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Dr Fox
A fair and balanced TV company owned by Rupert Murdoch? It seems so. In
fact, Fox TV sees itself as the epitome of fairness and balance, which
is why its lawyers are currently suing US satirist Al Franken over his
new book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced
look at the Right”. The term “fair and balanced”, Fox
point out, was registered by it as a trademark in 1998.
Fox, remember, is the company so concerned to be “fair and balanced”
that in an investigation into the widespread use of Monsanto’s bovine
growth hormone (BGH) it twice tried to bribe its documentary team into keeping
quiet about the findings. When that failed, Fox fired the two award-winning
reporters and buried the story. The reporters refused to accept this fair
and balanced approach, and blew the whistle. In 2000 a Florida State court
jury unanimously determined that Fox “acted intentionally and deliberately
to falsify or distort the plaintiff’s news reporting on BGH”.
A recent appeal by Fox overturned this, and the reporters are now considering
an appeal to the Florida State Supreme Court. For more information on the
whole fair and balanced case, and more information on a rather disgusting
product not (yet) in use in the UK: http://www.foxbghsuit.com/.
In the meantime, in a fit of somewhat bitter irony,
reporters for another American TV company have successfully trademarked
the phrase “Freedom of Speech”...
Tele-Trouble
A US columnist ‘famed for his humorous views on life’s foibles’
managed to upset an entire corporation - the American Teleservices Association
- by giving out their free number and encouraging readers to “tell
them what you think” about telemarketing personnel. Responses to
Dave Barry’s column were in their thousands. After the first flood
of calls, the ATA had to switch from answering the phone in person to
a recording that asks the caller to leave a message.
The ATA said Barry’s prank will be costly because the association
must pay for the free calls and for the staff member who spends hours
sorting through the recorded messages.
Barry himself was obviously repentant. ‘’I feel just terrible,
especially if they were eating or anything’’ the columnist
admitted.
Bank of AbUSe
Readers of (some) regional magazines might have noticed reports that over
half of the massive £2.5 billion debt run up by UK consumers on
storecards is controlled by one company: the American bank GE Capital.
Interest rates on their storecards (which include Toys R Us and Mothercare)
can be up to 30% higher than on normal credit cards, and GE Capital have
found themselves faced with some criticism as a result. Indeed, in the
last few weeks they have been called “loan sharks”, accused
of “highway robbery” and according to George Mudie MP, are
“outrageously ripping off customers”.
Despite such vitriol, GE Capital remains dignified. It still hopes to
“redress certain misplaced allegations”; and adds that storecards
are primarily a way of rewarding customers’ loyalty. They were not,
says the company, designed as a “borrowing tool for larger amounts
over the longer term”.
So the Office of Fair Trading, currently investigating extortionate interest
charges, might be interested in the following statement on GE Capital’s
own website: “Private label cardholders shop more often and spend
more per purchase than other cardholders...from 24% to 70% more per purchase...Partnering
with GE Card Services gets results for your business”...
Quiz from a friend:
Which company name comes to your mind when
you hear GM?
Answer = Monsanto
Who was the press spokesman when Tony Blair
was first elected?
Answer = David Hill
What was David Hill’s next job?
Answer = PR manager for Monsanto
What does David Hill do now?
Answer = Director of Communications at Tony Blair’s office
and Head of PR for the Labour Party.
Why is the Blair Government proceeding with
GM farming?
Answer = (very difficult to answer)
Gardening
Astonishing news from Scotts, the world’s leading supplier of consumer
products for do-it-yourself lawn and garden care. (Scotts are also involved
in the widespread destruction of peat bogs in the UK, use fertilisers
which kill fish and pollute waterways, and have been fined for using illegal
pesticides)
‘Our products play a key role in maintaining a healthy and beautiful
environment. Lawn fertilizers help maintain thick, vigorous lawns that
absorb rain, control runoff and cool the earth.’ (italics by Corporate
Watch)
Obviously, before Scotts, everything was just unpleasantly soggy, and
rather hot... Which probably explains why Scotts, along with Bayer, Syngenta
and others recently felt entitled to set up the ‘Evergreen Foundation’
to defend the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilisers. It seems
there are ‘coordinated activist efforts to curtail or even eliminate
pesticides and fertilisers, severely restrict the use of water...and other
efforts detrimental to the green industry’ reports Lawn and Landscape
magazine. That would be green as in the colour of money, of course. For
more information on Scotts, and their interesting take on ecology:www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/scotts/scotts.htm
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