Both Government and corporate propaganda are increasingly seen as a serious problem that is undermining trust in democracy. A survey (September 2004) by the Committee on Standards in Public Life found that 70% of people no longer expect Government ministers to tell them the truth.

But it is not just political spin that is undermining democracy, corporate spin plays a key role too. The UK has the world’s second biggest PR industry that has grown over eleven-fold in real terms in the last twenty years (Miller and Dinan 2000). In the UK there are over 55,000 people who work in PR with an estimated turnover of over £1 billion. Little is known about their lobbying activities in the UK or the PR activities of their clients as no progressive organisation routinely tracked the PR activities of the food, drink, chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech and oil industries. Hence SpinWatch. If you want to support our work please do so.