Media Relations

Another difference that can be noted between right and left-wing think tanks concerns their media appearance and media relations. While in 1997 53 % of the U.S. media references made to think tanks involved conservative institutions, progressive think tanks accounted for only16 % of the media citations made to think tanks (32 % centrist institutions). This suggests that the media agenda is markedly influenced by conservative issues and ideology, and therefore leads to a considerable imbalance within the spectrum of political views.

On the other hand the financial resources of right- and left- wing media associated with think tanks also differ appreciably. While conservative foundations provided US$ 2,734,263 to four right-of-center magazines between 1990 and 1993 including The National Interest, The Public Interest, The New Criterion, and The American Spectator, over the same time period four left-of-center publications, namely The Nation, The Progressive, In These Times, and Mother Jones received only US$ 269,500 from foundations.

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Major U.S. Think Tanks: Heritage Foundation

Heritage was started to counter what it perceived as the liberal intellectual climate of Washington in the 1970s. The Heritage Foundations mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Heritage pursues this mission by performing research addressing key policy issues and effectively marketing these findings to its primary audiences: members of Congress, key congressional staff, policymakers in the executive branch, the nation's news media, and the academic and policy communities.

Official Organizational Status: Independent research and educational institute.

Political Orientation: U.S. Conservative

Scope/Research Areas: The Heritage Foundation's research areas include: economic issues, health and welfare, education, culture and religion, security and defense, foreign policy and international relations/institutions. Priority is given to issues, such as: Social Security reform, fundamental tax reform, livable cities, ballistic missile defense, education reform, domestic and economic policy and foreign and defense policy. Recent publications include: Feulner, Edwin J.: The March of Freedom. (1998). Holmes, K. et.al.: 1999 Index of Economic Freedom. (1998).

Funding Sources: 1998 Budget: US$ 26 million. Private donations (47 %), foundations (21 %), investment income (21 %), corporate donations (4 %). Among others US$ 1 million from the Korea Foundation - funded by South Korea's foreign ministry.

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Global Market

Today information and communication markets are more and more subject to globalization and concentration. World-Information.Org examines the question to which extent a free market of competitors is existent or in how far the interlocking of the big players has created virtual cartels. It also reviews the trend to deregulation and makes visible the structure of global capitalism and its institutions.

Related search: Global Markets
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PR Firms and their Mission

Looking at how public relations practitioners advertise their services, they do not primarily seem to be followers of the "social engineering" approach. Burson-Marsteller, the worlds leading PR agency, for example sells itself as a specialist in "... public affairs, government relations, crisis communication, investor relations, environmental issues and marketing communications ... experienced at orchestrating effective campaigns, which motivate the right behaviors.". Porter Novelli, third largest international PR company, somewhat more aggressive promises, that their marketing-based public relations "... penetrate the consumer psyche - where - your target audiences work, learn, play or shop, through everything they read, hear and see.". While Porter Novelli seems to be specialized in psychological warfare, Fleishman-Hillard highlights its know-how and experience in government relations programs. "We have handled some of the nation's most challenging public policy issues, including issues affecting the environment, from clean air to agricultural chemicals; aviation safety; regressive taxes; international trade; and human rights.". To handle those difficult tasks, Fleishman-Hillard maintains "... an effective, professional lobbying team that includes registered lobbyists recruited from the Senate and the House."

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Conservative vs. Progressive Think Tanks

The political orientation of think tanks is as broad as in every other kind of institutions or organizations. It ranges from conservative over centrist to progressive. Still it can be noted, that there are considerable differences between the right and the left wing of think tanks, especially concerning funding sources and revenues as well as media relations, which have considerable consequences on their perception and influence on the public as well as on policy makers.

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Table: Publishing Programs of Think Tanks



Think Tank

Periodicals

Publication of Research Findings

Brookings Institution (Washington D.C., US)

Brookings Review, Brookings Papers on Economic Activities

Recent titles include: Hess, Frederick M.: Spinning Wheels. The Politics of Urban School Reform. (1998). Haass, Richard N.: The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur. How to be Effective in Any Unruly Organization. (1998).

Heritage Foundation (Washington D.C., US)

Policy Review

Publication of journals, newsletters, magazines, research reports, policy/issue briefs, video, CD-ROM, website.
Recent publications include: Holmes, K. and J. J. Przystup: Between Diplomacy and Deterrence. Strategies for U.S. Relations with China. (1997). Holmes, K. and T. Moore (eds.): Restoring American Leadership. (1996).

American Enterprise Institute (Washington D.C., US)

The American Enterprise, Newsletter

Types of publications are newsletters, magazines, monographs and books.
Recent titles include: Income Inequality and IQ. (1998). Morrisey, Michael (ed.): Managed Care and Changing Health Care Markets. (1998).

Cato Institute (Washington D.C., US)

Regulation, Cato Journal, Policy Report

Research findings are published in the form of: journals, newsletters, magazines, research reports, monographs and policy/issue briefs.
Some recent publications include: Moore, Thomas: Gale Climate of Fear. Why We Shouldn't Worry About Global Warming. (1998). Carpenter, T. G. and B. Conry (eds.): NATO Enlargement. Illusions and Reality. (1998).

RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, CA, US)

RAND Research Review, RAND Journal of Economics

Types of publications are journals, newsletters, magazines, research reports, working/discussion papers, monographs and policy/issue briefs. An important outlet is the RAND publication series. In 1997, RAND published 73 reports and papers in this series. Many RAND studies also appear as books from commercial publishing houses and university presses, and as articles in professional, scholarly, and technical journals.

Institute of Economic Affairs (London, UK)

Economic Affairs, Newsletter

Research findings are published in the form of journals, newsletters, magazines, research reports, working/discussion papers and monographs. Some recent titles include: Regulation Utilities. Broadening the Debate . (1997). The Conservative Government's Economic Record. (1998).

Adam Smith Institute (London, UK)

ASI Bulletin

Some recent publications are: Singapore versus Chile. Competing models for welfare reform. The Eastern Market. The Future of the Post-Communist Countries.

Center for Policy Studies (London, UK)

CPS Newsletter

Types of publications are newsletters, magazines, research reports and policy/issue briefs. Recent titles include: Selbourne, David: One Year On. The "New Politics" of Labour. Eltis, Walter: Further Considerations on EMU. It will Create Instability and Destroy Employment.



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The Institute of Economic Affairs

One of the most impressive examples of the dissemination of ideology through educational activities has been performed by the UK- based Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), founded in 1955. Dedicated to the idea of free-markets the IEA from the beginning saw the "education" of the public as a key element in the distribution of their ideology. "The philosophy of the market economy must be widely accepted; this requires a large programme of education ..."

Aiming at the wide acceptance of their ideas, the IEA undertook an extensive publishing program with the objective to make the fairly complex concepts of economic liberalism and monetarism available to a student or sixth-form audience. In the 1960s IEA papers normally reached the hands of students through the university Conservative Associations.

The work that the IEA did in this field reaped a rich harvest during the 1970s and 1980s, as many of the younger political activists who staffed the various free-market think-tanks, such as the Center for Policy Studies, the Freedom Association an the Selsdon Group, received their education from the IEA. Especially at St. Andrews university, where Ralph Harris, the first director of the IEA, had been a lecturer, the IEA ideas had a strong impact. St. Andrews over the years did not only produce a generation of free-market Conservative MPs (Member of Parliament), but also influenced former St. Andrews students like Stuart and Eamonn Butler and Madsen Pirie, who went to set up the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) in London in 1976.

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Adam Smith Institute

The ASI, based in London, is a private economic policy institution promoting corporate privatization, regulatory reform, and government restructuring worldwide. The Institute's objective is to promote research into market economics and to develop market-based policies for governments. The ASI has three divisions: Policy Division, International Division and Conference Division.

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Rupert Murdoch

Australian-born newspaper publisher and media entrepreneur, founder and head of the global media holding company The News Corporation Ltd., which governs News Limited (Australia), News International (U.K.), and News America Holdings Inc. (U.S.). Murdoch's corporate interests center on newspapers, magazines, books, and electronic publishing; television broadcasting; and film and video production, principally in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

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Exxon

Formerly (until 1972) Standard Oil Company, Exxon is one of the world's largest corporations in terms of sales, with investments and operations in petroleum and natural gas, coal, nuclear fuels, chemicals, and such ores as copper, lead, and zinc. It also operates pipelines and one of the world's largest fleets of tankers and other ships. Exxon engages in every phase of the petroleum industry from oil fields to service stations. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

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Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

TCP and IP are the two most important protocols and communication standards. TCP provides reliable message-transmission service; IP is the key protocol for specifying how packets are routed around the Internet.

More detailed information can be found here

http://www.anu.edu/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Pri...
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Pfizer

Pfizer Inc is a research-based, global pharmaceutical company. The company has three business segments: health care, animal health and consumer health care. Its products are available in more than 150 countries. Headquarters are in New York.

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International Chamber of Commerce

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the world business organization, the only representative body that speaks with authority on behalf of enterprises from all sectors in every part of the world. ICC promotes an open international trade and investment system and the market economy. Its conviction that trade is a powerful force for peace and prosperity dates from the organization's origins early in the century. The small group of business leaders who founded the ICC called themselves "the merchants of peace".

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Microsoft Corporation

Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen and headquartered in Redmond, USA, Microsoft Corporation is today's world-leading developer of personal-computer software systems and applications. As MS-DOS, the first operating system released by Microsoft, before, Windows, its successor, has become the de-facto standard operating system for personal computer. According to critics and following a recent court ruling this is due to unfair competition.

http://www.microsoft.com

For more detailed information see the Encyclopaedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0,5716,1524+1+1522,00.html

http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0...
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Moral rights

Authors of copyrighted works (besides economic rights) enjoy moral rights on the basis of which they have the right to claim their authorship and require that their names be indicated on the copies of the work and in connection with other uses thereof. Moral rights are generally inalienable and remain with the creator even after he has transferred his economic rights, although the author may waive their exercise.

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