Coal Front Group Plans $20 Million Online Media Blitz For ‘Shaping Public Attitudes’
Coal Front Group Plans $20 Million Online Media Blitz For ‘Shaping Public Attitudes’
The top public relations group for the coal industry is looking to shape public attitudes online, with a $20 million media budget for Internet-based advertising alone. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is on the search for a “Vice President, Paid and Digital Media” to increase the public’s “appreciation for the use of coal”:
The Vice President, Paid and Digital Media is responsible for implementing proactive digital media and traditional media placement strategies as a component of an integrated national communication program designed to 1) support coal-based electricity advocacy initiatives and 2) increase the public’s awareness of and appreciation for the use of coal to generate electricity.
This position, according to recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, will oversee the public relations and media placement firms under contract and manage an annual media budget in excess of $20 million: more than $3 million for “digital media programs” (like the “Clean Coal Carolers” and a “Blogger Brigade“) and greater than $17 million for “media placement.”
ACCCE’s planned digital onslaught is just one component of a comprehensive, national public relations campaign to misinform the public about coal. In 2008, ACCCE spent over $45 million on its deceptive messaging, including $10.5 million to lobby Congress. The PR firm Hawthorn Group has bragged about its “grassroots campaign” for ACCCE involving “sending ‘clean coal’ branded teams to hundreds of presidential candidate events” and “giving away free t-shirts and hats emblazoned with our branding: Clean Coal.”
The Wonk Room received the job description when Korn/Ferry approached Center for American Progress Action Fund’s Associate Director for Online Advocacy, Alan Rosenblatt, about the job. Alan tells the Wonk Room:
While some may work just for money, progressives work for values. Which might explain why this headhunter was naive enough to recruit me despite the fact I work for an organization that opposes her client.
Download the Korn/Ferry job description for ACCCE’s Vice President of Paid Digital Media here.
4 Responses to “Coal Front Group Plans $20 Million Online Media Blitz For ‘Shaping Public Attitudes’”
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So what’s the salary for this job? How long do you think it would take before they figured out I was actually working against their objectives?
March 6th, 2009 at 1:51 pmThe very fact that, in this economy, the ACCE has the funds to invest in a PR firm to convince folks to “appreciate the coal industry” indicates that something is still very wrong with energy corporations in America. Would they consider using their surplus dollars to reduce energy costs for consumers? Or maybe for research into clean coal technology? Or how about for educating themeselves in modern environmental science and global warming? They don’t know that carbon dioxide emmissions from coal burning plants cause global warming? Horsefeathers! They are simply following the lead of George Bush, by denying scientific fact to suit their own purposes. Big corporations are so used to being protected by pro-big business Republicans that they are still living in their own little worlds. They haven’t yet realized that it’s a new day in America. A case in point is AIG. After 3 multi-million dollar federal bailouts, AIG has now hired a notorious firm to “repair its image.” Just how stupid do they think the American people are?
March 6th, 2009 at 2:22 pmCarol,
No matter how stupid they think we are, we continually surpass even ACCCE’s wildest hopes.
Take for inst
March 6th, 2009 at 5:07 pm1. Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
2. Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
3. Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.
4. Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.
5. Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.
6. No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.
7. More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.
8. Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
9. Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.
10. Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
11. Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.
12. Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.
March 6th, 2009 at 11:14 pm