pr reps

I was listening to Democracy Now on KRCL last night and they were talking about the chocolate industry in Africa. There's tons of child labor and horrible growing techniques used in getting cocoa for the big chocolate industries like Nestle and Hershey. They brought a seasoned journalist on the show who investigated these issues in Africa and they also brought a big wig public relations representative from the chocolate industry. The journalist answered every question that was asked clearly and concisely with tons of stories and facts whereas the pr rep did everything but answer the questions. When the pr rep was asked why they were using child labor to get cocoa he would ignore the question and say, "I would first like to talk about the various programs we have set up to help these children and their parents..." and he would ramble on about the programs they had set up. It didn't matter what question was asked or how clear the evidence was that none of these programs were working, he would just go on about all the great things they offer the cocoa farmers. This was a total battle for control of the public. He never agreed to any of the accusations brought against the cocoa industry or even acknowleged them. All he was trying to do was appear good to the listeners and tell about all the good they were offering these kids. In doing this, he slightly disarmed the journalist and made his points not as strong. It was very interesting.