Depleted Uranium Controversy Symposium -PR Event

[Stewart Farber <farbersa@optonline.net>]

Radsafe:



In case anyone had any hint of doubt as to the true goals of the "expert 

symposium" organized by the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI) headed by 

Dr. Helen Caldicott, long standing anti-nuclear activist, they should read the 

following  from: 



E-WIRE  Environmental Media Distribution



and click on the hyperlink to the full text of the PR release:



June 11, 2003

*********************************************************************************

********

Leading Experts from Around World Convene in New York on Depleted Uranium

Controversy WASHINGTON, DC, Jun. 11 -/E-Wire/-- The Nuclear Policy Research 

Institute (NPRI) will sponsor a public  symposium at the New York Academy of 

Medicine on the Health Effects of Depleted Uranium Munitions, which has gathered 

from around the world leading experts, scientists and advocates who have arrived 

in New York and are now available for interviews.



For full text:

http://www.ewire.com/wires/E608CE37-40B4-4FB3-AD64B6AF26F19AFE.htm



==============

As noted in the PR release in the link to the NPRI home page, at 

http://www.nuclearpolicy.org :



"This relentless media focus will enable NPRI, staffed as well by experienced 

public relations personnel, to develop a consistent presence in the U.S. media: 

print, electronic, and cyberspace. NPRI experts will be placed on national talk 

shows, on current affairs programs, and in the printed media as policy analysts 

and opinion page commentators. Offering highly credible media spokespeople on 

nuclear issues, NPRI will provide important, and now missing, commentary on the 

risks of nuclear policies.



NPRI will also host symposia that deliver attention to selected issues, so that 

policy makers and mass media outlets will have access to a deeper understanding 

of the complex issues underlying nuclear policies, and the potential consequences 

of those policies.



The Institute will stand out because:



NPRI will feature as its cornerstone a constant focus on harnessing the mass 

media as a vehicle to deliver its messages, with the knowledge that complex 

issues flourish most when they are effectively injected into the spotlight of the 

public arena.



NPRI will deal with both nuclear power and nuclear weapons, because they are 

obviously intimately linked.



NPRI will rely on a wide variety of key conceptual contexts, including global 

public health. The framework within which NPRI's research and education efforts 

will be formulated will often be the profound medical consequences of nuclear 

weapons and power policies.



The struggle for public opinion and media attention has been dominated by 

interests with economic stakes in nuclear weapons and power. NPRI will enter and 

irreversibly change this public debate by presenting a more thorough and balanced 

explanation of the facts affecting our health, our safety, and our common future.



If you would like to receive more information about our organization, upcoming 

events, and important developments, join our mailing list.



"At this critical juncture in history, the media are determining the fate of the 

earth."

--Dr. Helen Caldicott"



Comment:

As noted above Public Relations is more important to NPRI than science. PR will 

be used to accomplish goals of NPRI that would be unjustified scientifically. A 

balanced "expert symposium" in NYCity on Depleted Uranium? More accurately a 

cleverly organized PR event. The fact that the "media" are so easily manipulated 

by the crude scare tactics of the NPRI attests to the herd mentality of most 

reporters and their technical illiteracy that leads them to accept cleverly 

packaged propaganda and pass it off unquestioningly to the public as scientific 

fact.



Stewart Farber, MS Public Health





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