User talk:Mary Spowart

Great stuff on TOAST. Might be good to start sketching in the background of two or three of their important staff?

--David 08:43, 13 December 2007 (GMT)

Hi,

came across this person: Dr Susan Jebb, Chair, Department of Health Expert Group on Obesity What is this group? --David 15:31, 12 December 2007 (GMT)

Mary,

good stuff on TOAST (which is now Toast!). How did you come across the charity commission records? Very helpful. I added a little on LighterLife, which was the main funder and clearly used Toast as a front group to promote their products. I think this needs a bit of digging. Who is behind LighterLife and what did they manage to achieve - eg what did TOast people get up to and which influential positions were they able to insinuate themselves in? eg the posiotions on NICE, the the Health committee with the National Obesity Forum etc. Similarly can you trace the NOF activities as the funding you reveal is very significant...

Lastly, why is TOAST closing? and when was that announcement posted? what is Lighter Life doing now?

Quite a bit to get stuck into here. Let's talk soon.

--David 08:28, 30 November 2007 (GMT)

Also, can you look into the funding and relationship with the PR firm involved. How much were they paid and what did they do. Use the statement I have quoted (but it needs written into prose and quoted) and find what you can. If you need help to acces lexis-nexis or in using www.archive.org let me know. --David 08:31, 30 November 2007 (GMT)

Hi Mary

re these guys:--

The Association of Professional Political Consultants is a lobby group for the lobbying profession. Its main function is to prevent openness and transparency by attempting to ensure that statutory regulation is not introduced in the UK.

--assume this is a work in progress? we need example(s) of how they are trying to prevent openness and transparency. ie things they've done, said, etc.

thanks! --Claire Robinson 18:13, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Hi Mary,

I see you are trying to get to grips with the ref system. A guide is here: SpinProfiles:A Guide to Referencing

Remember to add at the bottom of each page: ==Notes==

<references/>

and then also to make sure you add at least one category. Category lists is here: Special:Categories

(and to make sure that names are listed alphabetically: [[Category:Scotland|Smith, John]]

can you make sure you give full references rather than just URLs?

so: Author name [URL Title of article/page], publication source, publication date and volume number etc, pg no, accessed date. Thanks --David 09:00, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

HI Mary

Just to keep things neat and consistent, maybe use just the name of the org for the title of a page, so instead of

Helen Johnson Public Affairs, UK Staff and clients 1 June 2008 to 31 August 2008

just call it

Helen Johnson Public Affairs

same applies to yr page on

The Whitehouse Consultancy Ltd

you can rename pages by hitting "move" at the top of yr page and putting in new title. It looks drastic at first glance and comes up with warnings etc but I've had to do it to some of our pages in GM Watch that had odd titles.

If we keep to just the name of the org for our pages, then anyone in the future with more info on that org can put it in--also makes it easier for people to do searches.

also don't forget to put the notes bit in at the bottom so that all yr refs go there automatically. so above the categories section in each page, you put

Notes

thanks! --Claire Robinson 16:50, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

pls ignore previous message

sorry Mary, did not realize that these were special pages needing special format--pls ignore last message!

thanks Claire

references

Hi,

I see you are getting there with the refs. But this: Huntsworth website [http://www.hfgcg.com/], accesed 18 November 2008 .</ref>

Should be:

Global Consulting Group [http://www.hfgcg.com/ Global Consulting is now Grayling Global!], 13 March 2006, accessed 18 November 2008.</ref>

See the difference(s)?

--David 17:13, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Media Smart

Can you convert them to the proper refs?

--David 21:02, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

dead links

Try and find new links?

Can you use lexis still?

also try and paste the url into the way back machine at http://www.archive.org and you might be able to find them? --David 19:14, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Men's Health Forum pharma boys

Hi Mary

Really interesting article on these guys. can u expand this article with any info on their actual activities or lobbying that speaks of their pharma funding?

I was attracted to looking at this page because I have noticed Men's Health magazine, though have not properly researched the connection between the MHF and the MH mag. The MH mag always seems to be for sale by the checkout in the supermarkets (more prominent place than you'd expect?) and when I've glanced at it I've always felt it's a front for the pharma industry but never followed it up.

There is an obvious bias in the mag's articles towards drug solutions that have little to do with "health" and everything to do with pharma profits.

Men's Health mag is not to be confused with Men's Health Journal which is the quarterly journal of the MHF--MHJ was as you say edited by Dr Ian Banks

As you point out the common link between MHF, MH mag and MHJ is Dr Ian Banks. I wonder if there is actual corporate/pharma backing for the MH mag OR whether its pharma bias is just down to pharma advertising in the mag, which I seem to recall is a big feature of it? if you can get hold of a copy of the MH mag and/or find out more about it, it might be worth doing a section or separate page on it as it is such a powerful voice speaking to the public. The MHJ, which was aimed at health professionals, seems to have closed down (launched 2001, closed 2003 http://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/userpage1.cfm?item_id=291). Maybe they found it's much more lucrative targeting the consumers direct??

all very interesting... --Claire Robinson 13:47, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

change4life funding

HI Mary

amended the funding bit as it seems to me that the money for Change4Life isn't coming from advertising industry, as you had, but from companies liaising thru the advertising industry--based on your source page of the Whitehall pages. This source material is really confusing -- perhaps deliberately so -- so pls check my edit and if I don't have it right come back to me on my talk page or just edit accordingly (my spinp email not working at the mo).

thanks----Claire Robinson 20:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

categories

yes, just alter the relevant occurrence and then I can delete the category page at the end.

--David 12:22, 24 February 2009 (UTC)