The Weekly Spin

"The Weekly Spin" is a newsletter I discovered several months ago, and I look forward to reading it every Wednesday. Produced by the Center for Media and Democracy in Madison, WI, the newsletter comments on articles in newspapers, magazines and journals and on broadcasts on TV and the Internet -- all of which deal with "spin" through misinformation, PR, outright lies, etc.

I encourage you to subscribe to "The Weekly Spin" to become more aware of the background behind items you read about or hear in the mainstream media.

Even though I majored in journalism and worked for two daily newspapers, I only recently realized that mainstream media -- for a variety of reasons -- typically doesn't dig deep enough or question "facts" thoroughly enough.

As an example of the informative pieces in this newsletter, this week we learn:

n Cigarette giant Philip Morris used ammonia as a "freebasing" agent in cigarettes, thereby making the nicotine stronger. This method allowed the company to claim that it had reduced nicotine in cigarettes (and maybe it had), leading people to think the product was healthier than it actually was.

n The Corn Refiners Association has launched a PR campaign to change the negative image it's had for the past few years. According to the newsletter, the trade association is talking to "mommy bloggers" to get them to use their influence. I first heard about this story a day or two ago on NPR (National Public Radio). In that broadcast I learned that natural sugar is actually cheaper than high-fructose corn syrup. But because the U.S. wants corn growers to make more money, our government has jacked up the price of sugar. So companies have used high-fructose corn syrup in its place. You may be thinking that its good for American farmers that the U.S. did this. But we're not talking about small family farms. The Corn Refiners Association is made up of giant corporations like Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill.

n A no-bid deal for oil companies ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Chevron to regain drilling rights in Iraq is in the works. We sent our young troops to die so the big oil companies could get even richer.

n The nuclear industry is going to be touting the creation of jobs. The leader of the nuclear industry's front group, Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy), is former Bush EPA leader Christine Todd Whitman. We also learn that we could create more jobs -- and have a safer form of energy -- if we used renewable sources. (As an aside, I used to admire Whitman for being one of the few female leaders in government. But she clearly doesn't care about the environment, so she's lost my respect.)