PR-Schlacht um Südossetien

--- Nach dem Propaganda-Krieg im Kaukasus im vergangenen Jahr geht die PR-Schlacht um das zwischen Georgien und Russland umkämpfte Gebiet munter weiter, wie PR Watch berichtet:

"The PR race is not that different from the arms race," writes John Feffer. "Russia, for instance, recently paid nearly $3 million to Ketchum for a six-month media blitz to promote the country's leaders and policies. Georgia has retained Public Strategies, Inc. at $50,000 a month. And the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have hired Mark Saylor Co. at $30,000 a month.

... Russia paid Ketchum another $2.9 million "for the six months [that] ended May 31," reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily, for outreach to "top-tier global media leaders" highlighting Russia's "leadership and national policies." The Saylor firm is tasked with "explain[ing] how the Russian military saved the civilian population of South Ossetia from Georgian military forces" and countering the "aggressive information war conducted by the Government of Georgia," according to O'Dwyer's. The Moscow Times adds that Los Angeles Times editor-turned-PR executive Mark Saylor promoted South Ossetian "human rights activist Lira Tskhovrebova on a trip to the United States" in December. The U.S. State Department canceled meetings with Tskhovrebova, after it was revealed she had ties to the South Ossetian KGB.