Salon.com > American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce http://www.salon.com Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Dictators rely on D.C. front men http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/dictators_rely_on_d_c_front_men/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/dictators_rely_on_d_c_front_men/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:48:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10346611 Last week, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism published a story about a sting against Bell Pottinger, a major British public relations and lobbying firm. Journalists working for the Bureau approached the firm in the guise of seeking PR help for Uzbekistan, the torture-loving former Soviet republic that has been known to boil prisoners to death. A Bell Pottinger representative told the undercover journalists it could introduce Uzbek officials “into political and media circles,” and help them “get better known by a lot of the key decision makers.”

In the course of their research, the Bureau met with lobbyists and PR agents who boasted of their ability to get think tanks to publish sympathetic reports about clients. They also talked about winning favorable media attention by setting up supposedly independent public events and hyping business opportunities for domestic companies.

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