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.

From Libya, With Love

A reporter from Mother Jones, the legendary U.S. periodical, phoned us at The Really Ethical PR Agency last week to inquire about our recent and planned future activities.

Mother Jones are particularly interested in the Libya-BLJ connection, because of their recent work in the area of Libya's PR - check out this excellent article on their website - From Libya, With Love.

The Really Ethical PR Agency applauds the brilliant protest against Grayling PR earlier this week:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-borkowski-turning-out-spin-for-brutal-dictators-is-not-the-riskfree-job-it-used-to-be-2255743.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/protesters-target-the-lobbyists-willing-to-do-business-with-belarus-2255742.html?action=Popup
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/protesters-target-the-lobbyists-willing-to-do-business-with-belarus-2255742.html

Watch this space for further actions against Grayling!

Really Bad PR for Brown Lloyd James

We will remember.  Any PR agency that represents dictators will have it come back to bite them. Representing criminals like Gaddafi is just really bad PR..

"We call upon BLJ to give back their ill-gotten gains to the Libyan people.

"LSE rightly gave back the money that they had from the Gaddafi family.  Similarly, BLJ should not profit from the spin they have done for Gaddafi's regime. They should give all that money to Libyan humanitarian causes, forthwith.

"It would also be a good gesture of solidarity with the Libyan people, and a mea culpa for the disgraceful assistance they have given Gaddafi, for BLJ to offer the Libyan 'Transitional National Council', based in Benghazi, pro bono PR, to help
them counter Gaddafi's ongoing and disgraceful lies-operation."

Picture - The logo of the Libyan revolution juxtaposed with that of BLJ on the pretty plaque outside their HQ...

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"

Lord Bell Clearly Rattled By The Really Ethical PR Agency

In an astonishing outburst in a letter to PR Week magazine, Lord Bell, whose company Bell Pottinger has come under increasing scrutiny for it's links with Middle-Eastern dictatorships, has played the 'i-do-loads-of-work-for-charity' card in a desperate attempt to divert attention from Bell Pottinger's less-than-ethical record.

Bell Pottinger was exposed last month by The Really Ethical PR Agency for it's links with the regime in Bahrain.

Rupert Read (personally targeted by Lord Bell in his ill-judged PR Week attack), whose protest regarding Bell-Pottinger's contract with Bahrain outside their High Holborn office on 25 February sparked the huge media interest in Lord Bell's company said:

"If Bell Pottinger want to become the story, then they should continue as they are doing, namely spinning the unspinnable for bloodstained autocrats such as the Bahraini regime. But what PR firm really wants to become the story, and (therefore) to be subject to ongoing protests? Only a very stupid one.

"Furthermore, B-P really ought to abide by the CIPR Professional Code of Conduct. (After all all, Lord Bell is a fellow of the CIPR). Lord Bell said, after our 1st protest against him, 'We don't create the messages. We don't create the policies. We communicate them...' But under the heading 'Integrity' the CIPR code clearly requires 'Checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination'. Sounds like Bell is not exactly doing his best to create a good public image - for himself or for PR.

"Perhaps that is why one B-P employee told us that he agreed with our protest, and why another has disclosed to us that there is active discussion within B-P about dropping the Bahrain brief."


Read Lord Bell's tantrum in full at www.prweek.com

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

The Really Ethical PR Agency is open for business..

'The Really Ethical PR Agency' is a protest group designed to prove that representing dictators, toxic-waste companies etc is just really bad PR...

PR agencies don't want to become the story - The Really Ethical PR Agency exists to ensure that unethical PR agencies will become the story - and that eventually no-one will believe a word they say...

For more detail, see our founding story here.

Write to us if you want to get involved at thereallyethicalPRagency@yahoo.co.uk

We are especially interested in offers of help for 'internships' and research, as well as for person-power to grow the size of our demos.