The hidden persuaders

My old friends Weber Shandwick are on the front page of The Guardian newspaper today.

You may not have heard of Weber Shandwick. They are hardly a household name, but much of the news we read and watch originates from them and companies like them. Weber Shandwick is a public relations (PR) firm. One of its specialities is corporate communications and, in particular, working with companies to "protect their reputations, promote their activities and secure advantage in the market place". It was on the front page of the newspaper as a newly launched campaign for access to cancer drugs has come under scrutiny as it is funded by the company that makes the drugs. The campaign operates from Weber Shandwick's offices. According to The Guardian: "MEPs and the head of the European Cancer Patients Coalition have already withdrawn from Cancer United's executive board, amid concerns over the funding and lack of transparency. Roche last night strongly denied the campaign was in effect a marketing exercise."

I first came across the PR company in November 2000 at the European Parliament Public Hearing into Nestlé baby food marketing. Nestlé had refused to attend the Hearing after objecting to UNICEF and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) being invited as witnesses. Publicly it claimed no member of staff was available. This was despite being informed months in advance of the hearing and saying it would attend when asked at the shareholder annual general meeting a few months before.

So no Nestlé. But there was someone from a firm Nestlé had contracted to write a report saying Nestlé was doing nothing wrong. Unfortunately this person could not respond to MEPs' questions about Nestlé's policies. Also present was someone from Shandwick (as it then was), who was seen to lobby MEPs and take notes for Nestlé's later campaign against the bad publicity.

I now see them when Baby Milk Action debates with Nestlé, taping the events and taking notes. No doubt we would be sued for libelling the company if we said anything that could not be substantiated. I presume Weber Shandwick also advises Nestlé on what to say.

Some public relations companies appear to go further in trying to protect their paymasters' reputations. We warn people who subscribe to the boycott discussion group that they do not know who is reading their messages or posting to the group. We link to an article by George Monbiot called The Fake Persuaders. He found that some of the emails in the on-line debate about genetically modified food appeared to originate from a public relations firm called Bivings. Apparently on the firms website it states: "Sometimes we win awards. Sometimes only the client knows the precise role we played."

Corporations have massive resources to invest in public relations. We have very few resources, but we do have a massive network of people who spread the word and help the campaign. Not for money, but because they care about truth and justice.