Spinoculating against the Spindustrial Revolution

onFeb 14, 2007 @ 20:53 PST

The CBC veteran Ira Basen has been running a brilliant series all about the world of PR spin. As regular readers of DeSmog know, our site is all about debunking the “spin” around the issue of global warming. If you want to get a good crash course in the practice of spin, this is the series to listen to.

Rumour has is that DeSmog’s founder Jim Hoggan will be featured in the upcoming installment.

Think of it as spinoculation.

Here’s the links to this 4 parts of this in-depth analysis of spin:

Episode 1: The Origins of Spin
How spin began. The rocky relationship between the press and public relations is now 100 years old.

Episode 2: The Spindustrial Revolution
Countless “spindustries” have been spawned by our modern spin culture, including public relations, “earned media” and video news releases.

Episode 3: Calling Dr. Spin
How far can political spin go? “Just watch me.”

Episode 4: The Spin Doctor is In
Twenty-four-hour TV news, increased competition in newspapers, the shrinking news cycle … they’ve all played a part in changing the way Canadian politics is covered. And in most cases, it’s the spin doctors who have gained the upper hand.

Episode 5: Spinning War

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By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.