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Defending
Good Science
July/August Issue - August
1, 2003
The Activist Pre-Season Preview
Ahhh –
Summer. While Joe Public is busy mowing his lawn, television
ratings go through the floor and legislators go back to their
constituencies. Meanwhile, activist groups attempt to decide
on their next target.
What’s the next big issue? Which industry is going to
face the most public scrutiny over the fall and winter this
time? It’s a decision which means all sorts of headaches
for the industry involved, and all sorts of fundraising dollars
for the groups who do the attacking.
So with this in mind, the “Defending Good Science”
newsletter takes a very unscientific look at some of the potential
target industries for the start of the ‘next season.’
- Factory Farming/Agriculture.
This is my most likely bet. The Sierra Club is going to
be involved in this quite heavily over the fall and winter
– look for increased involvement in the face of nutrient
management legislative initiatives as politicians decided
‘what to do with poo.’ Groups like the Waterkeeper
Alliance and PETA are surely going to be making a stink
over issues such as water quality and animal rights.
- Pulp and Paper. Could
be interesting – the sector has been quiet for a while,
while Dr. Patrick Moore is pushing his “Tree’s
are the Answer” campaign. Activist groups hate Dr.
Moore (the co-founder of Greenpeace who has said that Greenpeace
has ‘lost its way) enough that they may just go for
it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the bulk of this
fight fought by the Sierra Club.
- Global Warming.
Not very likely. Let’s face it folks – that
ball has bounced. Canada and Europe are in on Kyoto, the
US and developing nations are out.
- World Trade.
Always a hot issue, and currently the ‘headline’
issue on Greenpeace’s website. Again though, you have
to ask yourself – hasn’t that ball bounced already?
Two or three times?
- Biotechnology.
This could definitely heat up – Monsanto has just
introduced GM Wheat, activist groups have been busy over
the summer ‘quarantining’ research farms, and
Europe has just announced standards to allow GM food into
the marketplace.
I’m interested in your opinion.
Do you belong to a particular industry which is preparing
for a fight? Do you feel your particular industry is immune
“this time around?” Just hit reply to the newsletter
and let me know how you feel. We'll publish some of the results
next month.
Checkmate Link of the Month
This is one of my favourite online
discussion groups – the folks dedicated to bashing junk
science and preserving truth instead of opinion. http://www.debunkers.org/.
Check out the online message board, broken down into categories
like “Academia and Medicine,” “Biotechnology,”
and of course, “Mixed Nuts.”
Free Stuff!
Bad
things can happen to good companies.
When it happens, the smart companies call Checkmate Public
Affairs.
Checkmate Public Affairs specializes
in ‘Defending Good Science.’ We stop activists.
We manage issues. And we deliver results. Checkmate is an
issues management firm dedicated to assisting corporations
with science-based risk & crisis communications and issues
management.
Do you have any questions? Are you feeling
uncomfortable about a situation? Are you on the wrong end
of an attack? Why not call us? Checkmate is happy to offer
a free, 100% confidential, initial consultation. Let us take
you through some basic issues management. If you don’t
think we can provide value added service, there’s no
risk to you. If your challenge is in an area of our expertise,
we’re convinced we can provide an effective solution
at a competitive price.
The Checkmate Update is a service provided by Checkmate
Public Affairs. Please feel free
to share this newsletter with anyone who would find it useful,
but have them sign up too! Our sign-up page is located at
http://www.checkmatepublicaffairs.com/newsletter.
Jeff Chatterton, President
Checkmate Public Affairs
Phone (519) 342-0025
Tollfree (877) 284-7952
Fax (519) 342-1221
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