Britain and Bahrain: just good friends

An excellent update from the Guardian's Brian Whittaker on the dismaying tendency of Brits being paid by Bahrain to say nice things about Bahrain's despotic gang of ruling 'royal' torturers and murderers:

"Alarmed by negative media coverage of its bloody repression, the government of Bahrain embarked on an Israeli-style hasbara campaign earlier this year, hiring – at great expense – an assortment of western public relations firms, 'reputation management' consultants, etc, to whitewash its image..."

http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2012/blog1201.htm#britain_and_bahrain_just_good_friends

First Victory For The Really Ethical PR Agency!

Bell Pottinger's Bahrain Brief Suspended Amid Country's Crisis:

Bell Pottinger, heavily under fire from a small group of protesters for its work in Bahrain, has finally bowed to pressure and suspended it's controversial work on behalf of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain

Rupert Read of The Really Ethical PR Agency commented:

"We're proud of what we appear to have helped to achieve here. This is great news.

"We congratulate B-P and we urge them to cancel all remaining accounts that they have with Bahrain. If they do that, they will earn our genuine goodwill and that of all supporters of the rights of democratic protesters in Bahrain and across the MiddleEast.

"The tide is clearly turning against the age of purely-profit-seeking-PR. Because PR agencies are starting to realise that, for them, representing violent dictators and their countries and their economies is just really bad PR."

Check out are article archives for the full story of how The Really Ethical PR Agency helped to bring about this change in policy from Bell Pottinger.

The Really Ethical PR Agency Responds to Lord Bell's Recent Outburst in PR Week

Dear Sir,

We note that while Lord Bell (i) names one of us, (ii) lists a number of 'good' accounts he's worked on over the years, and (iii) mentions a factual error made by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he omits to mention that which we at "The Really Ethical PR Agency" sought to publicise and which PR Week reported (25/02/11): That in the face of irrefutable evidence of the Bahraini Government's violent and murderous suppression of its own people, ordinary citizens campaigning for democracy, Lord Bell's Bell-Pottinger continue to hold the Bahraini Government's account.

Moreover, Bell-Pottinger are hired to put a spin on murder, and Lord Bell continues to not only hold the account but defend that decision in the face of further crack-downs by the non- and violently anti-democratic Bahraini regime.

One might have thought that as a fellow of the CIPR that Lord Bell would abide by its Professional Code of Conduct. He says “We don't create the messages. We don't create the policies. We communicate them…” [http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1057005/Bell-Pottingers-work-Bahrain-Government-spotlight]

Under the heading ‘Integrity’ the code clearly says “Checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination” Does it sound to PR Week’s readership like Lord Bell did that?

Moreover, we at "The Really Ethical PR Agency" would like to point out to Lord Bell that neither we nor PR Week have created the message here. The message we and PR Week have communicated is that his company has served as spin doctors for the Bahraini autocracy. B-P created the message, we have simply communicated it.

We invite Lord Bell to write once more, and this time instead of talking about Radio 4, the Guardian, and Comic Relief, instead of engaging in blatant attempts to distract and mislead PR Week’s readership from the real story, he might actually tell the readers why he chooses to not merely be in the employ of a violently anti-democratic regime, but to be in their employ so as to present that very regime as other than it demonstrably is.

Yours

Rupert Read & Phil Hutchinson
"The Really Ethical PR Agency"

Brown Lloyd James Targeted In Protest At Gaddafi Promotion Links

An agency with links to the Gaddafi regime is the latest to be targeted by protesters, as scrutiny over the PR industry's dealings with foreign dictatorships intensifies.

International strategic comms agency Brown Lloyd James was hired in 2009 to promote Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi as ‘a fascinating world figure’, but now faces being picketed by protest group The Really Ethical PR Agency.


The Really Ethical PR Agency is a protest group led by activist Rupert Read, who also heads the school of philosophy at the University of East Anglia.

PRWeek has also learned a number of UK agencies were contacted by representatives of the Libyan regime in the early stages of the recent uprising.

Industry sources suggested Libyan officials had recently been expl oring hiring media representation out of London, but that this came to nothing.

Brown Lloyd James partner Sir Nicholas Lloyd said that the agency had not done any work for the Gaddafi regime in London, although the firm’s New York office worked for Colonel Gaddafi around his 2009 UN visit and has worked for his son Saif.

He said: ‘At the time, Libya was recognised by British and American governments. They all did business with Gaddafi.’

But Read told PRWeek: ‘Now the mask has been rip ped off, it’s time to remember the disgraceful work being done to imp rove the image of something which is appalling.’

Read’s group appeared outside Bell Pottinger’s High Holborn offices in London on 25 February to protest about its contract with Bahrain.

Subsequent media coverage in the Evening Standard, Radio 4’s Today programme and Channel 4’s Ten O’Clock Live has brought further attention to UK agencies’ work for foreign dictatorships. Last week, Bell Pottinger chairman Lord Bell stated: ‘There is a fad for attacking PR companies.’

Original article published at www.prweek.com