Politics

Stealth Campaign for Stealth Fighter Jets

By Diane Farsetta

From PreserveRaptorJobs.comPreserveRaptorJobs.com is "a one-page site that urges visitors to write President Obama in support" of the F-22 Raptor, a $340 million stealth fighter jet Defense Secretary Gates has said is not useful in the so-called war on terror. PreserveRaptorJobs.com disagrees. "American jobs, national security, and billions of dollars [are] at stake," warns the website, which is promoted on banner ads on WashingtonPost.com "and other DC-oriented websites." The website doesn't say who's behind it, but it "sits on the servers of DC-area public relations firm Democracy Data & Communications," writes Noah Shachtman. The firm, a member of the Public Affairs Council, sets up "grassroots" campaigns for corporate clients, including Ford, Microsoft and Fannie Mae. In 2006, the PR firm conducted an international conference on "the role of technology" in "expanding and strengthening democracy," which staffers from the U.S. government-funded International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs addressed by satellite hook-up, live from Baghdad, Iraq.

Full post as published by PR Watch on February 04, 2009 (boomark / email).