Republican
Party-rooted PR firms Partnering
with Islamabad
Spinning all the bad news about Pakistan,
for a price
Bill Berkowitz
IT IS tough for even the best public relations outfits to spin
really bad news. Recent examples like the surprisingly good showing
of Islamic fundamentalists in current elections, a New York
Times story claiming Pakistan sold equipment to North Korea
enhancing its nuclear weapons capabilities, and reports that al
Qaeda and Taliban leaders are now operating out of Pakistan, are
either: a) a PR firm's biggest nightmare, b) a welcome and challenging
task, c) financially rewarding, or d) all of the above. Whether
there's bad news to spin or good news to promote, you can depend
on a well-paid PR firm to step up to the plate.
Dan
Pero, a founding partner in the newly established Sterling
International Consulting Corporation, which recently inked
a month-by-month media relations contract with Pakistan, told
me he was "excited about the possibilities" and "anxious
to tell" Pakistan's story." As Pero sees it, the story
is about how a "key ally of the U.S. in the war against terrorism"
is moving closer toward democracy.
Even
before 9/11, Pakistan was shelling out major-league money to US-based
PR firms with conservative credentials and GOP connections. At
that time, PR challenges included the dispute with India over
Kashmir, the country's nuclear weapons program, human rights violations
by Pakistan's military leadership, and the use of child labor.
Since 9/11, however, the "war on terrorism" has taken
center stage.
Pero
said that Sterling International, an affiliated company of the
Sterling Corporation, will receive $50,000 a month in an agreement
that began in early September and will be evaluated at the end
of November.
According
to a short profile posted at the Sterling Corp's website, Pero,
a twenty-five year PR/media relations veteran, recently served
as the managing director of Weber-Shandwick Worldwide, "the
largest public relations company in the world." He previously
served as vice-president of public and community affairs for the
Eckerd Corporation, one of the largest retail drug store chains
in America. Pero's political credentials include stints running
former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander's 1996 Presidential
campaign and serving as chief of staff to Michigan Governor John
Engler.
The
two other Sterling Corp. partners are Fred Wszolek and Lori Wortz,
both of whom have worked extensively for Republican Party candidates.
In 1997, Wszolek founded Persuasion, Inc., "an issue management,
public relations and political consultancy." Wortz, a former
partner in Persuasion, Inc. broke into politics by working for
Pat Robertson, and later ran Robertson's 1988 presidential campaign
in Michigan. She's also worked for the Republican National Committee
in several states.
Pero
told me that the contract with Pakistan is the company's first
foreign venture: We will be "taking our guidance and leadership
from the embassy and Islamabad," he said. An early-October
report in O'Dwyer’s PR Daily pointed out that Sterling will
"root out negative stories" and provide journalists
with "background, response and clarification." From
its home base in Lansing, Michigan, a state with a large Muslim
population, the company intends to enlist Pakistani-Americans
as "’message surrogates' [who] will be given talking
points and media training by SICC. [The] firm will stimulate a
grassroots campaign via e-mails, letters-to-the editor, one-on-one
communications and newsletters," O'Dwyer's reports.
"Recruiting
'message surrogates' is a classic example of what in PR lingo
is called 'the third party technique,'" Sheldon Rampton,
the editor of PR Watch, an industry watchdog group told me. "Hiding
a client's message behind someone else's face -- putting a scripted
message in the mouths of seemingly independent spokespeople --
is a major example of a deceptive PR campaign," he added.
Cleansing
the news from Pakistan: Pakistan's President, Gen. Pervez
Musharraf, who took power in a military coup in 1999, was prior
to 9/11 a strong supporter of the Taliban and al Qaeda, but has
since become indispensable to President Bush's "war on terrorism."
Because of this, the administration has overlooked, or preferred
to ignore, press accounts that Pakistan abetted Osama bin Laden's
escaping the U.S. net in Afghanistan with a number of al Qaeda
colleagues -- some of whom may currently reside in Pakistan.
Pero
said that while these are challenges for Sterling, he is confident
that Musharaff, "who has pledged to turn his country toward
democracy, was following through" on this "top priority."
These
stories should have the telephones and fax machines at Sterling
International working overtime.
*
The Mutahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) won 45 seats in the recent elections
-- and the number could reach 50 when ballots from semiautonomous
tribal areas in western Pakistan are counted, the Washington
Times reported on October 17. The MMA is now the third-largest
party behind the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), or PML(Q),
which supports President Pervez Musharraf and has 77 seats, and
the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), headed by exiled former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto, which won 62 seats.
A
coalition of Islamist parties named Fazlur Rehman as its candidate
for Prime Minister. According to the Washington Times
(October 17), Rehman supports Osama bin Laden and "once called
on Muslims to kill Americans." Since the coalition doesn't
have enough support within the National Assembly to form a government,
"it is unlikely" that Rehman, will become prime minister.
However, since "no other party has a majority," the
MMA could play political "kingmaker" -- putting Rehman
and fellow Islamists "in line for senior positions in Pakistan's
next government."
*
A report in the New York Times (October 18), charged
Pakistan with being "a major supplier of critical equipment
for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear weapons program."
Intelligence officials told the Times that in the late
1990's, in exchange for weapons to help Pakistan "counter
India's nuclear arsenal," Pakistan supplied "equipment,
which may include gas centrifuges used to create weapons-grade
uranium."
Pero,
who told me that the company receives daily information feeds
from Pakistan, in addition to their web-searching capacity, denied
the New York Times' allegations.
Pakistan
is not a newcomer to the PR game. In April of this year, the country
hired Fleishman-Hillard (F-H) "to win Congressional approval
for tariff relief," O'Dwyer's Daily reports. Donna Rohrer
from F-H's Washington, D.C., office, recently noted that the campaign
was now on hold -- "caught up in the national vise of our
war on terror." F-H has been told to "back off from
the media," she added.
F-H
was promoting the "Pakistan Emergency Economic Development
and Trade Support Act," introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback
(R-Kan.), which was aimed at rewarding Pakistan for its support
for the president's "war on terrorism," O'Dwyers PR
daily reported. The bill, that would have given Bush "the
authority to reduce or suspend import duties on Pakistani apparel,"
was opposed by the U.S. apparel manufacturers. Pakistan already
exports about $2 billion in apparel to the U.S., according to
O'Dwyers.
In
January 2002, O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that the country had
hired the "well-connected Houston-based Republican firm,
Polland & Cook, to help smooth ties with the U.S. just prior
to the Sept. 11 attacks. The purpose was to end U.S. economic
sanctions against Pakistan, bolster trade and debt restructure."
Gary Polland, who chairs the Harris County GOP, "is 37.5
percent owner of a joint-venture known as 'Team Barakat,' registered
lobbyist for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan." The company
was given an $180,000 contract that could be "renewable for
another two years," O'Dwyer's pointed out.
How
well connected to the GOP is Polland? In January 2001, he organized
the Texas Inaugural Breakfast that was attended by Texas Senators
Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison and Majority Whip Rep. Tom
Delay. The event also included a media panel consisting of John
Fund (The Wall Street Journal), Grover Norquist (Americans
for Tax Reform), John Gizzi (Human Events) and Glen Bolger (Public
Opinion Strategies).
According
to the "The History of PRSA [Public Relations Society of
America]," a new book by O'Dwyers PR Daily editor-in-chief,
Jack O'Dwyer, a 1999 survey found that the occupation "PR
specialist" ranked 43rd amongst 45 different types of public
figures as "believable sources of information." O'Dwyer
is publishing each chapter of the book on the Internet (http://www.odwyerpr.com/1015prsa.htm).
Faced with the results of this study, the PRSA followed the PR
path of least resistance - they all but buried the study, he writes.
Reading
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (http://www.odwyerpr.com)
is a good way to keep up-to-date on the industry. For more in-depth
information, however, check out the publication and website of
PR Watch (http://www.prwatch.org).
PR
Watch, a project of the Madison, WI-based Center for Media &
Democracy, provides thoughtful and thorough analysis on the misinformation,
disinformation and propaganda campaigns coming out of America's
PR firms. As PR Watch points out on its homepage, it aims to "help
the public recognize manipulative and misleading PR practices
by exposing the activities of secretive, little-known propaganda-for-hire
firms that work to control political debates and public opinion."
Many
companies "took a big hit when the economy took a nosedive
and lost a great deal of advertising revenue," said Sheldon
Rampton. Lobbying for foreign governments "has historically
been good business," he added. There's no question that there
are profits to be reaped from the war against terrorism he pointed
out. "After all," he said, "it's usually the countries
with the worst records and biggest crises that tend to spend the
most money on PR."
The
writer is a long time observer of the conservative movement. His
Working For Change column Conservative Watch documents the strategies,
players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right.
