09.10.09
Former/Existing Microsoft Front Group (CAGW) Still Paid by Companies to Derail Rivals
Summary: CAGW (made infamous for Microsoft’s “letters from dead people” gig) still occupied with the same type of practices
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), which we wrote about [1, 2] while covering Microsoft front groups, is a highly unethical body masquerading as something beneficial to society. PR Watch has this headsup about an article covering the latest mischiefs of CAGW.
For America’s No. 1 taxpayer watchdog, as Citizens Against Government Waste calls itself, the jet engines seem easy prey.
The federal government is already spending billions for Pratt & Whitney to develop engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Why spend billions more for General Electric to do the same?
Learn to see who paid CAGW to do this. Previously, Microsoft paid CAGW to write fake letters (on behalf of dead souls) denouncing regulation.
Since Microsoft also loves paying think tanks, e.g. to attack Linux [1, 2], it is worth adding that PR Watch also links to this new report, which seemingly indicates erosion of trust in think tanks.
Progressive think tanks gained in media prominence over 2008, despite overall think tank citations declining for the fourth year in a row.
The 25 most-cited think tanks in major U.S. media received 13,149 citations in 2008, a 6 percent decline from 2007 levels. The decline primarily hit conservative or right-leaning think tanks, whose share of citations in corporate media fell from 36 percent to 31 percent in 2008 , while progressive or left-leaning think tanks–the only group to actually see an increase in their total citations–went from 17 percent to 21 percent. Centrist think tanks saw little change, still beating both ends of the spectrum with 48 percent of total citations, versus 47 percent in 2007.
Corruption that’s routinely identified in think tanks may have caused this decline in reputability. And that’s a step in the right direction. █
