Friday, September 04, 2009
(graphic:griefmatters.org.uk)
With front groups, defined as organizations that claim to represent one agenda while really serving another, popping up everywhere these days, Anne Landman at PR Watch has offered up ways to figure out who really is behind the likes of FACES of Coal, or Americans Against Food Taxes, or Citizens for Better Medicare, and others.
First, does the organization list a phone number and street address on their website? If not, bad sign No. 1. But if they do, note if it’s a Washington, DC, address. A Google search may reveal whether the group shares the same building as a PR or lobbying firm.
Second, if the group’s website “only offers a contact form to fill in and no street address, telephone number or email links to staff members, be suspicious.” If staff is listed, again do a Google search and see if those names pop up elsewhere and in what context.
Third, if the group uses bus tours to promote its agenda, find out who rented or purchased the bus.
Fourth, does the group conceal its source of funding? Does it offer a partial list of funders (to possibly avoid exposing the biggest donors)?
Landman offers even more tips for determining the legitimacy of “grassroots” organizations. She says it’s important for more consumers to determine who’s behind the curtain. “Documenting the activities of front groups is perhaps the single most important step in helping roll back the rise of astroturf groups,” she writes.
For the record, Citizens for Better Medicare was founded, funded and staffed by the pharmaceutical industry; the recently launched FACES of Coal appears to be funded by the coal industry and is in favor of mountaintop mining; and Americans Against Food Taxes was organized by the American Beverage Association to fight the growing popular movement to tax sugary drinks and energy drinks.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Attack of the Living Front Groups: PR Watch Offers Help to Unmask Corporate Tricksters (by Anne Landman, PR Watch)
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