JunkScience
Science
Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research.
Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for properly developing and evaluating natural explanations for observable phenomena based on empirical study and independent verification. Science typically, therefore, rejects supernatural explanations, arguments from authority and biased observational studies.
Science (Wikipedia)
JunkScience
The term "junk science" was further popularized by Fox News columnist Steven Milloy, who used it to attack the results of scientific research on global warming, ozone depletion, passive smoking and many other topics. The credibility of the term, and of Milloy's website junkscience.com, was damaged by revelations that Milloy had received extensive funding and direction from Phillip Morris, RJR Tobacco, and Exxon Mobil. JunkScience (Wikipedia)
About Steven Milloy
Steven Milloy is the "Junk Science" commentator for FoxNews.com and runs the website Junkscience.com, which is dedicated to debunking what he alleges to be false claims regarding global warming, DDT, passive smoking and ozone depletion, among other topics. Milloy also runs CSRWatch.com, which is focused on attacking the corporate social responsibility movement. He is the author of the book "Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against Health Scares and Scams". From the 1990s until the end of 2005, he was an adjunct scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute.
Milloy is also head of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, a mutual fund he runs with former tobacco executive Tom Borelli. Milloy operates the Advancement of Sound Science Center, a non-profit organization which attacks environmental science, from his home in Potomac, Maryland.
Milloy has been criticized for making misleading and false claims, and for presenting himself as an impartial journalist on health and environmental matters while accepting funding and editorial input from tobacco and oil companies.
Spin
Spin (public relations), a heavily biased portrayal of an event or situation
Public relations (PR) is the art of managing communication between an organization and its key publics to build, manage and sustain a positive image. However, the industry is also widely criticized for its willingness to lie and deceive the public for the good of the companies it represents.
Spin (public relations) (Wikipedia)
Lie
A lie is an untruthful statement made to someone else with the intention to deceive. To lie is to say something one believes to be false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else.
Deception
Deception is to intentionally distort the truth in order to mislead others. Deception, rather than falsehood, is the essence of the lie. What one believes to be true is not a lie, though not true. Thus, freedom of speech gives the right to express statements that are in fact not true, and which may or may not have the intent to deceive.
There are two classes of deception: concealing the truth (dissimulate or gloss over) and exhibiting false information (simulate).
PR Watch (Wikipedia)
PR Watch is a quarterly newsletter whose stated mission is to expose deceptive and misleading public relations campaigns. It frequently writes about PR campaigns which it considers to be anti-environmental but also covers issues ranging from labor rights to world affairs.
PR Watch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy, is the creation of Center director John Stauber and PR Watch editor Sheldon Rampton.
About PR Watch
PR Watch, a quarterly publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, is dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry. It serves citizens, journalists and researchers seeking to recognize and combat manipulative and misleading PR practices. Back issues of PR Watch can be found in the archives section of this site.
Whether the issue is health, consumer safety, environmental preservation or democracy and world peace, citizens today find themselves confronted by a bewildering array of hired propagandists paid to convince the public that junk food is nutritious, pollution is harmless, and that what's good for big business and big government is good for the rest of us.
Unlike advertising, public relations is often hard to recognize. "The best PR is invisible," say industry insiders. To spin the news in favor of their clients, PR firms specialize in setting up phony citizens' groups and scientific "experts" who spin out contrived research.
PR Watch specializes in blowing the lid off today's multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry, naming names and revealing how public relations wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony 'grassroots' front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy. We expose the hidden activities of secretive, little-known mega-firms such as Hill & Knowlton,
Burson-Marsteller and Ketchum PR--the "invisible men" who control our political debates and public opinion, twisting reality and protecting the powerful from scrutiny.
Do you have a story to tell about the PR industry? We welcome whistleblowers and promise confidentiality!