Amazon Defense Coalition's PR Firm Questions 60 Minutes Report

In a well-crafted statement, a Hinton Communications press release reads as follows:

“The 60 Minutes segment was flat wrong in many respects. In typical fashion, 60 Minutes glossed over or failed to report facts that complicated its simplistic format — facts that would have altered the viewing public’s understanding…”

The above quote was part of the lead paragraph in a press release issued by Hinton Communications on behalf of Gradient Analytics.

Note the use of the phrase “in typical fashion” in the statement released by Karen Hinton. Ms. Hinton, now representing the Amazon Defense Coalition (ADC), clearly understands that airing incomplete and misleading stories is a common practice by 60 Minutes, a conclusion that most savvy media watchers made long ago.

In a March 26, 2006 press release titled “The 10 Facts 60 Minutes Left Out,” Ms. Hinton slammed the integrity of 60 Minutes’ reporting. This press release contains an extensive list of facts that clearly showed that the 60 Minutes report was, at best, incomplete and misleading.

Almost two years after the original airing of the report, an April 2008 press release slams 60 Minutes again by referencing an article written by the Columbia Journalism Review title “60 Minutes Blows Biovail Story.”

A paragraph from the press release reads as follows:

“The Columbia Journalism Review recently published an article that questioned the integrity of a 60 Minutes piece in March 2006 that portrayed Biovail as a victim of short sellers.”

Click here to read the full article by the Columbia Journalism Review.

Now, as Amazon Defense Coalition’s (ADC) public relations firm, Ms. Hinton doesn’t seem to be as concerned about the questionable nature of 60 Minutes’ reporting. In a flurry of press releases distributed around the time of the 60 Minutes segment covering the lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador, Ms. Hinton uses 60 Minutes to promote ADC’s agenda.

In a May 1, 2009 press release titled, “60 Minutes To Air Segment On Chevron’s “Amazon Chernobyl” In Ecuador’s Rainforest,” Hinton Communications promotes the upcoming report by 60 Minutes on the lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador. The press release, which was widely distributed throughout the internet by Business Wire , characterizes 60 Minutes as, “the highly-acclaimed news show.” That statement is a far cry from language she used to describe 60 Minutes just a few years before. It is also interesting to note that even before seeing the actual report, Ms. Hinton is so confident in the report’s integrity as to promote it in her press release.

Another press release was distributed by Ms. Hinton on May 3, 2009 titled: “Chevron Produces Phony Online News Coverage to Spread Misinformation about Ecuador Disaster.” The press release attacks Chevron’s efforts to distribute important facts that were left out of 60 Minutes’ original report. Coincidentally, the actions Chevron took to correct the record are very similar to those Ms. Hinton used on behalf of Gradient Analytics when it was included in a misleading 60 Minutes report.

But Ms. Hinton doesn’t stop there. Never missing an opportunity to flood the internet with a half-baked press release, Hinton Communications distributes another one about the 60 Minutes report the very next day.

The May 4th press release titled: “Amazon Defense Coalition: Chevron Lawyer Stumbles in 60 Minutes Interview over Ecuador Oil Contamination,” is probably one of the most bizarre products released by a public relations firm I’ve ever seen. The press release uses quotes from some pretty odd sources. The release contains comments from such notable experts as Drew_6583 and MBarlingon, which are the screen names of two supposedly independent people who posted comments on 60 Minutes’ website after the report.

Grabbing quotes from unknown posters in the comments section of a website hardly qualifies as a reliable source for any type of article or press release. Even most credible bloggers wouldn’t use the comments section of a website as a source of information for an article.