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Save the Whalers Public Interest Reporting on the PR/Public Affairs Industry PR WATCH Volume 8, Number 1 First Quarter 2001 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Save the Whalers Tele-Press Associates: Flacking for Whalers for 21 Years By Bob Burton page 4 When the International Whaling Commission (IWC) came together Science with a Bloody Harpoon for its annual meeting in July 2000, Alan Macnow swung into action. page 5 Macnow’s New York-based PR firm, Tele-Press Associates (TPA), has defended the Japanese whaling and fishing industry for more than Shandwick Works to Save two decades, but his vigorous campaign against an initiative to create the Fox, Kill the Whale a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific may have reached new lows of page 6 unethical behavior. As executive director of a hastily-concocted coali- Kicking APCO’s Habit tion called “Friends of the Whalers,” he lashed out at targets includ- (letter to the editor) ing elected officials in New Zealand and Australia. page 6 “Your country is trying to make all of the world’s waters a whale Berman & Co.: “Nonprofit” sanctuary,” Macnow complained in a letter addressed to New Zealand Minister Helen Clark that was published in one of the country’s lead- Hustlers for the Food & Booze Biz ing newspapers. page 7 “What we’re saying is if whales increase in abundance, there The Legend of the Salad Bar shouldn’t be any reason not to utilize them in order to keep their pop- page 9 ulations in balance with the fish population,” Macnow told a journal- No Choice on GM Foods ist from The Australian. page 10 It is an argument rejected by Australian government scientists. “There is no evidence that whale populations have direct impacts on Tough Issues, Tough World commercial fish stocks,” said Environment Australia, the government page 11 environmental agency. “Differences in feeding behavior and migration There is a key difference, however, between our Flack Attack work and the hidden machinations of the public rela- Public relations people who are offended by the tions industry. The difference is that PR Watch has no exposés that appear in PR Watch sometimes complain hidden agenda, whereas most of the campaigns that we that we offer a one-sided view of the industry, and expose rely on some effort to hide the identity of the they’re right. We cover the dark side of PR—the real client whose interests are being served. coverups and outright lies used by powerful groups to The PR campaigns that we expose in this issue are influence public opinion and public policy. cases in point. When the “Natural Resources Study Not all PR is this sinister, of course. Some public Center” rises to the defense of Japanese whalers or the relations consists of relatively innocuous marketing “Employment Policies Institute” helps keep the min- efforts, and PR is even used to promote worthy causes, imum wage low for restaurants, self-serving messages such as fundraising drives for charities. are being disguised to make them look respectable by Some people who dislike our take on the PR indus- putting industry words in the mouths of seemingly try have even accused us of hypocrisy, pointing out that independent third-party experts. PR Watch itself helps promote causes that we believe There is nothing wrong with citizens campaigning in. In other words, they argue, we are engaged in public for causes that they believe in, but deceptive campaigns relations ourselves on behalf of our beliefs. If so, who deserve to be exposed, and that’s why the work of PR are we to criticize the PR industry? Watch is necessary. patterns largely preclude direct competition between “I don’t know. They don’t collect funds from the whales and fisheries in the South Pacific Ocean. ... Over- public,” he said. lap with commercially fished species is relatively low as When we pointed out that there is no evidence the much of their feeding is in waters that are not exploited organization actually exists, Macnow nonchalantly said, by fisheries,” they wrote in a report assessing the claims “Well, I can’t help you with that.” by the whaling industry. Shigeko Misaki, a spokesperson for the Japanese In Adelaide, Australia, where the IWC annual meet- Whaling Association (one of Macnow’s clients), said she ing was held, Macnow also spent approximately $20,000 knew about the ads but thought they were done by a to broadcast a pro-whaling TV ad on all three commer- group called the Natural Resources Study Foundation, cial Adelaide television stations during the week of the based not in Connecticut but in Washington, D.C. “Tele- conference. “It’s broken. The International Whaling Press happens to be the PR agent for them amongst Commission is broken, unable and unwilling to do its many other clients,” Misaki said. “They have been pur- job,” the advertisement warned in dire tones, claiming suing the sustainable utilization of wildlife over the years. that IWC member countries were “caving in to anti- They saw it as a good opportunity for them to make it whaling, fund-raising groups” and that “the IWC holds clear they are on our side.” However, the Natural science in contempt.” Resources Study Foundation is not listed in the phone These self-serving statements would of course have directories of Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. drawn a skeptical reception if the ads had correctly iden- Macnow’s $20,000 advertising campaign for a group tified the whaling industry itself as the sponsor of the ads, that doesn’t exist neatly exploited a loophole in Aus- but Macnow had that under control. Under Australia’s tralian law. If he had been advertising a product, the ad Broadcasting Services Act, political TV advertisements would fall under the jurisdiction of the Trade Practices are required to include a disclaimer which identifies the Act, which provides for fines of up to $120,000 if a com- sponsor, but Macnow’s ads said, “Authorized by Andrew pany is found guilty of false and misleading advertising. Tibault for the Natural Resources Study Center Political advertising, however, is not covered under (NRSC), Westport, Connecticut.” the Trade Practices Act, so it can say whatever it wants. Who exactly is the Natural Resources Study Center? The only penalty that might apply to Macnow’s ads Questioned by a journalist, Macnow said that NRSC was would be a slap on the wrist to the owners of the televi- one of his clients. But when PR Watch asked where sion stations for failing to rigorously check the bona fides NRSC could be contacted, he gave a vague response. of Macnow’s bogus group. “They are a sustainable-use group in Connecticut,” he said. Pressed further to provide a contact name and FRIENDS FOR HIRE Macnow’s other front group, “Friends of the phone number, he turned evasive. “You can look them Whalers,” is nearly as ephemeral as the Natural up in the phone book,” he tersely suggested. Resources Study Center. Macnow, who calls himself the Connecticut phone books, however, have no listing group’s executive director, admits that Friends of the for the group. Nor is NRSC listed with the U.S. Inter- Whalers is not a formal incorporated organization but nal Revenue Service as a nonprofit organization. John an informal network of individuals. “They are a group Horkel, a long-time resident of Westport and executive of people that would like to see sustainable whaling, director of the Nature Center, which is based there, has including groups like the Global Guardians in Japan, never heard of them either. Nor are they registered with people in the U.S., members of the Japanese Whaling the Secretary of State on the Connecticut State Regis- Association, and Icelandic film-maker . Magnuss Gud- ter, where nonprofits are required to list their street mundsson,” Macnow said. address and office bearers. Gudmundsson is well known to British journalist Asked a second time for a contact, Macnow once Andy Rowell, who describes him in his book Green Back- more declined. “I’m afraid not,” he said, claiming that lash, as someone associated “with the Icelandic and Nor- he “didn’t want them attacked by the vicious anti-whal- wegian governments, whalers, sealers, fishermen, the ing groups. If you want to find them, do the research to nuclear industry, the “wise use” movement, associates find them.” of Lyndon LaRouche, the International Wildlife Man- Asked whether they actually exist, Macnow tenta- agement Consortium, and various right-wing think tively said, “I think so.” Do they have an office? “Yeah,” tanks such as the Heritage Foundation.” he said after a pause. Paid staff? “Yes, I get checks from In preparation for the July 2000 meeting of the IWC them.” Are they registered as a non-profit with the IRS? meeting, Macnow also commissioned a legal opinion 2 PR Watch / First Quarter, 2001 from William Burke, a retired professor of law and tiated in 1946 by whaling nations. Failure to authorize marine affairs at the University of Washington. Burke the official resumption of commercial whaling, the argued that the proposed South Pacific whale sanctuary authors claimed, would jeopardize all international con- would be illegal. ventions that require international cooperation, such as “Australia and New Zealand offer no scientific find- the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases. “No possible ing justifying a new sanctuary and disregard the require- interpretation of the convention allows for putting an end ment that deference be given to existing regulatory to whaling when credible scientific opinion supports the measures conserving whale stocks,” Burke said in a state- sustainable use of abundant whale resources,” they ment that was quoted in news media throughout the stated.
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