Phillip Knightley AM is an Australian author and journalist who divides his time between London, Sydney and Goa.
He was a special correspondent of the London Sunday Times for 20 years. He is best known for his book on war reporting and propaganda, The First Casualty.
Writing in "Some Of My Best Employees Are Journalists" on newmatilda.com, he says:
"Lots of people and organisations make money out of war. But I learnt this week of a comparatively new arrival on the scene that is really cashing in: the public relations industry.
PR firms from the USA and Europe have been active in the Caucasus since the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia degenerated into open warfare a year ago. But few realised the extent of their operations or how sophisticated they have become.
These PR firms pump out none of the crude propaganda of yesteryear. They employ former advertising men, ex-politicians and journalists to put across a subtle but convincing case for their clients. Even Moscow has joined the trend.
It has hired Ketchum, a New York agency which has some 50 people working on the account. Some of the work is subcontracted to Portland which is run by Tim Allan, a former spin doctor for No.10 Downing Street, and the BBC's former Moscow correspondent Angus Roxborough. South Ossetia and Abakhazia have retained Saylor Company which is run by a former Los Angeles Times senior editor, Mark Saylor. Meanwhile Georgia has used a Belgian agency, Aspect, run by a British expatriate James Hunt, but also has an arrangement with a London firm called Project Associates. David Cracknell, a former political editor of the Sunday Times, works on the account."
He was a special correspondent of the London Sunday Times for 20 years. He is best known for his book on war reporting and propaganda, The First Casualty.
Writing in "Some Of My Best Employees Are Journalists" on newmatilda.com, he says:
"Lots of people and organisations make money out of war. But I learnt this week of a comparatively new arrival on the scene that is really cashing in: the public relations industry.
PR firms from the USA and Europe have been active in the Caucasus since the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia degenerated into open warfare a year ago. But few realised the extent of their operations or how sophisticated they have become.
These PR firms pump out none of the crude propaganda of yesteryear. They employ former advertising men, ex-politicians and journalists to put across a subtle but convincing case for their clients. Even Moscow has joined the trend.
It has hired Ketchum, a New York agency which has some 50 people working on the account. Some of the work is subcontracted to Portland which is run by Tim Allan, a former spin doctor for No.10 Downing Street, and the BBC's former Moscow correspondent Angus Roxborough. South Ossetia and Abakhazia have retained Saylor Company which is run by a former Los Angeles Times senior editor, Mark Saylor. Meanwhile Georgia has used a Belgian agency, Aspect, run by a British expatriate James Hunt, but also has an arrangement with a London firm called Project Associates. David Cracknell, a former political editor of the Sunday Times, works on the account."
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