Defending the Indefensible 2016 “The Occupation of the American Mind”

Selling Serco: documentary-maker Molly Dineen on why she shot a corporate promo

How do we make our people feel less like shit?” This was one of the most pressing questions for Rupert Soames when he took control of the crisis-ridden outsourcing firm Serco.

The £1.05bn organisation – which runs prisons, air-traffic control hubs, train lines and government defence contracts globally – was in the midst of a “full-blown corporate crisis, and as a company it was widely reviled”, says Soames, who became chief executive in May 2014. Staff morale was extremely low. “We seek to make the world a better place, and then we see all of these headlines: ‘evil’, ‘grasping’, ‘ripping off the taxpayer’,” he adds, suggesting that it was “a bit like if you were a member of a congregation and discovered that your priest had been doing crack cocaine”.

His crisis PR solution was to bring in Bafta award-winning documentary- maker Molly Dineen (described by the Guardian’s Mark Lawson as “the leading film-maker of her generation”), to make an hour-long film about the company – following frontline staff across the world, including trainee prison wardens, employment coaches, hospital porters, tugboat captains and asylum support officers at work.

Unfortunately, the only way to see her new film is to join Serco’s 100,000-strong workforce, because the exercise was purely designed to boost staff members’ self-esteem and will not be broadcast more widely – but a small screening was held for staff and investors last week. The film clearly does an excellent job of showcasing the handful of Serco employees who appear as humane and thoughtful people; it made the audience laugh and was unexpectedly moving. Less clear is why such a respected, independent film-maker took Serco’s commission...

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/25/molly-dineen-serco-corporate-documentary-interview-rupert-soames

Cherie Blair law firm linked to suspected terrorist & controversial regime

Cherie Blair could face a corruption probe after an investigation uncovered suspicious financial links between her law firm and the autocratic Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, as well as an arms trafficker wanted for terrorism.

Omina Strategy, the law firm founded by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife, earned more than £2,000 (US$2,850) a day working for Yameen in various capacities, including managing his administration’s PR.

The firm claims it was hired to help “improve transparency and accountability” in the country, where Yameen imprisoned more than 1,700 opposition activists during a state of emergency last November.

But secret documents obtained by the Daily Mail indicate the firm was hired to advise on “strategic diplomacy, media training, [and] international media relations” and to handle PR during the government’s legal battle with former president Mohamed Nasheed, who claims he was ousted from office by force in 2012.

Nasheed, who was represented in court by Amal Clooney, was later jailed for 13 years after a trial described by Amnesty International as a “sham.”

According to the investigation, Cherie Blair’s company was paid more £420,000 for six months’ work, £210,000 of which was paid by Mohamed Allam Latheef – a man now wanted by Interpol on charges of arms trafficking and terrorism.

Omina Strategy was also involved in financial transactions with Adbullah Ziyath, the former head of state-run Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), who is now suspected of colluding with Latheef and is on trial for allegedly masterminding the embezzlement of more than £50 million from the government.

The Daily Mail quoted lawyers representing victims of the regime who have called for Blair’s relationship with the Maldivian leader to be investigated.


https://www.rt.com/uk/332891-cherie-blair-maldives-corruption/