New Revelations Link FBC Media To BN’s Dirty Tricks Blogging Campaigns
By Sarawak Report
Sarawak Report has already exposed how BN’s leading political figures, including Najib Razak, Abdullah Badawi, Musa Hitam and Taib Mahmud, paid the UK production company FBC Media to illegally gain positive publicity on global TV news shows.
We can now reveal an even darker side to this campaign. The same contracts also included a series of negative blogging campaigns targetted against BN’s political opponents. All these dirty tricks have, of course, been conducted at the expense of the Malaysian taxpayer!
Details of the FBC Media contract
Sarawak Report has exclusive details of the contract agreed between FBC Media and Abdul Taib Mahmud, which includes a commitment to mastermind a cyber-war against online critics of the Chief Minister’s corrupt government, such as this blog.
In a letter to the Chief Minister in January the Chairman of FBC Media, Alan Friedman, pledged to “assist in countering false and negative perceptions that have been spread at home and abroad” and stated that he had “the tools and international experience to make a genuine and visible difference“.
The tools outlined by Friedman were “television reporting and an interview with yourself plus press tours and online sites and special blogging that should provide a blanket of positive messaging about you and Sarawak to the Western media“.
The PR/ production company chief explained to the Chief Minister that he would “work both on the positive messages and to counter negative perceptions and falsehoods that have been spread unfairly about environmental matters ranging from the Bakun Dam, timber, mining and palm oil. We would also counter false allegations that have been made about corruption.”
FBC would then work to “bounce back” into the Sarawak Press “this international recognition, thus bringing positive results for the people of Sarawak to see” . In other words he was proposing to cheat people in Sarawak with his manufactured publicity (funded by taxpayers) into thinking the world was impressed by Taib!
In his attached contract proposal, which amounted to a staggering $5 million for the first year alone, Friedman allocated $55,000 (RM165,000) per month just to the blogging operation. For this he was providing “Online digital strategy and blogging, site creation and management, blogging and articles, video reports on line”.
For another RM 138,000 per month Friedman added “in-bound press and blogger visits, press, foreign visit support, interview placement, writing, disseminating, media training, media analysis, mapping” services!
Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak Report become top targets for bloggers
