Svenska Dagbladet's editorial blog PJ Just Nu, is turning out to be a sandbox for liberal think-tank Timbro. Yesterday I mentioned the Timbro connections between PJ Anders Linder and the first three blogs he recommends. In today's paper Svenska Dagbladet comments on yesterday's succesful blog launch and quotes two people. Who? Timbro thinkers Dick Erixon and Johan Norberg of course.

On the blog today Linder "debunks" Morgan Spurlocks film Supersize me and gets support from Waldemar Ingdahl, president of Swedish think-tank Eudoxa. Ingdahl who by coincidence also has published a book at Timbro.

Both Eudoxa and Timbro are part of International Policy Network. IPN's main mission is to "support and help establish international, rightwing thinktanks, to organise conferences and campaigns, and to write articles promoting its agenda."

Also, read this review of Eudoxa's political connections by Michael H. Chung, Senior Fellow at Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington.

According to an article dated Sept 1 (!) by CorpWatch, corporate donations to the Republican National Convention will reach $160 million this year, "making it the most expensive political convention in history. It will dwarf the record $95 million spent by Democrats on their 2004 convention."

The article describes in detail how corporate interests sponsor both parties' conventions in order to pave the ground for lobbying initiatives. Says AGA spokeswoman Peggy Laramie:

"We want to raise the visibility of natural gas issues in a fun atmosphere (!)."

David Neiwert wrote an interesting piece last week on Orcinus about astroturfing and the difference between the campaigns of John Kerry and George W. Bush.

Streaming video from the Olympics have been much debated. This FAQ from Swedish Television shows yet another example of IOC's goofy control policies:

According to IOC rules, in order to view video clips you must:

> You must have Windows 98 SE or a newer version.
> You must have Windows Media Player version 9 installed.
> Your computer must allow cookies.
> You must register with username and password of your own choice, and a valid email address. Then you must log in using this information when you want to watch the clips. Registration is only necessary the first time you want to watch a clip.
> Your bandwitdh must be faster than 100 kbps. A bandwidth test of your connection will be performed.
> Your computer must be located within the Eurovision-area. An IP-test and control of your system clock will be performed to establish your time zone.

Observ that your registration is personal! You cannot send video clips to another computer. Illegitimate use of video clips will result in us blocking your VPN, Proxy and IP-address for use of streaming without notice.

Ouch!

Need inspiration for a PR stunt? Check out Josh Kinberg's Bikes against Bush, a brilliant "one-of-a-kind, interactive protest/performance occurring simultaneously online and on the streets of NYC during the upcoming Republican National Convention. Using a Wireless Internet-enabled bicycle outfitted with a custom-designed printing device, the Bikes Against Bush bicycle can print text messages sent from web users directly onto the streets of Manhattan in water-soluble chalk"

His protest got even more attention when he was arrested and when his equipment was confiscated the whole thing suddenly became a possible violation of the first amendment sending the blogosphere into red alert. Kinberg also appeared on NBC's Hardball last night.

As I wrote last Wednesday, Sweden's second daily, Svenska Dagbladet today launched a blog, the first from an established Swedish media. The blog PJ Just nu (PJ Right now) bears the name of the paper's chief political editor PJ Anders Linder, although it is really a group blog. All the paper's political editors will contribute to the blog.

In today's paper, Linder writes:

"At SvD we feel that it is important that also established quality media - "mainstream" media as the bloggers like to put it - accepts the challenge and gets involved. We must find our own way of using the new tools and develop our own tone of voice. It would be devestating to isolate in hope that all this will blow away. We must participate; to learn, to influence, to live in the flow."

On the blog, Linder links to three other blogs: PR agency JKL and libertarian thinkers Dick Erixon and Johan Norberg. It is quite typical that he links to Erixon and Norberg. For all his claims of an open discussion and that bloggers in general are generous with links to both allies and opponents, it will be interesting to see if "PJ Just nu" will promote an open debate (the blog does not have a comments function) or be a forum for liberal thinking. The thing is that both Erixon and Norberg are part of the liberal think tank Timbro, which by coincidence Linder was head of between 1996 and 2000. Also, Fredrik Erixon, chief economist at Timbro has, "what you might call close ties with a senior editor at JKL Blog" and Anders Kempe of JKL was a member of Timbro's board (thanks to Per Gudmundsson for the link).

Either way, the fact that SvD launches a blog is another sign that the two leading Swedish dailies approach the blogosphere quite differently. Dagens Nyheter is shying away from it, maybe partly because of the "attacks" by local media watchdogs like Stockholm Spectator. SvD on the other hand seems to embrace the blogosphere. They read blogs, they quote blogs in the paper and now they have their own blog. To me that sounds like a smarter approach if you want to stay tuned to developments in journalism.

Footnote: RSS feed here. No trackback or comments functions yet.

Update: Another thing, if you start fooling around with RSS feeds, change the URL once you go live otherwise everyone will see your old posts. SvD obviously started posting on July 15...



Update 2: "PJ Just nu" is not the first blog from a Swedish editorial writer. Håkan Jacobson, editorial writer at Upsala Nya Tidning has a blog, although it is a personal blog and not connected to the paper.

So the mea culpa from Dagens Nyheter regarding plagiarism finally came this week, although halfheartedly. In summary: It is wrong, but everyone does it and we are not going to take any measures to prevent it from happening again.

DN's "reader ombudsman" Lilian Öhrström writes that "plagiarism is a serious thing" but on the other hand she downplays its importance by saying that it is a common practice among journalists.

DN's editor in chief Jan Wifstrand uses the same method: "[plagiarism] is the most common ethical violation in journalism. We don't want to have that situation at Dagens Nyheter". On the other hand he says that "there is no need for investigations. You need to have open eyes and ears."

What strikes me as odd is that Lilian Öhrström is handed the duty to put the records straight. Media always point to the highest possible executive to take responsibility when they examine wrongdoings in companies. As Wifstrand doesn't step up and take his responsibility, it is clear that he doesn't take plagiarism accusations seriously. That kind of behaviour would never be tolerated by media.

You value information that is presented to you based on your trust for the sender. There's a huge difference if an opinion is presented by Greenpeace, or by a lobbying group sponsored by the oil industry.

Today's media consumer must be more critical to what he reads than any generation before. With so much noise, spin and counterspin, we must always ask ourselves, in whose interest is this information presented.

It cannot have escaped anyone that Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 is anti-Bush. It is also fairly obvious that such a controversial film would be met with some opposing attitudes, especially since Moore is deep into revealing lies of the people he dislikes. That in turn makes him an easy target for opponents who uses Moore's own tactics to portray him as a fake and a person who himself is very careless with the truth.

Since the film had its Swedish premiere yesterday, several different views about Moore and the film have been presented. Some positive, some negative. Either way, I thought it would be quite interesting to take a closer look at the arguments his opponents use.

Before you spam my mail box with angry comments, this is NOT an exercise to define Michael Moore's film as the truth or as a lie, I haven't even seen it. I am merely trying to put a light on hidden agendas and why certain types of information is being brought to your attention, so that you will be able to fully judge its value.

Recently, six individuals, out of at least four are involved in Muf, the youth organization of Swedish moderate party, started a campaign against Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11. They have started a network called Pro Veritas and its accompanying website Finn59fel cites 59 possible deceits in the film. They operate under a grassroots image and the notion that they have the truth, Moore is simply a liar. Well, are they just truth seekers or do they have a hidden agenda? Is it an astroturf campaign or is it legit? Maybe they have just been spun themselves by forces that they are unaware of.

The 59 deceits are entirely a translation from an essay by Dave Kopel, a political analyst at the Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute is one of the most influential think tanks in Washington D.C. with influential corporate sponsors like tobacco giants Philip Morris. The institue has close ties with media mogul Rupert Murdoch. It was also partly founded by and have received funding from oil and gas moguls David and Charles Koch, two of the richest individuals in the US. The Koch brothers contribute large sums to conservative and libertarian forces. As an example, President George W. Bush has received $109,000, and 19 out 20 top recipients of Koch campaign cash have been Republicans.

Writes the Center for Public Integrity:

In late 2000—as the Clinton Administration was preparing to leave office—Koch was hit with a 97-count indictment for covering up the discharge of more than 15 times the legal limit of benzene, a carcinogen, from a refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The company faced penalties of more than $350 million. Four Koch employees were also charged individually and faced up to 35 years in prison.

Three months after the Bush administration took office—and just before the lawsuit went to trial—the Justice Department abruptly settled the case. Koch agreed to pay $20 million and plead guilty to a single count of concealment of information. In return, the Justice Department dropped all criminal charges against Koch and the four employees.

Writers Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado claim that the Cato Institute "played a key role in forming the ideas and policies of the new Republican majority in Congress." Clearly the Cato Institue is supported by pro-Bush forces and by supplying arguments why Michael Moore is a potential liar and the anti-Bush movie is full of deceits, Republican-friendly interests can help Bush get re-elected. Now their argumentation have reached all the way to Swedish movie theatres.

Whether you choose to believe in Michael Moore or not, when you meet Pro Veritas campaigners outside movie theatres, now you know who is behind their arguments. Be critical.

Full disclosure: This article was published yesterday by Anton Andreasson and goes pretty much in the same lines as what I have written above. However, I hadn't read it before I wrote my post, so I have not copied Andreassons work.

Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet is reportedly launching a blog, which would be the first of its kind in Sweden. Stockholm Spectator has revealed that PJ Anders Linder, the paper’s chief political editor, will launch a blog shortly.

Here's the link to the blog dummy which includes RSS feeds, but no comment function.

SvD has proven before that they are tuned in to the blogosphere, by quoting PR agency JKL's blog. More surprising is that PJ Anders Linder actually links to JKL blog (one of three links) under the headline "Blogs that PJ like". Can a PR agency get a better recognition from a journalist than that?

On a related matter, SvD now offers 12 different RSS feeds.

(Hat tip to Norton Tierra)

Updated: The dummy has now been taken down.

ChangeThis has posted some semi-new innovative thoughts from people who are a lot smarter than you and I, like Robert Scoble and Seth Godin.

If you're into this kind of jargon be sure to check out Tom Peters latest thinking (seriously, you should). pdf.

More from the Olympic brand police. Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall Jr. has been fined $5,000 by the swimming federation for not wearing the team uniform to the starting blocks before his 50 meter freestyle race in Athens. The team uniform is a Speedo sponsored robe, but Hall wore his own, sponsored by boxing gear manufacturer Everlast.

Sponsors must be able to protect themselves against ambush marketing, even if fining a gold medalist rarely will win your brand any sympathy. In the case of Hall, this doesn't just seem to be about rebellion, but also about revenge. Apparently he lost a lucrative sponsor deal with Speedo after testing positive for marijuana a few years after the 1996 Olympics.

Astroturfing - faking grassroots movements - is not a new phenomenon. PR flacks and spin doctors have been using it for years. But with increasing transparency from blogs and media watchdogs, these campaigns can now be more easily discovered than before. This week Daily Kos revealed an astroturf initiative from the George W Bush campaign, which has found its way into at least 60 newspapers.

(Link via Poynter Online.)

On the other side of the pond, journalists who plagiarise get sacked. In Sweden, not so much. Reports the Media Drop:

Over the weekend, the Seattle Times announced the resignation of an associate editor and columnist after claims of multiple plagiarism allegations came to light. The Times' executive editor, Michael Fancher, informed the newspaper's readers with a front page item on Sunday about the departure of longtime columnist Stephen Dunphy.

Although the Dagens Nyheter plagiarism story has suddenly started to take off here in Sweden, little has actually happened. Michael Moynihan published an editorial in Expressen on Friday (not available online). The story was also covered in Dagens Media, Journalisten, Mymarkup, Dagens PS, Världen Idag and again on Stockholm Spectator.

But Jan Wifstrand, chief editor at Dagens Nyheter, said that "it is not relevant to apologize to readers six months after the mistake was made".

Michael Fancher, Seattle Times executive editor, had a different opinion. A story by Dunphy that was published in 1997, contained seven paragraphs originally published in the Journal of Commerce in 1996. Another instance happened in April 2000 when Dunphy borrowed paragraphs from the book "About This Life" by Barry Lopez.

"We felt we needed to set the record straight about the 1997 Asia airport story. Last Sunday we published a correction crediting the Journal of Commerce for the seven paragraphs."

There's no period of limitation for saying "we made a mistake".

What did the Seattle Times do to assure its readers that they take plagiarism incidents seriously?

> They published a correction, and then an open letter from the executive director.
> They made their own investigation and examined 25 stories written since 2000.
> A reporter made a further investigation on his own.
> They forced the plagiarist to resign.
> They engaged an independent outsider to to counsel staff and to work with "the Committee on Ethics and Standards in developing new procedures, policies and training about issues of attribution. The committee will develop new checks and balances to provide independent safeguards against plagiarism".
> They are continuing to examine signs of plagiarism and promised to inform the readers of the results.

While most organizations are adapting to a world where transparency is the cathword, the IOC is moving in the opposite direction. With an attitude worthy a dictatorship, the IOC tries to control every communicative aspect of the Olympic games in Athens.

First we learned that spectators are banned from the arenas if they bring in products of the wrong brand. Then we all laughed at the moronic linking policy of Athens 2004.

Now USA Today reports that Olympic athletes are largely barred from posting online diaries such as blogs.

"The IOC's rationale for the restrictions is that athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists — and that the interests of broadcast rightsholders and accredited media come first."

"The Olympic guidelines threaten to yank credentials from athletes who are in violation as well as to impose other sanctions or take legal action for any monetary damages."

The US army tried a control/command approach in Iraq but failed miserably. Why would the IOC succeed in controlling the debate, and for what reason? Today, media consumers are also producers and anyone equipped with a digital camera or an internet connection can scoop big media. Trying to stop people from expressing what they see is a violation of freedom of speech.

In the end, it is we as consumers who pay for this spectacle by bying products from the sponsors, by watching the ads that finance media, by visiting the arenas and so on. We should demand a diversity of voices and not accept propaganda style reporting.

(Link via Micro Persuasion)

Since June media has been hammering the same message over and over again - oil has never been as expensive as now. True, and false. It is true that the different statistics that go back to 1983 or 1988 show that the oil price has not been higher during the period from the mid 80s up til now. False, because they only look on the actual dollar per barrel price, not adjusted for inflation, and the prices in 1980 were much higher, and the period before 1983 is excluded.

Stats that don't take inflation into consideration are just fluff, it doesn't mean anything. If your salary today was slightly higher in dollars than it was in 1980, you wouldn't jump up and down with joy, because your money are worth less now.

In the US, Spinsanity has touched on the topic and how the oil price has been used on the political arena.

A more critical approach from media would be healthy, like when Dagens Industri (reg. required) for example last week noted that if adjusted for inflation, the price in 1980 was more than twice what it is today. But these examples are very rare.

Check my previous post, and below, for stats and graphs for inflation adjusted oil prices.



Chart from Inflationdata.com. Full size chart here.

The people who dreamed up the Athens 2004 linking policy have become the laughing stock of the entire internet, to the extent that the topic is no 3 at Daypop's Top 40 list of the most popular (or in this case ridiculed) topics on the net.

As an example: In order to place a link embedded in copy interested parties should:

a) Use the term ATHENS 2004 only, and no other term as the text referent

b) Not associate the link with any image, esp. the ATHENS 2004 Emblem (see paragraph below)

c) Send a request letter to the Internet Department stating:
-Short description of site
-Reason for linking
-Unique URL containing the link (if no unique URL than just the main URL)
-Publishing period
Contact point (e-mail address)

The control/command attitude of the Olympic organization does not work in a blog-enabled world and the whole idea of controlling how people link to your site is just counterproductive and bad PR. Rick E. Bruner summarizes:

Apparently the folks behind Athens 2004, the offical site for the current Olympics, still use AOL or have only read about the Internet in airline magazines.

Stories involving Sweden from last week:

> Sweden could be a talent magnet
> The sentence for pastor Åke Green's hate speech against homosexuals is still a hot topic. It even sparked the Libertarian Alliance to demand that Sweden should be suspended from the EU (!). Interestingly, the Libertarian Alliance has some loose connections to the Swedish PR agency K-Street. The Libertarian Alliance is associated with Libertarian International, whose Swedish arm is Frihetsfronten, whose editor is Erik Lakomaa, founder of K-Street. Not that there's anything wrong with it...
> Sweden threaten walk-out unless pair are banned: Kenteris and Thanou again.
> PlayStation banned from Swedish prisons: This one is fun. It was a story from Sydsvenska Dagbladet that I translated and did a short post on, which got picked up by the blog we-make-money-not-art, which in turn was picked up by Engadget and then the story spread across the net. What bummed me a bit was that most blogs linked to we-make-money-not-art instead of to me.