Toxic Sludge Is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry

The cover caught my eye as I'm sure it did many others and the title instantly describes in just a few words the reality of the world we live in today, bombarded by propaganda as we are (whether we realize it or not). I thought it might be a little dated as it was written before the internet was impossible to escape, but I was pleasantly surprised by the significance of the story being told while pondering the acceleration of such practices as a result of internet dominion and mass/social media control over us. We live in a world where "war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength" (thank you Mr. Blair, aka Orwell), where information has become weaponized and the news is manufactured by public relations firms, for corporations and governments alike. This book lays out the beginnings and the history of a completely amoral and sometimes (more often than not?) sinister industry that influences the products we buy, the causes we support, the actions of the powers that (should not) be, and more. We are taken on a journey with the early PR/propaganda practitioners like Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays, the bogus campaign for support of the first Iraq war, a few environmental and occupational disasters, the spin that was put on those stories, as well as an ironically true story about a PR campaign to convince people that, wait for it... "toxic sludge is good for you!" Includes some interesting stories and forgotten history about PR campaigns for politicians and celebrities still in the news today, e.g. Clintons and Trumps. Despite the comedic cover and title, 'Toxic Sludge' is certainly a serious, well researched and documented, informative and interesting read, even from 1995. A book still relevant today as relentless PR and media explode. They "inform" our perceptions of the world in which we live as media continues to consolidate, sanitize information and limit its access. One of the most revealing quotes from this book is found in the introduction by Mark Dowie: "Academicians who study media now estimate that about 40% of all "news" flows virtually unedited from the public relations offices, prompting a prominent PR exec to boast that "the best PR ends up looking like news." And that was in 1995! It's a brave new world, indeed. "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1928 Now onto 'Trust Us, We're Experts' by the same authors.

Where oh where do I begin? Toxic Sludge... takes a jaded look at the public relations industry, and exposes more than a few objectionable practices perpetrated on behalf of (mostly) corporate America's pursuit of the Almighty Buck.I say 'mostly' because, however distressing it may be to informed and intelligent citizenship, even the United States Government and more than a few foreign regimes solicit the services of these most nefarious snake oil salesmen. Let's face it, you really do not consume the services of PR firms in order to foster good relations with your customers, you go to them when you have done something bad, and you want it covered up, or at least 'spinned' in the 'right' direction. You solicit the help of PR flacks and keep them on juicy retainers in order to look good, and not to be good. When the doo-doo hits the fan, whose a corporate ne'er do well gonna call? The PR company, that's who.Toxic Sludge... contains twelve chapters of absorbing reading. From countermeasures directed at censoring information thoroughly in the public domain, keeping books off the bookshelves and dissenting voices from being heard, to infiltrating shoe-string activist organizations, fomenting criminal insurgency and subverting (and ultimately perverting) any and all attempts to relay the facts, the authors provide example after example of very well-financed government and corporate interests actively frustrating (and quite often foiling) intelligent and inormed democratic participation in the political and economic process. As Mark Dowie, the author of the introduction says, in an environment rife with PR, facts can not survive, nor can the truth prevail.Some of the strategies and tactics PR firms used with giddy abandon on often unsuspecting targets truly shocked me, for many tools and tricks from the PR Playbook share an eerie resemblance to CIA methods and operations. In fact, more than a few PR players and heavy hitters get their inspiration from millitary strategists such as von Clauswitz, and cross-fertilization between PR firms and the upper levels of government and corporate America impart a uniquely acidic aggressivity and practiced slickness to their campaigns against their opponents. Some of their more colorful operations reminded me of the FBI's use, via its infamous COINTELPRO initiative, of agent provocateurs against student groups, anti-Vietnam war protestors and civil rights activists during the late sixties and early-mid-seventies. This unholy alliance between government, corporations and PR firms, combined with their incestuous linkages to the ad industry, make for one formidable and thorougly intimidating opponent. The book contains a veritable smorgasbord of eminently quotable quotes and delightful (and very distressing) anecdotes. In this vein, my personal favorite is the story of how PT Barnum, of circus fame, got his start. He put on display an old, black slavewoman, and billed her as 'George Washington's childhood

John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton have set themselves a crucial task. As editors of the quarterly PR Watch, they regularly report on the often negative influence that the public relations industry has on the debate on public issues, especially PR firms' efforts on behalf of corporations which are battling public interest activists. This superb and concise book is largely based on that reporting.The ills documented in "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" are too numerous to give any kind of complete summary here--a few examples must stand for the whole:-One approach is the "divide and conquer" method of splitting a coalition of activists, by finding ways to buy some of them off. For example, Candy Lightner, the fonder of MADD, was taken out of the fray when she became a lobbyist for the American Beverage Institute.-Another fruitful method is the "astroturf" tactic, which involves the creation of a carefully controlled, phony grassroots group to front for corporate interests. An example is the "National Smokers Alliance," created by PR giants Burson-Marsteller on behalf of Philip Morris.-We also learn about attempts to cloud debate on scientific and technical issues. Many corporations have benefitted from the "expertise" of the American Council on Science and Health, a deceptively-named industry front group which can be counted on for pronouncements on the perfect safety of all sorts of chemicals and food additives, and on the nutritional benefits of eating fast food. Stauber and Rampton document a particularly duplicitous attempt by the ACSH to fudge cancer statistics and make it appear that cancer rates are falling, not rising.-Worst of all are the outright fabrications. Some readers may recall the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, when a teenage Kuwaiti girl told a Congressional committee a chilling tale of Iraqui soldiers killing babies in a hospital in Kuwait. Only much lager was the girl revealed as the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the US, and her testimony as a pack of lies scripted by PR giant Hill & Knowlton.So what is one to do in the face of this relentless spin. Surely part of the solution is to be aware, first, of the existence of the negative influence of corporate PR, and second, of the identities of some of the key perpetrators. Stauber and Rampton's book will help readers gain that awareness. It is, as previous reviewers have noted, especially essential reading for environmental and other activists whose efforts may make them the targets of corporate spin campaigns.

This is a valuable and profoundly depressing book. When I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It describes EXACT situations I've faced personally working for the past 19 years as an local citizen environmentalist in a heavily polluted industrial region of Northeast Wisconsin. The book helped me to realize I wasn't just paranoid or "sensitive." It helped me recognize and cope with the deliberate dirty tricks, orchestrated sabotage, character assassination and obstructionism of linked corporate polluters. Most of my work has centered on counteracting the total BS coming from hundreds of high-paid PR flacks who work for these corporations. These people spend millions on local TV and newspaper ads, editorial board meetings, speaker bureaus, lobbyists at the local, state and federal level, school programs and curriculum guides, political campaign contributions, community & university goodwill grants, grants to nature centers, and scientists willing to prostitute themselves to say whatever the corporations want. They've created several "astro-turf" organizations to give the impression of citizen environmental action IN SUPPORT of the corporate goals. They've used their "astro-turf" groups to divert public attention to other issues, away from corporate pollution. I've actually seen corporate play-by-play guidebooks on how their people should discuss their problems in the most favorable light, meanwhile public health is at continued risk, and they know it.Some previous reviewers claimed the writers were biased or somehow exaggerating, but I thought the book was remarkably calm considering the outrageousness, the evil, that the book discusses. I'm disgusted that the negative reviewers from the PR and journalism fields (especially those teaching our young people!) don't want to admit the seriousness of the corruption outlined in this book. Perhaps we should ask where their paychecks come from, and why they wrote anonymously.Ironically, I now serve on a citizen advisory committee created by the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources to set PCB soil criteria for Wisconsin, and this criteria could restrict the landspreading of PCB-contaminated sludges. The sewage treatment plant operators are going ballistic and pulling all kinds of lobbying and legal tricks to prevent the health standard from applying to them or being fully protective of public health --- because they want to keep landspreading toxic sludge on our food croplands. The paper mills have quietly gotten their own exemptions for their sludge, so far. Their PR responses fit this book perfectly, especially the chapter discussing sludge. The criteria battle in the DNR and legislature isn't over, but I predict it will be ugly and full of PR spin-doctoring.

Must reading for everyone. I bought a bunch of copies and am giving them as gifts to my friends.I used to wonder why I heard so much contradictary news in the major media pertaining to health and the environment. First, a news item quotes an authority saying a food is safe, the next year the same newspaper says it's dangerous, and the next year after that they claim it's good for you. After reading this book, I know why. There are thousands of environmental and health , and scientific organizations. According to this book, many (but not all) of these organizations are not much more than clever PR fronts, funded mainly by industry. For example, I have often seen and continue to see information provided by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) in the major newspapers and magazines. The media usually takes this organization at its word as a credible scientific source. According to this book: The ACSH is an industry front group that produces PR ammunition for the food processing and chemical industries. They praise the nutritional values of fast food and receive money from the fast food industry. They claim pesticides are very safe and take money from a host of pesticide manufacturers. The list goes on and on.. Yet the journalists usually take the ACSH words almost verbatim as fact and print it in their newspaper. Most journalists don't check their sources, or they're puppets of industry. Then the public reads this stuff as if it were scientifically proven fact. Public policy and law often gets decided on the basis of this "knowledge." Of course, some readers of these "facts" are skeptical, but no one seriously challenges the ACSH's credibility. Thus the ACSH continues to operate as if it were an objective science institute. Thousands of front groups worldwide use many of the same techniques. It then becomes obvious why so many people have a mistrust for science and don't know what to believe. I used to think this country was a democracy, but now I know who really pulls the strings on many key issues. It's not the PR firms, it's the companies who hire the PR firms. Don't miss this book. For related info on health and environmental issues, I recommend "Our Stolen Future" by Theo Colborn.

This book is one of the most eye-opening things I have ever read, and given how much I read that is saying a lot! As a person who has worked in PR as a lobbyist (in my case for a state university), I was already somewhat acquainted with, and disgusted by, the general processes used by the industry. This book, however, put a whole new spin on things. The concrete examples of some of the PR fiascos that have been used on the American people were depressingly explicit. Yes, this book is one-sided. It never pretends not to be. It is also a must-read for anyone who views the media. If you read this book, you'll never read a newspaper the same way again. Does the book add to one's cynicism? Yes, but sometimes cynicism is a preservational force. This is one of those times.