BIH Author Biography
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber both work for the Center for Media and Democracy, a nonprofit organization that Stauber founded in 1993 to monitor and expose deceptive public relations campaigns and other propaganda sponsored by corporations and governments. They write and edit the Center's quarterly publication, PR Watch. They have co-authored three previous books: Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry (1995); Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? (1997); and Trust Us, We're Experts!: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future (2001). John Stauber is a longtime activist who has worked with public-interest, consumer, family-farm, environmental and community organizations at the local, state and national levels. Before founding the Center, he worked for five years for the Foundation on Economic Trends, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization, researching possible health and economic impacts of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) and organizing concerned citizens and farmers. Born in 1953, he is married and lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Sheldon Rampton is a graduate of Princeton University and has a diverse background as a newspaper reporter, activist and author. In college, he studied writing under Joyce Carol Oates, E. L. Doctorow and John McPhee. In addition to books authored with John Stauber, he is the co-author (with Liz Chilsen) of the 1998 book Friends In Deed: the Story of U.S.-Nicaragua Sister Cities. Prior to joining the Center for Media and Democracy, he worked for the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (www.wccnica.org) on the NICA Fund, a project that since 1992 has channeled $10 million in loans from U.S. investors to support economic development efforts in low-income Central American communities. For further information about the authors, including archived copies of PR Watch, visit the PR Watch website (www.prwatch.org) or contact: Center for Media and Democracy 520 University Avenue, Suite 310 Madison, WI 53703 Phone: (608) 260-9713.Back Cover Copy
From the authors of Trust Us, We're Experts! and Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!, here is the first book to expose the aggressive public relations campaign used to sell the American public on the war with Iraq. Weapons of Mass Deception reveals how: * Top Bush officials advocated the invasion of Iraq even before Bush took office, but waited until September 2002 to inform the public, through what the White House termed a "product launch." * White House officials used repetition and misinformation to create the false impression that Iraq was behind 9/11. * Forged documents and other deceptions built the claim that Iraq possessed huge stockpiles of banned weapons. * The American news media engaged in propaganda and self-censorship, uncritically repeating White House messages. * The administration's attempts to use commercial advertising techniques to burnish America's image in Muslim countries have backfired. * A secretive public relations firm working for the Pentagon helped create the "opposition group" the Iraqi National Congress, which became one of the driving forces behind the decision to go to war.
Weapons of Mass Deception reveals: How the Iraq war was sold to the American public through professional P.R. strategies. "The First Casualty": Lies that were told related to the Iraq war. Euphemisms and jargon related to the Iraq war, e.g. "shock and awe," "Operation Iraqi Freedom," "axis of evil," "coalition of the willing," etc. "War as Opportunity": How the war on terrorism and the war on Iraq have been used as marketing hooks to sell products and policies that have nothing to do with fighting terrorism. "Brand America": The efforts of Charlotte Beers and other U.S. propaganda campaigns designed to win hearts overseas. "The Mass Media as Propaganda Vehicle": How news coverage followed Washington's lead and language. The book includes a glossary - "Propaganda: A User's Guide" - and resources to help Americans sort through the deceptions to see the strings behind Washington's campaign to sell the Iraq war to the public.