I know it's not good to speak ill of the dead. But, sometimes nothing is
known until after the fact.
Darryl
NICHOLAS E. HOLLIS:
END OF
TV'S DAVID BRINKLEY'S CAREER
REMINDER OF
CORRUPTIVE POWER
OF ADM AND CORPORATE
AGRIBUSINESS
NICHOLAS E. HOLLIS, PRESIDENT,
AGRIBUSINESS COUNCIL: Last week's passing of legendary TV anchorman, David
Brinkley, drew major media attention extolling a brilliant career at the
cutting edge of the television "news" era. But buried deep in several stories
was a chilling glimpse of the growing power of agribusiness giant, Archer
Daniels Midland (ADM), in manipulating (corrupting) even the most trusted
media heroes.
In paragraph 19 of The New York Times obit (June 13) by Richard
Severo, readers are reminded of Brinkley's late career stumble with his
January 1998 commercial for ADM on ABC's "This Week" (with Sam Donaldson and
Cokie Roberts), the show Brinkley had moderated since 1981, culminating
seventeen years of heavy sponsorship by Archer Daniels Midland (aka
"Supermarket to the World"). (aka "supermarkup to the
world")
One viewing audience especially rivetted by Brinkley's show was the
political elite in the Nation's capital. As the
program gained popularity, those interviewed by Brinkley and his panel also
gained important political recognition. Appearances on "This Week"
reminded some of an "inside the beltway" version of the "Peking Bulletin
Board," as a litmus test of who was rising. Guest interview invitations for
the show were coveted.
The uproar over Brinkley's ADM infomercials forced ABC News to temporarily
withdraw those segments. Colleagues asked why Brinkley would compromise his
journalistic integrity/neutral image only a few weeks into "retirement." They
pressed to see a copy of Brinkley's contract, after the embattled anchor
stated he "hadn't done it for money." Walter Cronkite, perhaps one of the only
television anchors with more recognition and public trust, commented that
"even doing it in retirement might indicate a favoritism toward one company or
another while we were still active." Brinkley refused to
make his ADM contract deal public.
Several years earlier, Brinkley's sponsor, ADM, had
pleaded guilty to criminal price-fixing in animal feed ingredients and
citric acid, after an undercover executive cooperating with the FBI
video/audio-taped top ADM executives in secret meetings around the world
conspiring to fix markets and steal from farmers on a massive scale. The company shelled out a $100 million fine (and also gained
immunity for its chief, Dwayne Andreas, from further questioning or
prosecution).
Gee, more privilege.
But in early 1998, around the air-time of the Brinkley/ADM ad, the
government was gearing up for the criminal trial with indicted ADM
conspirators, including heir-apparent Mick Andreas, son of Dwayne Andreas, in
a Chicago federal court. Was Brinkley's ad part of a
larger public relations strategy ?
There's that P.R. again.
In May 1998, ABC resumed airing the Brinkley ad on "This Week," yet the
topic of ADM's price-fixing scandal --- the largest in US history ---
strangely was never mentioned by Brinkley or his cohorts -- on the program. In
fact, during the several year run-up to the Chicago trials, there was no
discussion of any subject which would be considered "ADM-sensitive," such as
the growing ethanol subsidy, farm subsidies, or growing concentration in the
ag/food sector. Perhaps other topics were considered more appealing, but it is
also possible that ADM, the show's major advertiser, was exerting some form of
contractual rights or otherwise limiting "content" and "guest" appearances.
Maybe ADM was aiming higher, perhaps hoping to subtley influence jury
selection or other aspects of the Chicago trial? Certainly, as it
unfolded, the ADM legal strategy in Chicago, including vicious racial innuendo
aimed at Asian co-conspirators, was not inconsistent with the "White Horse"
ad campaign. Fortunately, the jury didn't buy it and convicted Andreas.
But was it just coincidental that Bob Dole, ADM's most bought politician, and erstwhile
water-carrier for ADM's ethanol drives, led the cavalcade of repeat guests on
"This Week" (more than 20 appearances) during this period and claimed he
"didn't know what ADM (was) about" --- even as Andreas had been a major
contributor to his campaigns over many years, including his ill-fated
presidential run in 1996? Was it just coincidence that both Brinkley and Dole
owned condos in a Florida beachfront property controlled by Dwayne Andreas
(ADM) at that time?
Keep buying those pineapples and bananas.
Of course, during that entire period and up to the present, ADM ads
arrogantly proclaiming the efficacy of burning corn for ethanol, as the
"nature of things to come," continued pouring it on, crowding in on virtually
all Sunday morning talk shows as well as the PBS McNeil-Lehrer News Hour and
others. Is public policy discourse unduly
influenced? Go figure and remember the basic rule of TV : Don't
bite the hand that feeds you.
A free-market society, right.
Perhaps the current crisis in media credibility, more narrowly confined
within the print media (e.g., New York Times reporter scandal), should
prompt a congressional inquiry along broader lines with special focus on
sponsors' contracts and the resulting manipulation of public policy content
and debate. Next time you watch another ADM infomercial,
ask yourself what's really going on behind the screens and remember
Lord Acton's famous quote: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely." Our times require extra vigilance if we want to insure our
freedoms and our food/homeland security. Be there!
Gee, might this be reflective of "Green Mountain
Coffee"?
If it means anything like the corporate
attitude that was toward fruit growing in this country, then the
streams will flow with pesticides and hormonal disruptants the like of which
are now being banned in this country.
"Corruptio optimi pessima -- Corruption of the best is the worst of
all." (Cicero)
CONAGRA, DUPONT, BIOPRODUCTS,
CHINOOK GROUP WILL PAY $850,000 FINE
IN VITAMIN PRICE-FIXING SETTLEMENT
STEPHEN LEE, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES: A Massachusetts state court judge
granted preliminary approval to a vitamin price-fixing settlement involving
four vitamin producers.
In a press release [June 10], Ellis & Rapacki LLP, the law firm
representing the plaintiffs, said the settling defendants, DuPont, ConAgra
Foods Inc. Bioproducts Inc. and Chinook Group Ltd., will pay a total of
$850,000 under the settlement.
All of the companies had small shares of the bulk vitamin market, and
the $850,000 will go to Massachusetts charities for food and nutrition
programs, the law firm said.
A DuPont spokesman confirmed the company agreed to a preliminary approval
for a settlement, but couldn't comment further.
A ConAgra spokesperson wasn't immediately available.
Last year, ten other major producers of bulk vitamins entered into
settlements that provided more than $22 million for Massachusetts charities.
The consumer class action, originally filed in June 1999, alleged that more
than 40 companies engaged in a widespread international conspiracy over a
ten-year period to fix prices and allocate markets for the bulk vitamins that
are used in many processed products, including milk, cereals, juices and pet
foods.
