THE BEAT GOES ON

EJC: Firm that paid Iraq papers gets new deal

A public relations company that participated in a controversial US military program that paid Iraqi newspapers for stories favorable to coalition forces has been awarded another multimillion-dollar media contract with American forces in Iraq.

Washington-based Lincoln Group won a two-year contract to monitor a number of English and Arabic media outlets and produce public relations-type products like talking points or speeches for US forces in Iraq, officials said Tuesday. The list of media outlets to be watched includes the New York Times, Fox Television and the satellite channel, Al-Arabiya.

Details about the contract were confirmed by the US military spokesman in Iraq, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, who said the contract is worth roughly USD 6.2m (EUR 4.8m) per year. The Lincoln Group was mired in controversy last year when it became known that the company had been part of a US military operation to pay Iraqi newspapers to run positive stories about coalition activities. According to the company’s website, it was created in 2003 to do public relations and communications work in challenging environments such as Iraq.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2497299 - AP, ABC

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS: US NEWS IS SANITIZED BY NEWSWEEK

The Guardian reports:

”For some, the world is a tough place, where armed insurgents threaten at every turn. For others, is simply divine, a cuddly, celebrity-strewn nirvana where success is just a camera click away.

This week, Newsweek magazine - motto “Our voices. Your voices. Every day” - illustrates that division by offering readers in different parts of the world different cover stories. The international edition of the magazine, on sale in Europe, Asia and Latin America, features a fearsome-looking man wearing a turban and pointing a grenade launcher towards the reader. “Losing Afghanistan” screams the hard-hitting headline.

Instead of a man with a gun, US readers are offered a woman with a camera surrounded by children and celebrities. “My life in pictures,” purrs the softly spoken headline over a picture of celebrity snapper Annie Leibovitz. While Leibovitz cradles her children, a pregnant Demi Moore and a smiling Nelson Mandela look on.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,1882510,00.html

AD AGENCIES LACK DIVERSE WORK FORCES

I received this item from USA TODAY from my friend Ovais in London:

N.Y. ad agencies vow to address lack of diversity

”NEW YORK ‹ Jimmy Smith is at the top of his game.

His work as executive creative director at ad agency BBDO includes the launch ad for Motorola’s Rokr phone and iTunes player that shows musicians including Madonna and Bootsy Collins cramming into a phone booth. Among his ads earlier at Wieden & Kennedy was the iconic Nike Freestyle ad in which NBA players bounce a basketball to a hip-hop beat.

But after more than 20 years in the business, Smith, 44, remains one of a handful of African-Americans in top advertising jobs.

Complaints about this lack of senior minorities led New York City’s Commission on Human Rights to begin a probe of the industry 18 months ago. The city is seen as the capital of advertising, with more than 46,000 employed in the industry.

The commission found that of 8,000 workers at the 16 agencies targeted 22% make more than $100,000 a year ‹ but only 2.5% of those high-earners are black.

This too was published in England:

Photographer’s Detention Cited in Debate

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic congresswoman on Wednesday cited the case of an Iraqi Associated Press photographer imprisoned by the U.S. military during debate on a prisoner treatment bill that she considers too harsh.

In a House speech, Rep. Louise Slaughter referred to Bilal Hussein, who has been detained in Iraq for more than five months.

“He was accused of aiding and abetting the insurgency, but he has yet to be charged with any crime,'’ said Slaughter, D-N.Y. She noted that the AP has demanded that Hussein either be released or charged so that he can be turned over to the Iraqi court system for trial

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6110362,00.html

NEWS FROM IRAQ CENSORED

Michael Yon, an accomplished war reporter writes:

Pajamas Media recently reported that there are only 9 embedded reporters in Iraq. Many are blaming this on the media, and while I can never be called an apologist for mainstream media, I can say with certainty that the United States military is censoring.

It remains unclear if this is a general policy, though there are recent inquiries to the office of the Secretary of Defense. I await response. Or, perhaps, the censorship is merely the policy of LTC Barry Johnson who is responsible for operations involving embeds. Barry Johnson is said to be the most quoted man in Iraq I’ve learned to trust nothing he says. I do know for a fact that Johnson has been untruthful with the media. If Johnson calls me on this, I’ll take the time to prove it.

While sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and friends, fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military apparently is preventing journalists from telling the story. They attempt to deflect accusations of censorship by allowing in just enough reporters to appear transparent.

WEB PIONEER BACKS NET NEUTRALITY CAMPAIGN

”Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the pioneer of the World Wide Web, says: the neutrality of the Net is a medium essential for democracy. I think the people who talk about dismantling - threatening - Net neutrality don’t appreciate how important it has been for us to have an independent market for productivity and for applications on the Internet

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COMING TO THE USA

London’s Telegraph reports:

Electronic book opens new chapter for readers

“It’s been described as the gadget that will do for reading what the iPod did for listening to music. This week sees the American launch of the Sony Reader, a device capable of storing hundreds of books in electronic form and displaying them with the same clarity as real ink and paper.

Unlike previous attempts at creating ‘e-books’, the Reader’s screen has no flicker and no back light, allowing bibliophiles to read for hours at a time without eyestrain. Its electronic paper and ink also require little power, so battery life should not be a problem. It comes with 64MB of internal memory - enough for around 80 books, but also comes with a slot for a removable memory card that can hold hundreds more.

To accompany the launch of the Reader, Sony has created an online book store selling 10,000 electronic books from six leading publishers. The Reader and Connect bookstore will be launched in America on Saturday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/28/nebook28.xml
- The Telegraph