledge that it would not work for tobacco companies when it won the account with the non-profit group, the National Dialogue on Cancer. However, the specialist publication, <i>The Cancer Letter</i> (TCL), revealed in July 2003 that Edelman had undertaken work for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/British_American_Tobacco" title="British American Tobacco">British American Tobacco</a>’s Malaysian subsidiary in promoting its social reporting project. Edelman’s Vice Chairman, Leslie Dach, told TCL that the contract with BAT Malaysia had “slipped through the cracks” and had been cancelled when it was drawn to their attention. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2003.html">[12]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman was called on by the French-owned <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sodexho_Alliance&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sodexho Alliance (page does not exist)">Sodexho Alliance</a> to defeat proposals by a Republican congressman to strip the company of its $880 million food service contract with the Marines and award it to a US owned company. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/spin/March_2003.html">[13]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the leader in pharmaceutical PR, Edelman is a leader in managing crises for clients and development partnerships between drug companies and patient groups. “So what does PR stand for?” asked Nancy Turett, the president and global director of Edelman Health. “It stands for powerful relationships. The heart of PR is third-party credibility,” Turett wrote in <i><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pharmaceutical_Executive&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pharmaceutical Executive (page does not exist)">Pharmaceutical Executive</a></i> in September 2002. “Third-party messages are an essential means of communication for validating scientific credibility, for legitimizing products, for building brand and disease awareness, and for building defenses against crises,” Turett wrote. “As advocates develop louder voices, pharma companies must forge alliances and win allies.” <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2003Q1/top5.html">[14]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In February 2004 the <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i> reported that Edelman's Chicago office had contributed $32,600 to Illinois Democratic Party Governor <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rod Blagojevich</span>. The story also reported that Edelman's contract with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCED) to promote tourism had been renewed despite competition from rival PR companies <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ketchum" title="Ketchum">Ketchum</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ruder_Finn" title="Ruder Finn">Ruder Finn</a>. The three-year contract was reported to be worth $6.2 million with $12.2 million having been paid to the company since 2000.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i> reported that Edelman was not the lowest bidder, the director of communications for the department, Laura Hunter, told PR week the contract renewal was "entirely based on their qualifications." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=203026&site=1">[15]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman Chicago's general manager of consumer practice and tourism practice leader within the agency told <i>PR Week</i> defended making political contributions as a part of a strategy to win contracts. "It's really a part of doing business ... We have made contributions throughout the history of the company really because we're a part of the community," she said. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=203653&site=1">[16]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March 2004 the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._Department_of_Commerce" title="U.S. Department of Commerce">U.S. Department of Commerce</a> hired Edelman and M&C Saatchi was hired by to manage a advertising and PR campaign to boost the numbers of visitors from Britain. According to <i>PR Week</i>, the campaign is aimed at overcoming America's 'brash' image and opposition to America's foreign policy. Edelman's UK joint chief executive <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nigel_Breakwell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nigel Breakwell (page does not exist)">Nigel Breakwell</a> told PR Week that at least 10% of the $US6m would be for PR. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?site=1&ID=206008&site=1&/news/news_worldwire.cfm&setcookie=1">[17]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In April 2005 the PR trade publication <i>PR Week</i> revealed that <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Andrew_Merrill&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Andrew Merrill (page does not exist)">Andrew Merrill</a>, the global managing director of Edelman's financial communications practice, was heading up a team campaigning on behalf of eight former Morgan Stanley executives to topple the chairman CEO Philip Purcell. According to the report Merrill and five other staff in Edelman's New York office were working on the campaign.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?ID=237485&site=3">[18]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In October 2005, Reuters reported that Edelman is to mount an aggressive campaign against Robert Greenwald's new documentary <i>Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price.</i> In what is reported to be a movie industry first, Edelman's representatives emailed reporters press kits containing a point-by-point rebuttal of the film's trailer, which Wal-Mart is demanding be altered or removed from the walmartmovie.com website. (The trailer is under fire because the documentary itself will not be released until November 1, 2005.) "The press kit includes snippets from negative reviews of Greenwald's earlier works - one dating as far back as 1980 - and three examples of what the retailer calls factual errors in the latest documentary." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&s">[19]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman "is working with the<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute">American Petroleum Institute</a> (API)</span>, the oil industry's primary lobbying group, on a public issues campaign aimed at convincing Americans that the industry is facing severe challenges, even as its members pull in record quarterly profits," <i>PR Week</i> reported in November 2005. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/us/thisissue/article/527523/api-highlights-oil-industry-challenges-despite-record-profits">[20]</a> Print ads designed by Edelman's advertising unit, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Blue_Worldwide&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Blue Worldwide (page does not exist)">Blue Worldwide</a>, "have run in major daily newspapers across the nation, as well as in <i>Roll Call</i> and <i>The Hill</i>." The print ads urge "consumers to adopt conservation measures this winter" and push for the removal of "barriers on the production of natural gas on federal lands." Blue Worldwide also launched "a new TV campaign that will run during news and public affairs programming, which started with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NBC" title="NBC">NBC</a> Nightly News" on November 10.</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Health_and_nutrition_panel">Health and nutrition panel</span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In June 2008, Edelman announced the formation of the "Edelman Food & Nutrition Advisory Panel," staffed by "globally known food and nutrition experts" who will "provide strategic counsel to the firm’s food and nutrition staff in the areas of obesity, food ethics, food policy, functional foods, health claims, and nutrition communications," according to the <i>Holmes Report</i>. Panel members include <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arthur_Caplan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Arthur Caplan (page does not exist)">Arthur Caplan</a> from the University of Pennsylvania, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Johanna_Dwyer&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Johanna Dwyer (page does not exist)">Johanna Dwyer</a> from the New England Medical Center, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gary_Foster&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gary Foster (page does not exist)">Gary Foster</a> from Temple University, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeanne_Goldberg&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jeanne Goldberg (page does not exist)">Jeanne Goldberg</a> from Tufts University. <sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-11">[12]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Edelman_Studios">Edelman <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Studios</span></span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In May 2008, Edelman launched "Edelman Studios," a "virtual studio designed to pair emerging talent and established storytellers with brands and companies looking to connect with consumers in new ways." The effort will develop "television shows, short and feature films, and 'webisodes' from screenwriters, producers, and directors who will have the opportunity to compete for assignments from marketers," according to the Holmes Report. Initial clients included <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Burger_King" title="Burger King">Burger King</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Butterball&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Butterball (page does not exist)">Butterball</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Expedia" title="Expedia">Expedia</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kraft" title="Kraft">Kraft</a>'s Philadelphia Cream Cheese. <sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-12">[13]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Blog_watchers">Blog watchers</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In April 2005, Edelman and the "marketing intelligence" firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Intelliseek&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Intelliseek (page does not exist)">Intelliseek</a> released a directory of the most influential bloggers</span> and a white paper detailing the importance of blogs to marketing and PR. The directory "profiles bloggers in business, consumer packaged goods, consumer technology, healthcare, and marketing and public relations," and also "gives advice on blogger behavior and jargon."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Clients are calling us with increasing regularity, asking what's going on [with blogs] and how is this affecting the business," said Edelman executive vice-president and GM of diversified services <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Murray&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rick Murray (page does not exist)">Rick Murray</a>. Murray also warned that companies face risks when "attempting to communicate with the blogosphere -- you will do yourself harm." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=236953&site=3">[21]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman's white paper on blogs <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.edelman.com/news/ShowOne.asp?ID=64">[22]</a>, called "Trust MEdia?: How Real People Are Finally Being Heard," was a little less ominous. "For companies, bloggers represent an immediate source of information and feedback, but also an opportunity to engage a rapidly expanding global network of influential, credible, passionate and involved group of real people who communicate constantly," said <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pam_Talbot&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pam Talbot (page does not exist)">Pam Talbot</a>, the head of Edelman U.S. The paper also notes that Edelman was the first major PR firm to launch a corporate blog, that of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/">CEO Richard Edelman</a>.</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="International_partners">International partners</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Edelman has agreed a strategic business partnership with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Indo_Pacific_Public_Relations&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Indo Pacific Public Relations (page does not exist)">Indo Pacific Public Relations</a> (IPPR), one of Indonesia’s largest independent public relations firms," wrote the <i>Holmes Report</i> ("Edelman Forms Alliance with Indonesian PR Firm," March 19, 2007). The partnership, to be known as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Indo_Pacific_Edelman&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Indo Pacific Edelman (page does not exist)">Indo Pacific Edelman</a>, will be launched in April 2007.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Senior technical advisor to IPPR <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chadd_McLisky&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chadd McLisky (page does not exist)">Chadd McLisky</a>, will continue to lead a team of 114 staff and will work closely with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Grove&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bob Grove (page does not exist)">Bob Grove</a>, Edelman’s managing director for Southeast Asia, to support clients, particularly in the healthcare, technology, FMCG and oil and gas sectors," according to the <i>Holmes Report</i>.</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Case_Studies">Case Studies</span></font></h2>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman_lends_E.ON_UK_a_hand_on_the_company%27s_global_warming_woes" title="Edelman lends E.ON UK a hand on the company's global warming woes">Edelman lends E.ON UK a hand on the company's global warming woes</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ETS_Project" title="ETS Project">Edelman's Campaign for INFOTAB on Environmental Tobacco Smoke</a></font></li>

</ul>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Personnel">Personnel</span></font></h2>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_Edelman" title="Richard Edelman">Richard Edelman</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pam_Tabot&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pam Tabot (page does not exist)">Pam Tabot</a> CEO & President, US</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Morley&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Michael Morley (page does not exist)">Michael Morley</a>, is Deputy Chairman of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and author of “How to manage your global reputation: a guide to the Dynamics of international public relations”, New York University Press, NY 2002.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nancy_Turett&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nancy Turett (page does not exist)">Nancy Turett</a>, President and Global Director, Health.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kenneth_Adelman" title="Kenneth Adelman" class="mw-redirect">Kenneth Adelman</a>, a senior counselor to Edelman, is a member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Defense_Policy_Board_Advisory_Committee" title="Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee">Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee</a>, a government-appointed group that advises the Pentagon, a national editor for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Washingtonian&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="The Washingtonian (page does not exist)">The Washingtonian</a> magazine, and former deputy U.S. representative to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=514&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=00">[23]</a>.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Deaver" title="Michael Deaver">Michael Deaver</a>, Vice-Chairman.</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Leslie_A._Dach&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Leslie A. Dach (page does not exist)">Leslie A. Dach</a>, Vice-Chairman (Public Affairs specialist)</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Burrell" title="Michael Burrell">Michael Burrell</a>, European Chairman</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mike_Seymour" title="Mike Seymour">Mike Seymour</a>, Global Leader, Crisis and Issues Management</font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Katie_Levinson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Katie Levinson (page does not exist)">Katie Levinson</a>, senior vice president and political director in Edelman's New York public affairs shop. Levinson previously served as communications director for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rudy_Giuliani" title="Rudy Giuliani" class="mw-redirect">Rudy Giuliani</a>'s presidential campaign,<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> press secretary to California Governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arnold_Schwarzenegger" title="Arnold Schwarzenegger">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a>, director of television at the Bush / Cheney <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=White_House&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="White House (page does not exist)">White House</a>, and senior spokeswoman and director of broadcast media for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_National_Committee" title="Republican National Committee">Republican National Committee</a> in 2004. <sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-13">[14]</a></sup></span></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Nicholas_Burns" title="Nicholas Burns">Nicholas Burns</a>, chair of Edelman's global public affairs advisory board; Burns previously worked at the U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State_Department" title="State Department" class="mw-redirect">State Department</a> as <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">under secretary of state for political affairs </span>and as a spokesperson, and before that at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Security_Council" title="National Security Council" class="mw-redirect">National Security Council</a> <sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-14">[15]</a></sup></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mark_Grundy" title="Mark Grundy">Mark Grundy</a>, Corporate Social Responsibility</font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mary_Young&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mary Young (page does not exist)">Mary Young</a>, executive vice president of food and nutrition communications (formerly <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">vice president of nutrition at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Cattlemen%27s_Beef_Association" title="National Cattlemen's Beef Association">National Cattlemen's Beef Association</a>) <sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-15">[16]</a></sup></span></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jane_Madden&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jane Madden (page does not exist)">Jane Madden</a>, previously with the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/World_Bank" title="World Bank">World Bank</a>, </span>was named Edelman's Senior vice-president of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corporate_social_responsibility" title="Corporate social responsibility" class="mw-redirect">corporate social responsibility</a> and sustainability in April 2009; she provides "strategic counsel and support to clients on environmental and social issues, developing CSR programs domestically and in emerging global markets, engaging with multilateral organizations, and developing stakeholder communication strategies." <sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-16">[17]</a></sup></font></li>

</ul>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Income_and_employee_totals">Income and employee totals</span></font></h2>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">O'Dwyer's PR lists Edelman as earning $324,488,483 in net fees in 2006, up 23.9% on the previous year. It notes the firm has 2,259 employees. This makes it by far the largest independent PR firm since in second place is <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ruder_Finn_Group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ruder Finn Group (page does not exist)">Ruder Finn Group</a> with $99,303,000 in net fees and 593 employees. <sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-17">[18]</a></sup></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=PR_Week&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="PR Week (page does not exist)">PR Week</a> ranked Edelman as the number one PR agency in the United States in 2008,<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> with 2007 revenue of $262,885,026, a 22% increase from the previous year's total revenue</span> of $216,145,972. These totals are more than double the second largest PR firm, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Waggener_Edstrom" title="Waggener Edstrom">Waggener Edstrom</a> Worldwide. The ranking also notes its staff total of 1,711, with $153,644 in revenue per employee.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-18">[19]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Clients">Clients</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Compiled from the <i>O'Dwyer's</i> firm listings and additional sources as noted.</font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Current">Current</span></font></h3>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Main source <i>O'Dwyer's</i> listing for Edelman (accessed April 2008): <sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-19">[20]</a></sup></font></p>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Abbott_Laboratories" title="Abbott Laboratories">Abbott Laboratories</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Adobe&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Adobe (page does not exist)">Adobe</a>, Inc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Advanced_Medical_Optics&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Advanced Medical Optics (page does not exist)">Advanced Medical Optics</a>, Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alston_%26_Bird" title="Alston & Bird">Alston & Bird</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Egg_Board" title="American Egg Board">American Egg Board</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Heart_Association" title="American Heart Association">American Heart Association</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute">American Petroleum Institute</a> (API)</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arla_Foods&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Arla Foods (page does not exist)">Arla Foods</a> UK plc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AstraZeneca" title="AstraZeneca">AstraZeneca</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AT%26T" title="AT&T">AT&T</a> Corporation</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Attorneys%27_Title_Insurance_Fund&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund (page does not exist)">Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Autodesk&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Autodesk (page does not exist)">Autodesk</a> Inc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Avanade&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Avanade (page does not exist)">Avanade</a>, Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Avaya&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Avaya (page does not exist)">Avaya</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barilla&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Barilla (page does not exist)">Barilla</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bayer" title="Bayer">Bayer</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Boy_Scouts_of_America" title="Boy Scouts of America">Boy Scouts of America</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Burger_King" title="Burger King">Burger King</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_Brothers_%26_Co.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bush Brothers & Co. (page does not exist)">Bush Brothers & Co.</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Business_Roundtable" title="Business Roundtable">Business Roundtable</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Canine_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Canine Corporation (page does not exist)">Canine Corporation</a> Plc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Canon" title="Canon" class="mw-redirect">Canon</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cara_Operations&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cara Operations (page does not exist)">Cara Operations</a> Limited</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Career_Education_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Career Education Corporation (page does not exist)">Career Education Corporation</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Charles_Schwab" title="Charles Schwab">Charles Schwab</a> & Co, Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chiquita_Brands&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chiquita Brands (page does not exist)">Chiquita Brands</a>, Inc</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Church_%26_Dwight&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Church & Dwight (page does not exist)">Church & Dwight</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citrix_Systems&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Citrix Systems (page does not exist)">Citrix Systems</a>, Inc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ConAgra" title="ConAgra">ConAgra</a> Foods, Inc</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dairy_Management&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dairy Management (page does not exist)">Dairy Management</a>, Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Danone&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Danone (page does not exist)">Danone</a></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Suzuki_Foundation" title="David Suzuki Foundation">David Suzuki Foundation</a><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-20">[21]</a></sup></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Deutsche_Telekom&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Deutsche Telekom (page does not exist)">Deutsche Telekom</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Diageo" title="Diageo">Diageo</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duke_University" title="Duke University">Duke University</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Dupont" title="Dupont" class="mw-redirect">Dupont</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Esmark&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Esmark (page does not exist)">Esmark</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/European_Commission" title="European Commission">European Commission</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=France_Telecom&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="France Telecom (page does not exist)">France Telecom</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/General_Electric" title="General Electric" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">General Electric</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/General_Services_Administration" title="General Services Administration" class="mw-redirect">General Services Administration</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GlaxoSmithKline" title="GlaxoSmithKline" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GlaxoSmithKline</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=H.J._Heinz&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="H.J. Heinz (page does not exist)">H.J. Heinz</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hanes&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hanes (page does not exist)">Hanesbrands</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IAC/<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/InterActiveCorp" title="InterActiveCorp" class="mw-redirect">InterActiveCorp</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Illinois Dept of Commerce & Econ Opportunity</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Inbev&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Inbev (page does not exist)">Inbev</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=InFocus&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="InFocus (page does not exist)">InFocus</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Johnson_%26_Johnson" title="Johnson & Johnson">Johnson & Johnson</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kaiser_Permanente&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kaiser Permanente (page does not exist)">Kaiser Permanente</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kraft" title="Kraft">Kraft</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mars" title="Mars">Mars</a> Incorporated</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MedImmune&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="MedImmune (page does not exist)">MedImmune</a> Inc</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Merck" title="Merck">Merck</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MetroPCS&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="MetroPCS (page does not exist)">MetroPCS</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mobile_Top_Level_Domain&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mobile Top Level Domain (page does not exist)">Mobile Top Level Domain</a>, Ltd (mTLD)</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Motorola" title="Motorola">Motorola</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MTD_Products&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="MTD Products (page does not exist)">MTD Products</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mushroom_Council&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mushroom Council (page does not exist)">Mushroom Council</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Cattlemen%27s_Beef_Association" title="National Cattlemen's Beef Association">National Cattlemen's Beef Association</a></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=News_International&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="News International (page does not exist)">News International</a><sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-21">[22]</a></sup></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nissan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nissan (page does not exist)">Nissan</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Northern_Star_Natural_Holdings&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Northern Star Natural Holdings (page does not exist)">Northern Star Natural Holdings</a>, LTD</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Novartis" title="Novartis" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Novartis</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oregon_Bridge_Delivery_Partners&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Oregon Bridge Delivery Partners (page does not exist)">Oregon Bridge Delivery Partners</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Panama_Canal_Authority&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Panama Canal Authority (page does not exist)">Panama Canal Authority</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pfizer" title="Pfizer" class="mw-redirect" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pfizer</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PhRMA" title="PhRMA" class="mw-redirect" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">PhRMA</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PricewaterhouseCoopers" title="PricewaterhouseCoopers" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">PricewaterhouseCoopers</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Procter_%26_Gamble" title="Procter & Gamble">Procter & Gamble</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Project_Management_Institute&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Project Management Institute (page does not exist)">Project Management Institute</a> (PMI)</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Puerto_Rico" title="Puerto Rico" class="mw-redirect">Puerto Rico</a> Dept. of Economic Dev</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Qwest_Communications" title="Qwest Communications">Qwest Communications</a> International Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Roche" title="Roche">Roche</a> Holding Ltd</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Royal_Dutch_Shell" title="Royal Dutch Shell" class="mw-redirect">Royal Dutch Shell</a> plc.</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Royal_Numico&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Royal Numico (page does not exist)">Royal Numico</a> N.V.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Samsung" title="Samsung" class="mw-redirect">Samsung</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sanofi-Aventis" title="Sanofi-Aventis">Sanofi-Aventis</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Schering_Plough&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Schering Plough (page does not exist)">Schering Plough</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scotts&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Scotts (page does not exist)">Scotts</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shui_On_Holdings&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Shui On Holdings (page does not exist)">Shui On Holdings</a> Ltd.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SICPA&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="SICPA (page does not exist)">SICPA</a> Holding SA</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Solvay" title="Solvay">Solvay</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Starbucks" title="Starbucks">Starbucks</a> Coffee Company</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sun_Hung_Kai_Properties&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sun Hung Kai Properties (page does not exist)">Sun Hung Kai Properties</a> Limited</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Symbol_Technologies&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Symbol Technologies (page does not exist)">Symbol Technologies</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Teva_Pharmaceutical_Industries&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (page does not exist)">Teva Pharmaceutical Industries</a>, LTD.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Boeing" title="Boeing">Boeing</a> Company</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Time_Warner" title="Time Warner">Time Warner</a>, Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Toy_Industries_of_Europe&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Toy Industries of Europe (page does not exist)">Toy Industries of Europe</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Unilever" title="Unilever">Unilever</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_Parcel_Service" title="United Parcel Service">United Parcel Service</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wal-Mart_Stores" title="Wal-Mart Stores">Wal-Mart Stores</a>, Inc.</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Whirlpool" title="Whirlpool">Whirlpool</a> Corporation</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wm.Wrigley_Jr.Company&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (page does not exist)">Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wyeth" title="Wyeth" class="mw-redirect">Wyeth</a></font></li>

</ul>

</div>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In February 2009, the<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> major military contractor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ITT_Corporation" title="ITT Corporation">ITT Corporation</a></span> hired Edelman, to promote the company "in the defense in the defense and commercial markets, as well as raise awareness of its ongoing CSR," or <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corporate_social_responsibility" title="Corporate social responsibility" class="mw-redirect">corporate social responsibility</a>, efforts. <sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_note-22">[23]</a></sup></font></p>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main source <i>O'Dwyer's</i> October 2003 firm profile: <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/pr_firms_database/prde02.htm">[24]</a></font></p>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Adidas" title="Adidas">Adidas</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Health_Care_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Health Care Association (page does not exist)">American Health Care Association</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute">American Petroleum Institute</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Apple_Computer&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Apple Computer (page does not exist)">Apple Computer</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Association_of_American_Railroads&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Association of American Railroads (page does not exist)">Association of American Railroads</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Baxter" title="Baxter">Baxter</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Berlex_Laboratories&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Berlex Laboratories (page does not exist)">Berlex Laboratories</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Boeing" title="Boeing">Boeing</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bunge&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bunge (page does not exist)">Bunge</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Butterball_Turkey_Co.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Butterball Turkey Co. (page does not exist)">Butterball Turkey Co.</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Campanha_Serra&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Campanha Serra (page does not exist)">Campanha Serra</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chiron_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chiron Corporation (page does not exist)">Chiron Corporation</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints" title="The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citibank" title="Citibank" class="mw-redirect">Citibank</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cranium&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cranium (page does not exist)">Cranium</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Diebold_Inc." title="Diebold Inc.">Diebold Inc.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0817edelman_diebold.html">[25]</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Eli_Lilly" title="Eli Lilly">Eli Lilly</a> & Co.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=European_Society_of_Intensive_Care_Medicine&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (page does not exist)">European Society of Intensive Care Medicine</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Expedia" title="Expedia">Expedia</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=First_Pacific_Co.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="First Pacific Co. (page does not exist)">First Pacific Co.</a> Ltd.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fuji_Photo_Film&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fuji Photo Film (page does not exist)">Fuji Photo Film</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/General_Motors" title="General Motors" class="mw-redirect">General Motors</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Georgia-Pacific" title="Georgia-Pacific">Georgia-Pacific</a> Corp.</span></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gilead_Sciences" title="Gilead Sciences">Gilead Sciences</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Henry_Schein" title="Henry Schein">Henry Schein</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hershey" title="Hershey">Hershey</a> Foods Corp.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Home_Depot" title="Home Depot">Home Depot</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Household_International&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Household International (page does not exist)">Household International</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=IDA_Singapore&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="IDA Singapore (page does not exist)">IDA Singapore</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kimberly-Clark" title="Kimberly-Clark">Kimberly-Clark</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FedEx" title="FedEx">Kinko's</a> Inc.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/MasterCard" title="MasterCard">MasterCard</a> International</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michelin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Michelin (page does not exist)">Michelin</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America" title="Motion Picture Association of America">Motion Picture Association of America</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mutual_of_Omaha" title="Mutual of Omaha">Mutual of Omaha</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Broadcasters&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="National Association of Broadcasters (page does not exist)">National Association of Broadcasters</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Bedding_Co.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="National Bedding Co. (page does not exist)">National Bedding Co.</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Natuzzi&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Natuzzi (page does not exist)">Natuzzi</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Netflix&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Netflix (page does not exist)">Netflix</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_York_City_Economic_Development_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="New York City Economic Development Corporation (page does not exist)">New York City Economic Development Corporation</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Orange&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Orange (page does not exist)">Orange</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patton_Boggs_LLP" title="Patton Boggs LLP" class="mw-redirect">Patton Boggs LLP</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Philip_Morris" title="Philip Morris" class="mw-redirect">Philip Morris</a> (Chris Merrit, "Spin Doctor has some free advice for law firm", <i>Australian Financial Review</i>, May 10 1996)</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Progress_Energy" title="Progress Energy">Progress Energy</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Raytheon" title="Raytheon" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Raytheon</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rockwell_Collins&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rockwell Collins (page does not exist)">Rockwell Collins</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Shell" title="Shell">Shell</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/us/news/article/633511/Shell-mobile-marketing-effort-drives-home-its-fuel-message/">[26]</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Synopsys&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Synopsys (page does not exist)">Synopsys</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Taiwan_Semiconductor&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Taiwan Semiconductor (page does not exist)">Taiwan Semiconductor</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Teva_Pharmaceutical_Industries_Ltd.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (page does not exist)">Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Thaksin_Shinawatra" title="Thaksin Shinawatra">Thaksin Shinawatra</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Together_Rx_LLC&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Together Rx LLC (page does not exist)">Together Rx LLC</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Unilever" title="Unilever">Unilever</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=VTech_Industries&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="VTech Industries (page does not exist)">VTech Industries</a> LLC</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Valvoline&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Valvoline (page does not exist)">Valvoline</a> Co. Wm.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wyndham_International&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wyndham International (page does not exist)">Wyndham International</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/YUM%21_Brands" title="YUM! Brands" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">YUM! Brands</a></font></li>

</ul>

</div>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2002 Edelman won a $400,000 tourism promotion contract from the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau. The firm has also done travel PR campaigns for the Governments of Mexico, Egypt, Scotland, and Texas, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2002/february/0207cancun.htm">[27]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In July 2002 Edelman won a $1 million issues management and government affairs account with the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. According to <i>O'Dwyer's PR Services Report</i>, the contract likely included addressing the controversy over the U.S. Navy's use of one of the islands for target practice. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2002/july/0712edelman.htm">[28]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May 2001 <i>O'Dwyer's</i> reported that Edelman were working for the government of Jordan to promote trade and economic development. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/may/0511jordan.htm">[29]</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Contact_information">Contact information</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1500 Broadway

New York NY 10036

Phone: 212 768-0550

Fax 212/704-0128

Email: ny AT edelman.com

Web: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.edelman.com">http://www.edelman.com</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="SourceWatch_resources">SourceWatch resources</span></font></h2>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Blogging" title="Blogging">Blogging</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens%27_Health_Care_Working_Group" title="Citizens' Health Care Working Group">Citizens' Health Care Working Group</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Public_relations_firms" title="Public relations firms">Public relations firms</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Shell" title="Shell">Shell</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wal-Mart_Stores" title="Wal-Mart Stores">Wal-Mart Stores</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_Sambrook" title="Richard Sambrook">Richard Sambrook</a> - vice chair</font></li>

</ul>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span></font></h2>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.strategyone.net">StrategyOne</a></font></li>

</ul>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_and_other_resources">Articles and other resources</span></font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">See <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman:_External_links" title="Edelman: External links">Edelman: External links</a></font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span></font></h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-0">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Edelman Public Relations, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/about_us/welcome/">About Us:Welcome</a>, organizational Web site, accessed November 23, 2010</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-1">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Hamilton Nolan, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://gawker.com/356220/sometimes-you-just-have-to-stand-up-there-and-lie">'Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie'</a>," <i>Gawker</i>, February 13, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-2">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Virgil Dickson, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prweekus.com/pages/under-fire-advocacy-group-alec-works-with-edelman/article/240419/">Under-fire advocacy group ALEC works with Edelman</a>, <i>PRWeek</i>, May 10, 2012</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-3">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firms_database/prfirm_detail.htm?prid=%7BACFF8E63-A98F-4765-9373-288B524C24FB%7D">Edelman</a>, <i>O'Dwyer PR</i>, online public relations firm database, accessed August 2012</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-4">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm">PR Firm Rankings: Independents</a>, <i>O'Dwyer PR</i>, online public relations firm database, accessed August 2012</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-5">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/832313/FRONT-PAGE-Activists-target-Edelman-climate-change-protest/">Activists target Edelman in climate change protest</a>, PR Week UK, 7/17/2008</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-6">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.eon.com/en/422.jsp">E.On Corporate Website</a>, accessed 7/18/2008</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-7">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/01/14/73">Carbon capture at E.ON’s Kingsnorth coal plant</a>, Carbon Commentary, January 14, 2008</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-8">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/403762.html">Oxford Climate Action Spin The Spinners!</a>, UK Indymedia, July 16, 2008</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-9">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20040821000431/http://www.edelman.com/about_us/relationship_imperative/index.asp">Edelman: Our approach - the relationship imperative</a>," archived page of the Edelman website from August 2004, accessed via the Internet Archive.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-10">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Aarti Shah, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prweekus.com/PepsiCo-taps-Edelman-to-lead-multimillion-dollar-campaign/article/139680/">PepsiCo taps Edelman to lead multimillion-dollar campaign</a>," <i>PR Week</i>, July 7, 2009.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-11">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.holmesreport.com/holmestemp/story.cfm?edit_id=8575&typeid=1">Edelman Forms Food and Nutrition Advisory Panel</a>," <i>Holmes Report</i> (sub req'd), June 29, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-12">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"Edelman Launches Virtual Studio, Invites Talent to Pitch Clients," Holmes Report, May 4, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-13">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Elizabeth Benjamin, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/03/giuliani-campaign-aide-joins-e.html">Giuliani Campaign Aide Joins Edelman PR</a>," <i>New York Daily News</i> blog, March 25, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-14">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0917edel_burns.html">Edelman Lands State Veteran Burns</a>," <i>O'Dwyer's PR Daily</i> (sub req'd), September 17, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-15">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0122young.html">Edelman Ropes Young</a>," <i>O'Dwyer's PR Daily</i> (sub req'd), January 22, 2009.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-16">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.holmesreport.com/fullstory.cfm?edit_id=10405&typeid=1&nlid=172">Edelman Names Madden to Lead CSR and Sustainability Unit</a>," The Holmes Report, April 12, 2009.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-17">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm">2006 Worldwide Fees of independent Firms With Major U.S. Operations</a>", accessed May 2007.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-18"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-18">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"2008 Agency Rankings," PR Week, 28 April 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-19"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-19">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firms_database/prfirm_detail.htm?prid=%7BACFF8E63-A98F-4765-9373-288B524C24FB%7D">Edelman</a>," PR Firms Database, <i>O'Dwyer's PR</i>, accessed April 9, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-20">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Edelman, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2008/11/c2543.html">"Edelman Retained by David Suzuki Foundation to Provide Strategic Counsel in Quebec"</a>, Media Release, June 11, 2008.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-22"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman#cite_ref-22">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Tonya Garcia, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prweekus.com/ITT-awards-Edelman-with-account/article/126746/">ITT awards Edelman with account</a>," <i>PR Week</i>, February 3, 2009.</span></font></li>

</ol>

</div>

===

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman</a>

 </font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Richard Edelman</b> is the President & Chief Executive Officer of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edelman" title="Edelman" class="mw-redirect">Edelman</a> public relations company, a position he has held since September 1996.</font></p>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commissioner, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Latin_Media_%26_Entertainment_Commission" title="Latin Media & Entertainment Commission">Latin Media & Entertainment Commission</a></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Advisory Trustee, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/International_Business_Leaders_Forum" title="International Business Leaders Forum">International Business Leaders Forum</a> <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup></font></li>

<li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">US Board of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jerusalem_Foundation" title="Jerusalem Foundation">Jerusalem Foundation</a> <sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#cite_note-1">[2]</a></sup></font></li>

</ul>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents</font></h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Background"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Background</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Edelman_.26_Journalism"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Edelman & Journalism</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Der_Spiegel_Hits_a_Nerve"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Der Spiegel Hits a Nerve</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Contact_details"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Contact details</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Resources_and_articles"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Resources and articles</span></a>

</font><ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Related_Sourcewatch_articles"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Related Sourcewatch articles</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#References"><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></font></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a>

</font><ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Articles_by_Edelman"><span class="tocnumber">6.1</span> <span class="toctext">Articles by Edelman</span></a></font></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#Articles_About_Edelman"><span class="tocnumber">6.2</span> <span class="toctext">Articles About Edelman</span></a></font></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Background">Background</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to his biographical note, prior to taking up his current position he was "president of Edelman's U.S. operations, regional manager of Europe and manager of the firm's New York office".</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He currently has "assignments for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Schering-Plough" title="Schering-Plough" class="mw-redirect">Schering-Plough</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Swiss_Re&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Swiss Re (page does not exist)">Swiss Re</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gap" title="Gap" class="mw-redirect">Gap</a>. "He has counseled several countries on economic development programs, including <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>".</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman boasts that he "has special understanding of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Non-Governmental_Organizations" title="Non-Governmental Organizations">non-governmental organization</a> (NGO) movement. He has spoken on this topic at several conferences including The Institute of Social & Ethical AccountAbility, The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Conference_Board" title="Conference Board">Conference Board</a> and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/World_Economic_Forum" title="World Economic Forum">World Economic Forum</a>".</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"He has worked on several political campaigns including "<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jim Thompson for Governor"</span> and "Ed Koch for Mayor", according to his biographical note.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman told <i>Esquire</i> magazine "in this era of exploding media technologies there is no truth except the truth you create for yourself." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q4/">[1]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Following the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Federal_Communications_Commission" title="Federal Communications Commission">Federal Communications Commission</a> warning that broadcasters should disclose the origin of at least some <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Video_news_releases" title="Video news releases">video news releases</a> Edelman pragmatically conceded that disclosing government VNR’s "in some way" was reasonable. However, Edelman drew the line at labeling corporate VNR’s, which comprises the bulk of those produced</span>. "I do not believe in the need for government to put a black box on any VNR that's produced for a company," he told <i>PR Week</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?ID=237511&site=3&setcookie=1">[2]</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Edelman_.26_Journalism">Edelman & Journalism</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"How serious is it for PR that the man who runs the foremost center for press and public policy in the US is fundamentally skeptical about our profession?" wrote in a blog posting following a speech by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alex_S._Jones" title="Alex S. Jones">Alex Jones</a> of Harvard University's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol">Shorenstein Center</a> at a recent gathering of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/may/0516prseminar.htm">PR Seminar</a>, a rather secretive annual gathering of top public relations executives. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/05/the_fork_in_the.html">[3]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jones told PR executives that news is moving away from objectivity, as "subjectivity, finding underserved markets, ideologically targeted, is a viable business strategy." The result is that we are "fast approaching a time of relative truths, resulting in an even more toxic partisan environment." Jones also lamented the cheapening of news and says that "media with reduced staff is looking for packaged content. The temptation will be high for PR people to do in print <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fakenews/execsummary&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fakenews/execsummary (page does not exist)">what has been done</a> in <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Video_news_releases" title="Video news releases">video news releases</a>."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Edelman called Jones' remarks a "very important speech" and called on PR pros to "to recognize that with our enhanced opportunity comes a very real responsibility" to "be more credible" and adopt a policy of "total transparency."</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Der_Spiegel_Hits_a_Nerve">Der Spiegel Hits a Nerve</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In response to an article in <i>Der Spiegel</i> reviewing the work of the PR industry, including examples of the work of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Burson-Marsteller" title="Burson-Marsteller">Burson-Marsteller</a>, Edelman and other major companies, Edelamn let fly. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.edelman.com/documents/Der_Spiegel_article_7.31.2006.doc">[4]</a> "This article is basically a conflation of cinema-induced fantasy, anti-Americanism, anti President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_Walker_Bush" title="George Walker Bush">Bush</a>, anti-capitalism, and fear of propaganda stemming from World War II," he claimed</span>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/08/hit_me_with_you.html">[5]</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Contact_details">Contact details</span></font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Web: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/">Richard Edelman's Blog</a></font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Resources_and_articles">Resources and articles</span></font></h2>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Related_Sourcewatch_articles">Related Sourcewatch articles</span></font></h3>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span></font></h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#cite_ref-0">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iblf.org/about_us/Board_of_Trustees.jsp">Board of Trustees</a>, International Business Leaders Forum, accessed October 7, 2007.</span></font></li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Edelman#cite_ref-1">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/board_content.aspx?MID=546&CID=555&SID=709&ID=841">The Jerusalem Foundation, Inc. (USA)</a>, Jerusalem Foundation, accessed May 13, 2010.</span></font></li>

</ol>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span></font></h2>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_by_Edelman">Articles by Edelman</span></font></h3>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard Edelman, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/">An Open Letter to Karen Hughes--A Search for Dialogue and Support</a>", <i>Speak Up</i>, October 17, 2005.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard Edelman, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/05/are_ngos_return.html">Are NGOs Returning to Activist Roots, or are they Maturing? How does Business Respond?</a>", <i>Speak Up</i> blog, May 15, 2006, accessed November 30, 2006.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/05/the_fork_in_the.html">The Fork in the Road</a>", <i>Speak Up</i>, May 30, 2006.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard Edelman, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/06/why_bother.html">Why Bother?</a>", <i>Speak Up</i>, June 05, 2006.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard Edelman, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2006/08/hit_me_with_you.html">Hit Me with Your Best Shot, Again and Again</a>", <i>Speak Up</i>, August 07, 2006; This post was in response to "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/documents/Der_Spiegel_article_7.31.2006.doc">Masters of deception</a>", <i>Der Spiegel</i>, August 2006. (This is a rough translation of the article, in Word format, originating from the Hamburg office of the PR firm Edelman and posted to the blog of <strong class="selflink">Richard Edelman</strong>).</font></li>

</ul>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_About_Edelman">Articles About Edelman</span></font></h3>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/bio/">Richard Edelman President & CEO Edelman</a>", undated, accessed October 2004.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q4/">Flack Attack</a>", <i>PR Watch</i>, Fourth Quarter 1996.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Erica Iacono, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?ID=237511&site=3&setcookie=1">DoE report cites a lack of ROI, not ethics</a>", <i>PR Week</i>, April 25, 2005. (Sub req'd).</font></li>

</ul>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>:

</font><ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Public_relations_professionals" title="Category:Public relations professionals">Public relations professionals</a></font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></font></li>

</ul>

</div>

===

In May 2012, <em>PRWeek</em> <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/pages/under-fire-advocacy-group-alec-works-with-edelman/article/240419/" title="reference on reported" target="blank">reported</a> that ALEC had hired the notorious global PR firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edelman" title="reference on Edelman" target="self">Edelman</a>. Edelman is the firm of choice for big tobacco, big oil, and big pharma, all key sponsors of ALEC. ALEC also held a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11458/alec-sends-out-sos-breibart-bloggers" title="reference on special meeting" target="_blank">special meeting</a> asking right-wing bloggers, such as the Breitbart operation,for help in "a very aggressive campaign to really spread the word about what we actually do," as CMD has reported.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An "aggressive campaign" is clearly underway.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC's note to legislators claims that CMD's "top investigative reporter" has a "lengthy criminal background." It links to a attack-piece published by a newly created entity called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Washington_Free_Beacon" title="reference on The Washington Free Beacon" target="self">The Washington Free Beacon</a> (WFB), the online publication of the self-proclaimed "conservative advocacy group" the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_American_Freedom" title="reference on Center for American Freedom" target="self">Center for American Freedom</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In that piece, recent college grad CJ Ciaramella focuses on Beau Hodai, a freelance reporter who has written for <em>the Center for Media and Democracy, </em>In These Times, <em>Prison Legal News</em>,<em> Extra!</em> (a publication of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), and the investigative news publication he founded, <em>DBA Press</em>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beau has been researching and reporting on ALEC since late 2009. His reporting has detailed the relationship between ALEC and private prison contractors in the dissemination of bills based on Arizona's SB 1070, and has identified ALEC as one of the key forces behind attempts to destroy public employee unions and privatize public services.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notably, the WFB<em> </em>attack job does not find any material errors in any of Beau's extensively documented reports on ALEC, but focuses on misdemeanor court records. It dwells on the fact that his legal first name is Mohamad. Beau has been nicknamed "Beau" since birth. (It is worth noting that "CJ" is not Ciaramella's legal first name but the nickname he uses instead of "Carl.")</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beau recently stirred the pot with a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11498/quid-pro-status-quo-alec-state-sanctioned-corruption-ohio" title="reference on special report" target="_blank">special report</a> detailing corruption in the Ohio General Assembly based on public records that raise questions as to whether the state's elected officials in ALEC are complying with Ohio's ethics laws regarding gifts.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Interestingly enough, Beau learned that exactly one week following the publication of the Ohio ALEC corruption story, a private investigation firm requested court records concerning a past arrest. Allegations from those same court records emerged as the centerpiece of the WFB attack article.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/11717">http://www.prwatch.org/node/11717</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fang; At CPAC — which was <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/19/cpac-oil-sponsor/">sponsored</a> in part by API — ThinkProgress spoke to API representative André Carter at his organization’s <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/API_booth_at_CPAC.JPG">booth</a> at the convention. Carter is an account executive at Edelman, the K Street public relations firm that manages API. Carter told ThinkProgress that API has been “sharing resources,<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> coordinating efforts” with Gingrich’s ASWF </span>group for some time. When contacted for comment, API spokesman Bill Bush disputed that API was “working in any way” with Gingrich. </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.58; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAYQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFSgAegQIBhAA" style=""><div class="tF2Cxc" style="position: relative;"><div class="IsZvec" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><div class="VwiC3b yXK7lf MUxGbd yDYNvb lyLwlc lEBKkf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; display: -webkit-box; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow: hidden; -webkit-line-clamp: 2;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Mar 12, 2021 — </span>Research by the Brown sociologist <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brulle</span> found that five big oil companies combined have “spent nearly $3.6 billion in advertising purposes for ...</font></div></div><div jscontroller="K6HGfd" id="eob_16" jsdata="fxg5tf;;Cf8pIE" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQ2Z0BegQIBhAC" style=""><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.58; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAcQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFSgAegQIBxAA" style=""><div class="tF2Cxc" style="position: relative;"><div class="yuRUbf" style="line-height: 1.58;"><font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2021/3/16/2021286/-PR-Giant-Edelman-Breaks-Pledge-Not-To-Work-For-Dirty-Energy-Climate-Deniers-By-Taking-AFPM-Money" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAMQAQ" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.dailykos.com/story/2021/3/16/2021286/-PR-Giant-Edelman-Breaks-Pledge-Not-To-Work-For-Dirty-Energy-Climate-Deniers-By-Taking-AFPM-Money&ved=2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAMQAQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); outline: 0px;">
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overflow: hidden; -webkit-line-clamp: 2;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Mar 17, 2021 — </span>PR giant <span style="font-weight: bold;">Edelman</span> breaks pledge to not work for dirty energy climate deniers by taking AFPM money · Top Climate and Clean Energy Stories: · Share ...</font></div></div><div jscontroller="K6HGfd" id="eob_15" jsdata="fxg5tf;;Cf8pIA" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQ2Z0BegQIBRAC" style=""><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="z9PoV" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font></p><div data-hveid="CBEQAA" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.58; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><div><div class="g jNVrwc Y4pkMc" style="line-height: 1.58; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div data-hveid="CA4QAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFSgAegQIDhAA"><div class="tF2Cxc" style="position: relative;"><div class="yuRUbf" style="line-height: 1.58;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/s3ep3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAoQAQ" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.desmog.com/s3ep3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/&ved=2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAoQAQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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</a></font><h3 class="LC20lb MBeuO DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; line-height: 1.3; display: inline-block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/s3ep3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAoQAQ" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.desmog.com/s3ep3-psychological-warfare-astroturfing-and-another-tobacco-oil-connection/&ved=2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAoQAQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); outline: 0px;">Drilled S3Ep3: Psychological Warfare, Astroturfing ... - DeSmog</a></font></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 qLRx3b tjvcx" role="text" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.desmog.com<span class="dyjrff qzEoUe" role="text" style=""> › ...</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 qLRx3b tjvcx" role="text" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; padding-top: 1px;"><span class="dyjrff qzEoUe" role="text" style="" /></cite></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="eFM0qc" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-left: 2px; visibility: visible;"><div class="csDOgf" style="display: inline; visibility: visible; position: absolute;"><div jscontroller="exgaYe" data-acc="n" data-enjspb="true" jsdata="l7Bhpb;;Cf8pI8" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQ2esEegQIChAE"><div jsaction="KyPa0e:WZTn;wjOG7e:edHC5b;al5F3e:edHC5b;"><g-popup jsname="Y3ZMZd" jsshadow="" jscontroller="DPreE" jsaction="A05xBd:IYtByb;EOZ57e:WFrRFb;" jsdata="mVjAjf;;Cf8pIY"><div jsname="oYxtQd"><div jsslot=""><div aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" tabindex="0" jsaction="Ndrj7;keydown:tXc2mb" jsname="I3kE2c" class="iTPLzd GUHazd lUn2nc eY4mx" aria-label="About this Result" style="cursor: pointer; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 28px; z-index: 1; line-height: 16px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 5px; outline: 0px; position: absolute;"><span jsname="czHhOd" class="D6lY4c" style="height: 22px; width: 22px; position: absolute; border-radius: 11px; top: -1px;"><span jsname="Bil8Ae" class="xTFaxe IjabWd z1asCe SaPW2b" style="display: inline-block; fill: rgb(112, 117, 122); height: 18px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; width: 18px; margin-left: 2px; top: 2px;"><svg focusable="false" viewbox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M12 8c1.1 0 2-.9 2-2s-.9-2-2-2-2 .9-2 2 .9 2 2 2zm0 2c-1.1 0-2 .9-2 2s.9 2 2 2 2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2zm0 6c-1.1 0-2 .9-2 2s.9 2 2 2 2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2z" /></svg></span></span></div></div></div></g-popup></div></div></div></div></div><div class="IsZvec" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><div class="VwiC3b yXK7lf MUxGbd yDYNvb lyLwlc lEBKkf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; display: -webkit-box; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow: hidden; -webkit-line-clamp: 2;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Apr 26, 2020 — </span>Featuring: Bob <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brulle</span>, environmental sociology researcher at Brown University; Christine Arena, former <span style="font-weight: bold;">Edelman</span> PR executive; and clips from ...</font></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><ul class="FxLDp" style="margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0px 16px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; list-style-type: none; width: 600px;"><li class="MYVUIe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: flex;"><div class="XN9cAe" style="flex: 1 1 0%; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="g jNVrwc Y4pkMc" style="line-height: 1.58; width: 584px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div data-hveid="CA0QAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQtJkDKAB6BAgNEAA"><div class="tF2Cxc" style="position: relative;"><div class="yuRUbf" style="line-height: 1.58;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/11/30/pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAsQAQ" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.desmog.com/2021/11/30/pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle/%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dpr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle&ved=2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAsQAQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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</a></font><h3 class="LC20lb MBeuO DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; line-height: 1.3; display: inline-block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/11/30/pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAsQAQ" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.desmog.com/2021/11/30/pr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle/%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dpr-industry-major-overlooked-influence-climate-politics-brulle&ved=2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQFnoECAsQAQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); outline: 0px;">The PR Industry Has Been a 'Major' But 'Overlooked' Influence ...</a></font></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 qLRx3b tjvcx" role="text" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.desmog.com<span class="dyjrff qzEoUe" role="text" style=""> › 2021/11/30 › pr-industry-m...</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 qLRx3b tjvcx" role="text" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; padding-top: 1px;"><span class="dyjrff qzEoUe" role="text" style="" /></cite></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="eFM0qc" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-left: 2px; visibility: visible;"><div class="csDOgf" style="display: inline; visibility: visible; position: absolute;"><div jscontroller="exgaYe" data-acc="n" data-enjspb="true" jsdata="l7Bhpb;;Cf8pI4" data-ved="2ahUKEwiBzoKk-dz0AhV0lmoFHUZOCEYQ2esEegQICxAE"><div jsaction="KyPa0e:WZTn;wjOG7e:edHC5b;al5F3e:edHC5b;"><g-popup jsname="Y3ZMZd" jsshadow="" jscontroller="DPreE" jsaction="A05xBd:IYtByb;EOZ57e:WFrRFb;" jsdata="mVjAjf;_;Cf8pIY"><div jsname="oYxtQd"><div jsslot=""><div aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" tabindex="0" jsaction="Ndrj7;keydown:tXc2mb" jsname="I3kE2c" class="iTPLzd GUHazd lUn2nc eY4mx" aria-label="About this Result" style="cursor: pointer; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 28px; z-index: 1; line-height: 16px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 5px; outline: 0px; position: absolute;"><span jsname="czHhOd" class="D6lY4c" style="height: 22px; width: 22px; position: absolute; border-radius: 11px; top: -1px;"><span jsname="Bil8Ae" class="xTFaxe IjabWd z1asCe SaPW2b" style="display: inline-block; fill: rgb(112, 117, 122); height: 18px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; width: 18px; margin-left: 2px; top: 2px;"><svg focusable="false" viewbox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M12 8c1.1 0 2-.9 2-2s-.9-2-2-2-2 .9-2 2 .9 2 2 2zm0 2c-1.1 0-2 .9-2 2s.9 2 2 2 2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2zm0 6c-1.1 0-2 .9-2 2s.9 2 2 2 2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2z" /></svg></span></span></div></div></div></g-popup></div></div></div></div></div><div class="IsZvec" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><div class="VwiC3b yXK7lf MUxGbd yDYNvb lyLwlc lEBKkf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; display: -webkit-box; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow: hidden; -webkit-line-clamp: 2;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf" style="padding-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Nov 30, 2021 — </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Edelman</span> stood out with the most PR “engagements,” and also accounted for ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brulle</span> and Werthman noted that the study is not comprehensive; ...</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></li></ul></div></div></div><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">===</font></p>

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Edelman PR

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