EPB WINS $34M SAVINGS BOND PR WORK

Earle Palmer Brown has won a five-year $34 million ad/PR/interactive marketing contract to promote the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds and use of TreasuryDirect, the online investment program, according to Phil Armstrong, managing director of EPB PR.

Fleishman-Hillard and Weber Shandwick Worldwide also pitched the U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt account.

EPB is to pitch savings bonds to consumers looking for a safe and competitive investment, according to Theodore Langlois, who is in charge of savings bond marketing.

For TreasuryDirect, EPB is to increase awareness of the program, and highlight the convenience of buying securities over the Internet. More than 680,000 investors use TreasuryDirect. That investment is worth more than $82 billion.

EX-TEXAS GOV. RICHARDS OPENS PSI/NY

Former Texas Governor Ann Richards will open a New York office as senior advisor for Texas-based powerhouse firm Public Strategies Inc.

She was a lobbyist at Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand.

Richards took the post because she always wanted to spend time in New York.

Jane Hickie, who worked in Richards' political campaigns, also is joining PSI as managing director.

PSI was founded in 1988 by Jack Martin, an aide to former Texas Senator and U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen.

He's also hired former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry and Mark McKinnon, who advised President Bush.

FINANCIAL PRO RAUTENBERG JOINS AIG

Financial PR pro Steve Rautenberg, 51, has joined American International Group as VP-communications responsible for PR, advertising, marketing services and special events.

He succeeds John Wooster, 62, who becomes special advisor at the insurance giant that operates in 130 countries.

Rautenberg joins AIG from Canon USA, where he was VP and general manager-corp. comms.

Prior to that, Rautenberg did a five-year stint in CC at Reliance Group Holdings, and served 19 years in PR and PA at Chase Manhattan Bank.

ORBITZ BOOKS KETCHUM, B-M

Orbitz, the controversial online travel agency that is owned by major airlines, is using Ketchum and Burson-Marsteller for PR.

Ketchum's San Francisco office is handling media relations for Orbitz. Ken Hooper, who is senior media specialist for Ketchum, is in charge of PR.

Burson-Marsteller's Washington, D.C., office has been retained for government affairs work.

Travel agents fear that Orbitz, which is owned by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, and United airlines, will monopolize the business.

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation, however, said it is not worried about that problem, but will monitor the site for potential antitrust violations.

Orbitz launched a $100 million ad campaign last week to attract cost-conscious travelers. That was created by TBWA Chiat/Day.

PB GETS $50K-A-MONTH PACT FROM HAITI

Patton Boggs is working to enhance the image of Haiti under a $50,000-a-month contract the lobbying firm filed with the Justice Dept.

The overall goal is to generate U.S. economic aid for the hard-pressed country.

The contract, which runs through the end of the year, says PB lobbyists must meet weekly with publicists, and submit weekly reports covering the "achievements by the team."

Those publicists include staffers from Qorvis Communications, in which PB owns a financial stake, and Ross-Robinson Assocs., which is headed by Hazel Ross-Robinson. [She is the wife of activist Randall Robinson, who is spearheading the effort to win reparations for blacks over slavery.]

PB's work includes "placement of periodic stories, opinion pieces and editorials favorable to the Government in Haiti in U.S. media sources."

G/HI ADDS FEES OF $750K IN S.F.

Golin/Harris International has added $750,000 in fees to its San Francisco office via the addition of Adaptec and EC Outlook to its technology/e-business practice, according to Tim Johnson, G/HI's managing director there.

Adaptec, marketer of data storage products, is looking for a boost from G/HI's media relations pros.

EC Outlook, which develops e-business software, is looking for corporate marketing support from.

WALL ST. SEEKS TO BOOST IMAGE

The Securities Industry Assn. issued a set of voluntary "best practices" guidelines last week in a bid to restore the public's and media's confidence in the ratings and reports of analysts.

SIA president Marc Lackritz said the guidelines are meant to "ensure that our industry abides by the highest professional standards."

The SIA says the "practices," which include guidelines on analysts' disclosure, compensation, and recommendations, are meant to reaffirm the idea that "the client's interests come first" on Wall Street.

Lackritz told The Wall Street Journal that the goal is to "try to get back the public perception that analysts are independent and call stocks as they see them."

The new standards say analysts should neither report to, nor submit their research for approval by the investment banking unit.

Congress Probes Street

Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee, kicked off hearings on June 14 to probe whether analysts are serving as "cheerleaders" for stocks in which their investment houses have a financial stake.

The subcommittee's goal is to probe the "relative degree of erosion in the 'Chinese Wall' that has traditionally shielded analysts from the influence of investment banking interests," according to Baker.

TAFF HEADS PR AT IABC

Heidi Taff, who previously worked for a variety of clients at Text 100 International PR and Niehaus Ryan Wong, joined the International Assn. of Business Communicators, San Francisco, as PR manager.

She will handle "proactive and reactive media relations" as well as message development, supporting website presence for PR and media messages, and developing media kits and press releases.

Interim president Louis Williams said Taff's appointment "is just the beginning of the 'evolving' new IABC." Julie Freeman will become president of IABC on July 1.

FIRESTONE 'BLEW IT,' SAYS COUNCIL

Bridgestone/Firestone made a bad move when it decided to cut its 95-year supplier relationship with Ford Motor Co., according to a survey conducted by the Council of PR Firms.

Two-thirds of the 130 member companies polled by the Council disagree with B/F's decision.

Ford, on the other hand, is doing the right thing by spending $3 billion to replace the 13 million tires, according to 66 percent of respondents.

A vast majority of the PR pros feel that both B/F and Ford should have worked together to patch up their problems. That could have limited damage to the reputations of both companies, say 85 percent of responding PR pros.

Jack Bergen, president of the Council, calls the B/F-Ford mess a "landmark communications issue."

He feels the tussle will have a "profound impact on corporate relationships for years to come."

Suggestions for B/F

What can B/F do to restore its tattered reputation?

This is what the respondents say:

The company should vigorously defend and demonstrate the safety of the tires it now makes (62 percent).

Drop the Firestone name in favor of Bridgestone or another brand (18 percent).

Hire a spokesperson with a lot of credibility (6%).

Sue Ford for the harm that its recall did to the B/F reputation (five percent).

Offer a $100,000 quality guarantee on each tire that there are not manufacturing defects (four percent).

Publicly blame defects in the Ford Explorer design for the accidents that have occurred (two percent).

F-H KEEPS EYE ON CLIENTS' COMPETITORS

Fleishman-Hillard has established a "global competitive intelligence services" unit to provide clients reports about how competitors are viewed by industry analysts, covered by the media and gossiped about on the Internet.

We began "ramping up" in the U.S. about a year ago, Ron Penoyer, senior VP at F-H, told this NL.

F-H will now offer competitive intelligence services to Asian clients from Hong Kong, and plans to service European ones from London.

Ronda Sauget directs the CI unit. She reports to Lisa Richter, head of research.

MORMONS SCALE BACK MEDIA CENTER

The Mormon church is scaling back plans to sponsor a media center where unaccredited journalists could work during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Instead, the church will provide a news center in the downtown Joseph Smith Memorial Building "to respond to working journalists who need information to report on the church, its people, beliefs and history," spokesman Dale Bills said.

Pet Sitters International, King, N.C., has retained Catan Communications, Mine Hill, N.J., to handle publicity for the third annual "Take Your Dog to Work Day" on June 20.

Wayne Catan said more than 2,000 companies will participate, led by Loews Hotels and Iams Co.

'P.R. MAN' MAKES N.Y STAGE DEBUT

"P.R. Man" made its stage debut on June 15 at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster st., in New York.

The play, which is produced by the SoHo Think Tank, is based on a book entitled Toxic Sludge is Good for You, which was co-authored by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton.

Performance schedule: 212/966-4844.

DEATH: Andrea Remmler, 45, an executive for The Vandiver Group, St. Louis, succumbed to complications from colon cancer on May 31.

DAILY NEWS TRIES TO WIN BACK GROCERS

The New York Daily News is trying to win back grocers with three advertorial sections.

Ken Frydman, News spokesman, said the paper hopes the supplements, which were produced for the ad department by a freelance writer, will "bring supermarkets back into the newspaper."

The Daily News lost up to $100,000 in weekly ad revenue because of its "Dirty Shame" investigation of supermarkets. All but one of the city's major supermarket chains stopped running ads after a series said many stores had failed state inspections. The series, based on state inspection reports, began on May 3.

All three supplements, which are identified on the cover as "Special Advertising Sections," deal with topics and issues that are one-sided in favor of the grocers and supermarket industry.

The first of the four-page supplements, was distributed in the June 13 edition. A second supplement ran in the June 14 edition. The final one ran on Sunday, June 17.

No current or former staffers at Dan Klores Comms., which handles publicity for the News, were used to provide copy for the sections, according to Frydman, who would not divulge the name of the freelance writer.

PRODUCER SEEKS GUESTS FOR TV SHOW

Cheryl Perry, a producer for Fox TV Studios, in Beverly Hills, is asking publicists for help in booking millionaires as participants in a new reality series to be shown on USA Network. Fox has joined with A. Smith & Co. Productions to produce eight episodes, entitled, "The Pot."

Perry said the program is "a PR dream come true." Participants might appear on the cover of entertainment magazines, and in interviews for TV shows. "The opportunities are enormous," she said.

The program starts with eight millionaires who ante up $1 million apiece to take part in the "largest winner-take-all event ever seen." Each millionaire, called a "general manager," will operate as owner and manager of a team of three players, which consists of regular people from all walks of life.

The victorious millionaire will get $4 million for himself and allocate $3 million to his players as he sees fit. The remaining $1 million will got to charity.

Perry welcomes phone calls. She can be reached at 310/828-1811 or [email protected].

FINANCIAL MAGS EXAMINE RELEASES

Press releases are examined by CFO and U.S. Banker in their June issues.

CFO's article, which says more and more finance chiefs are being tapped to deliver tough news, cites a situation involving Autt Inc.'s CFO Donald Henry, who was confronted with questions after his Minneapolis-based company reported it was cutting staff.

"Spending time on the release really helped organize our thinking which made it easier to talk to people," said Henry.

Mark Bruno complains in U.S. Banker that "many PR folks write their releases in the worst way possible."

He said the "most prevalent and annoying practice is a long-winded first sentence, which includes a run-on clause of self-praise."

Bruno said such clauses are so long that by the time the editor gets through it, he or she loses track of the point.

"Similarly annoying," said Bruno, "is the tendency for every PR release to describe the subject company as the `leader' or `leading provider'."

PLACEMENT TIPS ____________________

Orbitz.com, which debuted June 4, is covering travel news.

"Travel Watch," which is described as the first real newsroom within a travel site, is staffed by journalists, led by Mary-Jo Lipman, who is a former travel writer and editor for CNN.com and producer, writer and editor of "CNN Headline News."

Lipman's goal is to create a "breaking news" source for travelers. The site, found on Orbitz's home page (www.orbitz.com), will feature late-breaking news and information that could affect one's trip. It also will have feature articles on destinations and where celebrities are vacationing.

The source of information will be news and information organizations, including the news services, Federal Aviation Administration, and freelance travel journalists, as well as Orbitz's in-house staff, which includes air traffic controllers, travel journalists and industry experts.

Orbitz, a full-service online travel agency, based in Chicago, was founded by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United airlines.

DS Simon Productions, New York, has inked a deal with Beststuff.com's family-lifestyle editor Julie Edelman to produce new product segments for local and national TV markets.

The firm is looking for PR pros to send products for review. Edelman covers products and trends that relate to children, teens, home and family.

Publicists can e-mail ideas and suggestions for her segments to [email protected], or [email protected].

Red Herring has signed up Christopher Byron to write a monthly financial column, called "The Contrarian," which will debut in the July 15 issue.

Byron currently hosts MSNBC.com's "High Noon on Wall Street," a real time financial news radio show on the web.

(Media news continued on next page)

ENVIRONMENTAL BEAT SPRAWLS

"Environmental journalism as a specialty is being killed by its own success," said Joseph Davis, who is acting editor of the Environment Writer, a Washington, D.C.-based newsletter.

"Environmental journalism has sprawled beyond the boundaries once set for it and invaded other parts of the journalistic garden like a weed," says Davis. "There is so much environmental news it won't all fit in a single category any more."

He said environmental stories are being covered by outdoor writers for the sports section, healthcare beat reporters for the health section, and stories in the business and lifestyle sections. Even the comics page has environmental commentary in "Doonesbury" or "Mark Trail," said Davis.

"One measure of the vitality of the environmental beat is the frequency with which new major story-areas pop up and become semi-permanent," said Davis, who cited climate as an example. "Fifteen years ago, climate was not a story; today it is a long-running story which has spawned new outlets devoted solely to covering it. The same could be said of biotechnology, or asthma, or endocrine disruptors, or fuel cells."

EW compiled this list of "virtually free news resources" for environmental reporters to keep up with what's happening:

-The TipSheet (www.nsc.org/ehc/jrn/tipindex.htm)
-Environmental News Network (www.enn.com/news/index)
-Environmental News Service (www.ens-news.com)
-AScribe (http://AScribe-News.com/index.html)
-Newswise (www.newswise.com)
-EurekAlert (www.eurekalert.org/)
-Editors Web (www.editorsweb.org/index.htm)
-Grist (www.gristmagazine.com/grist)
-Greenlines (www.defenders.org/gntoday.html)
-Planet Ark (Reuters) (www.planetark.org/dailynewshome.cfm)
-Environmental Media Services (www.ems.org/news.html)

'BOZO' IS GOING OFF THE AIR

"Bozo," the weekly children's show, is going off the air Aug. 26 after 45 consecutive years on TV.

About 183 local TV stations have produced Bozo shows under licensing from Larry Harmon Picture Corp., Beverly Hills.
Harmon 76, who made his first Bozo licensing deal in 1956, gave weatherman Willard Scott, as "Bozo," his first TV job.

Harmon's company is bringing out a life-size, robotic verson of the red-topped TV clown. The mechanical Bozo, which will be totally interactive, will sell for $6,000.

A new cereal, Bozo's Fruit Whirls, will also be introduced, as will a retro version from Hallmark of the metal Bozo lunch pail. Original versions of the lunch bucket sell for more than $300 on the collector's market.

The Lee Solters Co., Beverly Hills, handles publicity for Harmon's company.

GOTTI TO WRITE SUNDAY COLUMN

Victoria Gotti, the 36-year-old daughter of jailed mob boss, John Gotti, has begun writing a Sunday column for The New York Post.

Her first column appeared in the June 10 edition.

Gotti, who writes romance-mystery novels, the most recent being last year's Superstar, will write stories about the city and its residents, according to Post editor Col Allan, who hired her.

Carmine Angello, Gotti's husband of 16 years, is scheduled to go on trial in September on federal racketeering charges.

PUBLICIST GUARANTEES COVERAGE

Roger Brown, 81-year-old publicist, is still making good on his guarantee to get placement of stories in top media.

Brown, who created his copyrighted "Proved Publicity" concept about 40 years ago, said "We have had this arrangement with clients for several years, and at no time have we failed to exceed a circulation-audience total."

Currently, Brown will guarantee to get placements in top media at a cost of $3,500 per million circulation-audience. If he agrees to guarantee to deliver a total circulation-audience of 100 million, the clients pays him $350,000.

The total expenditure includes fee, staff time and out-of-pocket and production expenses, and there are no "extras" in connection with reaching this agreed-upon total, he said.
Excess circulation-audience within the agreed-upon period is delivered at no additional charge.

"If, for any reason whatsoever, we would deliver, say, 45 million of a promised 50 million circulation-audience total, or 95 million of an agreed-upon 100 million total, we will deliver the additional amount prior to starting any negotiations at all regarding a second period of operation," said Brown.

Brown enjoys hearing from friends in the PR field. He can be reached at 6203-1 Bay Club dr., Fort Launderdale, FL 33308. 954/771-7282.

Brown's guarantee is based upon Audit Bureau of Circulation figures for national magazine, Sunday supplement and major newspaper placements in print, and A.C. Nielsen ratings for the particular national and regional TV programs on which client features appear.

Jesse Angelo, 27, who had been deputy business editor, was promoted to metropolitan editor of The New York Post, replacing Jonathan Auerbach, 34, who was upped to assistant managing editor.

"HEALTHY KIDS" PROGRAM TOPS ANVILS

The "Healthy Kids Now Outreach Campaign"of the Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services Medical Assistance Administration Division won PRSA's "Best of Silver Anvil Award" June 14 in ceremonies at the Equitable Tower, New York.

The program was conducted with Desautel Hege Communications and Health Improvement Partnership.

Launched in February 2000, it has enrolled 40,000 previously uninsured children in medical programs.

Winning regular Anvils were 46 programs including the Washington State program. There were 736 entries, second highest total ever.

Ketchum and its clients took ten Anvils, Fleishman-Hillard, four, and PRR (Pacific Rim Resources) and The Standing Partnership, two each.

41 "Awards of Excellence" Given

Also presented were 41 "Awards of Excellence" to entries considered to be of Silver Anvil quality. They are only given in categories with an Anvil winner. Kathleen Lewton, chair of PRSA, provided the welcoming address. Masters of ceremony were Christopher Veronda, 2001 honors & awards chair, and Kathy Cripps, 2001 Silver Anvil chair. Presenters were Gerard Corbett (also 2001 Bronze Anvil chair), and Tanya Maria Morah. The evening included a cocktail party and supper. Sponsors were Burson-Marsteller; Fleishman-Hillard; Hitachi America; Ketchum; Ruder Finn, and VMS.

Ketchum's winners included marketing programs with Heinz North America/StarKist Seafood ("Charlie's Latest Catch: The Launch of Star Kist Tuna in a Pouch"), and Levi Strauss & Co. ("Levi's Tunes into Teens-Music & Gun Violence").

Other winners for Ketchum and its clients were CDI Corp. (institutional); Frito Lay (special events, seven or fewer days); GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (crisis); 3M (internal comms./business); Rutgers Univ. (internal comms./nonprofit); Procter & Gamble (multicultural PR), and Tropicana Products (integrated comms.).
F-H's winners were with SBC Communications/Pacific Bell (special events, more than seven days); Amer. Assn. of Clinical Endocrinologists (public service/assns.); Insure-A-Kid Community Collaborative, Austin (public service/partnerships), and ebizmix.com (integrated comms., B2B).

Summaries of the winning programs are at www.silveranvil.org.

MEDIA HOOKED ON CELEBRITIES

The media are hooked on celebrities, according to a poll conducted for Slay PR, which was recently known as Martin PR.

Nearly 40 percent of the 1,037 respondents polled in April believe celebrities have the best access to the media.

That's followed by politicians (26 percent), athletes (19 percent), "regular people" (six percent), CEOs (four percent) and religious leaders (three percent).

Celebrities, according to counselor Joe Slay, can "unlock the door to the media" when it comes to pitching a cause.

Jerry Lewis does the best job in pitching a cause or group (Muscular Dystrophy Assn.), according to 36 percent of respondents.

He's trailed by Michael J. Fox-Parkinson's Disease (16 percent), Charlton Heston-National Rifle Assn. (9%), Christopher Reeve-spinal cord injuries (8%), and Rosie O'Donnell-adoption (7%).

RESPECT THE PRESS, SAYS FLEISCHER

"Think like a reporter, ask the right questions and get the facts right," was White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer's advice to PRSA's National Capital Chapter at its 33rd Annual Thoth Awards dinner on June 7.

A robust press keeps this nation strong, which is why it deserves respect from PR people, he told the more than 150 people at the Mayflower Hotel. He urged PR pros to be as helpful as possible to requests from the media.

Other advice for PR pros: "be substantive," "ask what are the facts; what is the truth," "do your homework," and "don't talk to the press until you're ready."

He said PR people must, "be patient with reporters as they like to ask the same questions over and over."

Fleischer said it helps to have a sense of humor in the PR profession. "What you do is often serious, so find time to have a sense of humor; the press likes that," he said.

Early Bird

The Press Secretary rises each day at 5:15 a.m. and reads the major newspapers before arriving at The White House at 7:15 a.m. He then meets with his staff and Karen Hughes, communications director.

Fleischer said that he listens a lot when he is meeting with President Bush. "The best way to speak for someone is to listen to them," he said. He also added that President Bush is "understanding of the way the press does its job."

Fleischer also said that the West Wing of the White House is not as it appears on the television series, "The West Wing." On the series there's a lot of hustle and bustle and people are walking around everywhere. The real West Wing, said Fleischer, is "very, very quiet."

In describing his job as press secretary, Fleischer said, "It's one of the most exciting jobs in the world. It is a humbling thing to do, to know your job is to help reporters."

Jessica Hatchigan, a former PR executive for Ford Motor Co., is writing How to be Your Own Publicist, scheduled to be published next year by McGraw Hill/Contemporary. One of her favorite placement techniques is to piggyback on the news.

PR OPINION/ITEMS

The Securities Industry Assn. took a PR hit by releasing its "best practices" guidelines two days before Congress opened hearings on analysts' conflicts of interests.

The guidelines are "nice, but a little late," said Rep. Paul Kanjorski. He criticized the voluntary rules as toothless since there are no enforcement mechanisms.

Congressman Richard Baker, who chaired the House subcommittee, dismissed the guidelines as something that won't satisfy his panel. The rules, to him, set a "minimum standard" of behavior for Wall Street.

There has been a steady media drumbeat about the loss of credibility of Wall Street research in both the financial and mainstream media during the past year.

The SIA was asleep at the switch. Had it moved earlier, the trade group could have defused some of that criticism.

The guidelines, instead of re-building the Chinese Wall between research and investment bankers, now appear as a means to head off federal regulation.

The ad slump will end next year is the good news from McCann-Erickson's Robert Coen. That's when the ad market will grow about five percent due to spending for the Winter Olympics and Congressional elections.

The bad news is that Coen cut his 5.8 percent growth forecast for this year to 2.5 percent. He expects $250 billion will be spent for ads this year.

The Jerry Lewis saga offers PR people a good lesson about what happens when a successful pitchman utters some boneheaded remarks. The comedian is the No. 1 celebrity pitching a cause-according to a poll conducted by Slay PR. That did not protect Lewis from the firestorm of controversy that he ignited after saying people give money to Muscular Dystrophy Assn. out of pity for people with MD.

Lewis quickly apologized, and the MDA reprimanded its national chairman. Both were posted on the MDA website.

One MD advocate scolded the media for letting Lewis raise money for "Jerry's Kids." She blasted Lewis and the MDA for holding an annual telethon that exploits children as a vehicle to raise millions. The person noted that Americans don't exploit children as farm laborers or in sweatshops. But it's okay when its done on behalf of Jerry's Kids.

Lewis raised $54.6 million for the MDA last year in the telethon, which he has been doing since 1966.

It will be interesting to see what impact his remarks have on the upcoming Labor Day Telethon.

The Slay PR poll was conducted in April before Lewis made his comments.

Joe Lockhart resurfaces after serving as spokesperson for volatile Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. The former Clinton White House Press Secretary joins buddy and former Al Gore strategist Carter Eskew as partners at The Glover Park Group. Michael Feldman, Gore's former traveling chief of staff, rounds out the group.

They had planned to open the firm in the fall but moved up that plan after power in the Senate shifted to the Democrats following Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords' shift to the GOP.