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Alicia Mundy writes that "I was about to go live on the Today show to discuss my book on the fen-
phen scandal when the host, Maria Shriver, leaned forward and very kindly said, 'I'm really sorry
about the way we're doing this interview and the questions I have to ask. You understand, don't
you?' ... It seems that the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth-Ayerst, had been calling. Wyeth, a major
conglomerate, makes Dimetapp and Robitussin, as well as hormone replacement products and other
drugs, and was a huge advertiser with NBC. They'd apparently been in negotiations with NBC's counsel
over my pending appearance. ... I left satisfied, but remained curious about the dynamics behind the
scenes. The answer came this summer in an extraordinarily revealing panel at the annual convention
of Investigative Reporters and Editors, in Washington. ... The panel, titled 'PR Attacks and
Counterattacks,' was moderated by Mark Feldstein of George Washington University. With him was a
former local TV news colleague, Kent Jarrell, who went over to the dark side to P.R. and 'crisis
management' in 1996, and is now a senior vice president for litigation communications at APCO
Worldwide. Jarrell was joined by Don Goldberg, a survivor of the Clinton White House, who toils for
the government relations firm Navigant Consulting." Source: Columbia Journalism Review,
September/October, 2003