SCAG SEEKS PR PITCHES.

The Southern California Association of Governments, the metropolitan planning organization covering 15 million people in the Golden State, has set aside $500K for a two-year PR contract to advise the group on its communications endeavors, guide general PR efforts, and train spokespeople for regional members, among other work.

SCAG is the largest of 700 regional government councils in the U.S. and has jurisdiction over millions of dollars in federal money pouring into Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and Ventura counties, an area of 38K square miles. The group, based in Los Angeles, has issued an RFP for a one-year $250K PR contract with a year-long option. Proposals are due June 30 with a pre-bid conference slated for June 15. Anthony Piunno ([email protected]) is administering the search.

GH’S TEMPLE ROCKS RETURNS TO DOW.

Dow Chemical has named GolinHarris’ Patti Temple Rocks its VP-global communications and reputation. She reports to Julie Fasone Holder, corporate VP of PA, human resources, diversity and inclusion.

Rocks began her career with Dow in its Midland, Mich. headquarters. Her initial focus in `81 was to publicize its organ and tissue donation program. She has led the consumer brands practice at GH for the past dozen years. Rocks was global account director for GH’s McDonald’s, BP and Unilever’s ice cream businesses.

GH, with sister Interpublic firm Foote, Cone & Belding, picked up the Dow account earlier this year.

The PR firm’s first assignment was to publicize Dow’s 2015 sustainability goals. Dow had $46B in `05 revenues and employs 42,000 people.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission plans to issue an RFP for branding and sponsorship rights along the 530 mile highway that serves more than 400M travelers per year. The work covers the naming of its 57 toll plazas, existing first responder system and emergency communications network (call boxes and highway advisory radio).

The Turnpike’s communications and PR department will offer the RFP. That unit is headed by Bill Capone. There will be a pre-proposal meeting June 21 at the Turnpike’s headquarters in Middletown.

The contract will be awarded on July 28. The RFP is posted on www.paturnpike.com. Charles Geffen is the contact for the work. He is at 215/545-3222 or [email protected].

F-H SEEKS TO PUT L.A. WOES BEHIND IT.

Fleishman-Hillard has extended the responsibilities of San Diego chief Melissa Schoeb to its Los Angeles office, which had been headed by the convicted former office head Doug Dowie.

The firm is giving Schoeb the new title, Southern California general manager.

Schoeb is relocating to L.A. and reports to Curt Kundred, president of the Omnicom unit’s western region.

Schoeb’s appointment takes some pressure off Richard Klein, a senior partner who served as chief spokesperson and damage control officer during the Dowie ordeal and F-H’s agreement to pay $6M to settle civil charges with the City of Angels.

Klein is relinquishing his L.A./GM role to focus on corporate and strategic growth initiatives.

Drops Durazo Suit

F-H’s GMMB Inc. ad unit has dropped its lawsuit against Durazo Communications, its Hispanic subcontractor, filed in connection with payments due media for ads purchased on behalf of First 5 California/California Children and Families Commission.

DC agrees to transfer $2.5M to a joint trust account for the benefit of media creditors. GMMB, for its part, will contribute $231K to that account that had been owed to DC, plus additional funds for vendor invoices and refunds due First 5 California.

GMMB will notify the L.A. District Attorney that media has been paid in full, and that it sees no reason why this legal matter cannot be closed.

Dan Durazo calls the matter “an unfortunate misunderstanding” between the two parties.

GMMB’s statement credits DC for acting “promptly and responsibly” to its concerns and that of its client.

The Altman Group has introduced a tracking service to monitor the holdings of hedge funds to assist corporate clients that might become hostile takeover targets by activist investors. The service provides weekly analyses of hedge fund holdings, and correlates changes in historic stock ownership patterns. The service was created, according to Ken Altman, because many companies have expressed concern about hedge funds either threatening or launching a proxy fight.

The 2006 O'Dwyer's Directory of Public Relations Firms has been printed and copies are to be shipped next week. An order form is enclosed with this week's newsletter. Copies will be available for sale in O'Dwyer offices next week. Orders may also be placed via odwyerpr.com.

SHELL’S HOFMEISTER HITS THE ROAD.

Shell Oil President John Hofmeister is launching a grassroots “Meeting the Energy Challenge” campaign to give Big Oil’s side of the energy crunch, Darci Sinclair, a Shell media relations spokesperson told O’Dwyer’s.

Shell, she said, is forgoing the traditional op-ed (ExxonMobil) or corporate ad route (BP, Chevron, ConocoPhilips) in favor of “one-on-one meetings” with stakeholder groups.

The plan, according to Sinclair, “is to connect with potentially more than 10,000 individuals who buy our products, invest in our future, work in our facilities and support the causes we support.”
Hofmeister, who will visit 50 cities over the next two years, will encourage feedback from the audiences.

Sinclair said the audiences may include environmentalists and others who are not so thrilled with the corporate practices and big profits hauled in by Big Oil.

The energy company sees the need for “direct engagement combined with an urgent need to discuss the issues and answer the tough questions. It’s about education – but it’s also about listening,” said Sinclair.

Hofmeister seeks to explain how regulations and surging demand from India and China contribute to the energy pricing equation.

Sinclair said Shell’s internal communications department is setting up Hofmeister’s tour, which kicks off June 16th in Dallas. Milwaukee, Phoenix, Charlotte, Detroit, Anaheim, Seattle, Honolulu and Tulsa are also on the agenda.

He was among the CEOs who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March.

Royal Dutch Shell, parent of the Houston-based SO, earned $6.1B on $75B first-quarter revenues.

PEPPERCOM OUSTS ZENO FROM WHIRLPOOL.

Peppercom has been tapped to handle PR for Whirlpool Corporation’s flagship brand, replacing seven-year incumbent Zeno, an Edelman unit.

The New York-based firm, which is slated to take over the account on July 1, is charged with guiding integrated marketing communications, media relations, word-of-mouth efforts and events for the Whirlpool and Gladiator Garage Works brands.

Peppercom managing partner Steve Cody credited creativity and the firm’s demonstration of integrating traditional and digital initiatives with the win.

Minneapolis-based Whirlpool is the No. 1 appliance maker in the U.S. and acquired top competitor Maytag earlier this year.

Carmichael Lynch Spong continues to handle PR for Maytag and its Amana unit, the latter which has been put on the block by Whirlpool.

5W PR and client Proshade were rebuffed by the National Park Service after offering a $4M donation for permission to adorn the presidents of Mount Rushmore with designer Proshade visors.

The firm and company are now cooking up a deal for the Statue of Liberty.

German cleaning machine manufacturer Alfred Karcher GmbH & Co. donated a cleaning of the national monument last year.

OGILVY ROLLS WITH LARGE WASTE PACT.

Ogilvy PR Worldwide has emerged from a competitive field to guide a $1.6M contract from California to combat the expensive problem of waste electronics and tires in the state.

The contract with the WPP Group firm is expected to be finalized at the June 13 meeting of the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

There was no incumbent as the two assignments are new. Edelman, Riester~Robb and Tajima Creative competed with Ogilvy for the account.

Although the two subjects – electronics and tires – are different problems, the state was looking for consistency in the PR efforts to educate consumers and cut back on waste, according to contract manager Jon Myers.

For one part, Ogilvy’s Sacramento office is charged with developing a campaign to show drivers, especially in “underprivileged areas,” how to make tires last longer with maintenance tasks like checking tire pressure, therefore cutting down on the purchase of new tires and the number of tires piling up in landfills.

The electronics component will have Ogilvy educating retailers and, in turn, their employees, about the state’s eRecycle campaign.

That effort was launched last year with environmental ad/PR shop Earth Communications Office and centers around a fee (from $6-$10) charged for purchases of equipment like monitors and televisions.

Dozens of firms like Weber Shandwick, The Rogers Group, MWW Group and Hill & Knowlton considered a run at the account.

Ogilvy’s proposal came in under budget at $1.25M for the work.

ENERGY INDUSTRY REVIEWS PIPELINE PUSH.

The Common Ground Alliance, an oil and gas industry-backed group, is reviewing proposals for a national PR campaign to encourage consumers to call a national 811 number before digging or excavating. The effort is aimed to curb the millions of dollars in damage that occurs to underground pipelines and cables each year.

Supported by the American Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, and companies like Shell, ExxonMobil and Pacific Gas and Electric, the group anticipates awarding a high six-figure contract by the end of the month to develop the campaign by the end of ’06 for implementation next year, when the national 811 number becomes active.

The Federal Communications Commission last year designated 811 as a “call-before-you-dig” hotline to connect to regional one-call centers, currently served mostly by disparate 800-numbers.

The primary focus of the campaign will be “do-it-yourselfers” who perform excavation on their own property, but the CGA identifies its secondary audience as contractors, who, the groups says, sometimes forego reaching a one-call center if the number is not immediately available.

The 811 system is expected to be operational by next April. Proposals for the PR push were due in late May and the project is currently under evaluation.

RTNDA CALLS CMD STUDY ‘EMBARRASSING.’

Radio & Television News Director head Barbara Cochran said the Center for Media and Democracy study showing local TV stations running unsourced VNRs is embarrassing.

“We had good reason to think that many of the video examples posted on the CMD website were simple errors, not deliberate attempts to fool the public, but the similarities between newscast stories and VNRs were embarrassing,” said Cochran in a statement.

She says the stations that were featured on the CMD site launched their own investigations – and with the help of RTNDA – are making sure that everyone in the newsroom understands and observes policies of identification.

Of the FCC probe into non-disclosure of VNR sponsorship, Cochran said her group “opposes any attempt to regulate the form of identification and said those decisions are clearly part of the First Amendment.”

CONGRESS HITS MEDIA FOR JACKSON FLAP.

The House approved the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which multiplies Federal Communications Commission fines for indecency by 10 times to $375K.

The bill will make TV and radio more "family-friendly" by lodging "stiffer fines on broadcasters who air obscene or indecent programming," said President Bush in a statement.

The National Assn. of Broadcasters had opposed the bill, opting for voluntary self-regulation instead. The BDEA was spurred by Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during CBS's broadcast of the ’04 Super Bowl.

The FCC denied a bid for “reconsideration” of the $550K combined Jackson fine that was meted out to CBS stations.

ONLINE AD GROWTH SURGES AT PAPERS.

The Newspaper Assn. of America reports that online growth of the nation’s newspapers surged 35 percent to $613M during the first-quarter of this year. That marked the eighth straight quarter of growth.

“Newspaper publishers are winning on the web and their efforts to attract visitors, build leading Internet properties and monetize their online investments are being recognized by advertisers and consumers – as shown by a full two years worth of outstanding consecutive gains,” said John Sturm, NAA President and CEO, in announcing the news.

Of the tepid 0.3 percent rise in print ads to $10.5B, Sturm said publishers are holding their own in the wake of overall ad softness.

The Huffington Post, a political and cultural website, has launched “Eat the Press” to cover media news, rumors, commentary and links.

The site will feature a “People Ranker” to gauge the number of blog mentions that movers & shakers are getting. PR people will be interested in the “Spin the Press,” which promises to track spin that finds itself into news stories.

Ken Sunshine Consultants does PR for HuffPo.

MCCLATCHY UNLOADS FIVE MORE PAPERS.

The McClatchy Co. is winding down its sale of the Knight-Ridder “orphans,” unloading another five papers for $450M. The papers sold are Akron Beacon Journal to Black Press of Victoria, British Columbia; Duluth News Tribune and Grand Forks Herald to Forum Communications of Fargo, N.D.; Fort Wayne News-Sentinel to Schurz Communications of South Bend, Ind.; and Aberdeen American News to Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, W. Va.

McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt says the sale “reaffirms the underlying strength of the newspaper business, and the soundness of our plan for acquiring Knight-Ridder.”

He said the auction attracted diverse and impressive purchasers and “speaks volumes about the value of newspapers and the confidence of investors who expect them to perform well. This is a good news story for the newspaper industry, and for everybody who understands the essential role that quality newspapers play,” he said.

Pruitt expects to complete the sale of the last orphan, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, during the next few weeks.

McClatchy has sold 11 of the dozen orphans for more than a combined $2B. K-R shareholders are expected to approve the McClatchy deal on June 26.

B&C HIGHLIGHTS MEDIA DEATHS IN IRAQ.

Broadcasting & Cable has decided to publish the number of journalists killed in Iraq on the top of its editorial page each week.

The decision follows the deaths of CBS cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, which brought the death tally to 73. They were killed in the roadside bombing that seriously wounded correspondent Kimberly Dozier.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that more reporters were killed in Iraq than in WWII or the Vietnam war.

The Pentagon, according to CPJ, claims to be working to make reporters safer in Iraq via clearer pick-up and drop-off areas in the Green Zone.

B&C notes the number of dead journalists-plus another 26 media support staff killed is only part of the story. As of B&C’s June 5 edition, 2,471 American soldiers have been killed and 17,869 injured. Nearly 5,000 Iraqis security forces have been killed.

Rick Kaplan resigned the presidency post at MSNBC after his two-year tenure failed to boost the cable station from its No. 3 ranking behind Fox News and CNN.

NBC president Steve Capus, in an e-mail sent to staffers, thanked Kaplan for building a solid foundation for future growth.

MSNBC prime-time audience is up nearly 25 percent from a year ago, powered by the “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”

Prior to MSNBC, Kaplan was president of CNN’s domestic news operations, and executive producer of “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.”

(Media news continued on next page)

People ____________

Jim Gordon, founder of californiawineweb.com, has been named editor of Wines & Vines magazine, an 87-year-old publication covering boutique wineries and grape growers. He was editor-in-chief of Wine Country Living magazine for four years, served as VP of content for drinks.com, and was managing editor for Wine Spectator for 12 years in San Francisco and New York.

Lauren “Daisy” Lewellyn, former fashion marketing assistant at Glamour magazine, has been named accessories editor for Essence, beginning with the September issue. Lewellyn, who owns a boutique event planning company called Pink Ladies, was formerly an accessories assistant at In Style.

Alison Bethel, Washington bureau chief for the Detroit News since 2001, has joined Legal Times as executive editor in D.C., overseeing coverage of the legal business, lobbying and Capitol Hill. She was previously a business editor for the Boston Globe. Legal Times is published by ALM.

Kate Aurthur, freelance culture writer, has been named television editor of the Los Angeles Times. She has written for the L.A. and New York Times, where she was guest editor for its “Arts & Leisure” section and an editor/producer for NYTimes.com. She was formerly at Vanity Fair and New York Magazine, where she penned the “Rat City” column.

Steve Pike, equipment editor for PGA.com, to Meng & Associates, a Georgetown, Tex.-based PR firm focused on the golf industry, as an associate writer. He was formerly golf business editor for Golfweek and Golf World.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, has purchased a 49 percent stake in Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper in Moscow.

He is teaming with billionaire Alexander Lebedev, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gorbachev promises the paper will not be used as a political tool to hassle Putin.

Harry Lin, VP of ABC.com, has joined Evite, the social event planning site. He will lead initiatives in e-commerce and digital distribution. Linn also worked at Infoseek and reported and anchored at San Francisco's KQED-FM.

Evite distributes more than 10M invitations to more than 300K events each month. The Los Angeles-based service is part of IAC/InterActiveCorp.

CarryOn Communications does PR for Evite.

Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) is returning to the air next month on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim bloc that runs Monday-Thursday beginning at 11 p.m. “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” premiered as a Saturday morning program in 1986 on CBS.

The CN plans to air the entire 45 episodes of the Playhouse, including “Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special.”

Placement Tip _______________

The National Parenting Publications Awards have set a June 30 deadline for companies with products like toys, music, DVDs, books, software/video games, and storytelling recordings geared toward parenting.

Winners get holiday coverage in more than 30 national parenting magazines and a two-year placement on Parenthood.com. Info: [email protected] or 617/522-1515, ext. 23.

Briefs _____________

Manhattan Media, parent to Avenue magazine and New York Family, has unveiled a new weekly paper, Our Town downtown, as a spinoff of the 26-year East Side weekly Our Town.

The paper targets downtown residents below 28th Street in New York with an eye on the area's 25-percent growth in families with children under five in the last five years.

Real estate, education and politics are paper's primary focus.

McGraw-Hill Construction has launched a new magazine dedicated to environmentally responsible building.

GreenSource, The Magazine of Sustainable Design, targets architects, interior designers, building owners and members of the U.S. Green Building Council.

McGraw-Hill is collaborating with BuildingGreen Inc., which publishes Environmental Building News and the GreenSpec Directory.

Robert Ivy, VP and editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, is overseeing editorial content for the new pub.

Two issues are planned for 2006 in June and October.

Press releases have surpassed trade journals as the top source of information for "knowledge workers," according to a report from research firm Outsell unveiled by InformationWeek. Outsell VP Roger Strouse speculated that releases are easier to obtain, shorter and "pithier," and are usually free on the web.

The report also notes that the failure rate of online searches has notched up two percentage points to 30%.

The Fader, an eight-year-old music magazine covering "the fringes of mainstream and the underground," is available for free download in iTunes and has been added to the online music site's "New and Notable" podcast section. The title says it's the first music magazine distributed via iTunes.

Reuters has launched a microsite to include news, features, video and photos of the World Cup. The global news company has signed up sponsors like British Airways and Nokia for www.reuters.com/worldcup.

ResortsandLodges.com has put together an online travel magazine targeting consumers who are planning vacations. Tips, trends, and other insight are said to be included. The portal is run by TravelNet Solutions, a marketing company that helps lodging properties advertise directly to the online consumer market.

A new low in contempt for stockholders was set by the annual meeting of Home Depot in May.

Company financials were not discussed, no directors attended, CEO pay was ignored, shareholder proposals were dismissed, and stockholders were cut off after a couple of minutes at a brief Q&A.

Joe Nocera of the New York Times blasted the “stonewall tactics” and the NYT’s Gretchen Morgenson said it was “a nadir in board behavior.” TMF Cop called the meeting “an awesome display of arrogance, contempt, scorn and derision” of stockholders.

They’re angry that CEO Bob Nardelli has taken hundreds of millions in pay and perks in six years while the stock has declined. Competitor Lowe’s stock price, meanwhile, has tripled.

HD answered that sales doubled during Nardelli’s term, EPS rose to $2.72 from $1.10 and HD created 100,000 new jobs. Nocera then noted that not only HD but many other companies claimed years ago that options were the best way to reward executives since they would then work to boost the stock, thus rewarding investors. “You made the rules, you should play by them,” said Nocera.

A similar case exists at Omnicom, where the stock is still 15 points below its 1999 high but CEO John Wren has taken at least $50 million in cash since 1999. Wren and his board have shown contempt for investors and the press by refusing to answer questions at annual meetings and taking the meeting out of New York four years in a row. Spurred by the current OMC proxy, which promises “confidential” answers to stockholders by the “independent” directors of OMC, we have written all the directors asking for an explanation of this contemptuous treatment of the public, press and stockholders (we own 20 shares)...IR specialist Richard Torrenzano said in the April Directorship that “board members must demonstrate their allegiance, not to management, but to shareholders.” New SEC rules, he notes, will mandate complete “outing” of executive pay including all perks.

While most financial writers had nothing but praise for TV stock guru Louis Rukeyser, who died May 2, Nocera zapped him for being unfailingly bullish without emphasizing the need to sell stock every so often. Rukeyser implied that “investing was something we all could do with minimal effort,” said Nocera, who feels Rukeyser pulled too many naive investors into the market. Rukeyser signed all letters: “With bullish best wishes.”

A major fiasco at the College of Fellows of PRSA has shown ineptitude among the staff and leaders. It reveals their weaknesses as did the ill-fated legal vendetta last year against a staffer who criticized COO Catherine Bolton in an e-mail.

Donna Jonas, No. 2 staffer under Bolton, has apologized to the 300 Fellows for allowing a 47- question poll by Educators Academy chair Robert Pritchard to go to the entire list without editing. In another major mistake, the e-mail addresses of all 300 Fellows are attached to the survey and all the replies. Fellows posted more than 30 replies, many of them critical. One termed the survey “The worst use of this list since Fellows was founded in 1989.”

The subject (whether or not there is a “coalition that is supremely dominant” in an organization regardless of titles) was described as dubious by many Fellows. They said the first question should have been whether anyone believes such a thing exists. The “dominant coalition” concept dates back to the 1980s. None of the questions relates to skill in media relations. Pritchard says PR pros are often “the most junior person” in management and need to know what skills they should have to join “that informal group of influentials called the dominant coalition.” Pritchard, assistant journalism professor at Ball State University, is faculty advisor to the school’s PRSSA chapter, and is on the search committee for the new COO of PRSA. The survey should have been sent out as “blind back copy,” masking other recipients.

This survey, far from being “absolutely critical,” as described by Pritchard, is an exercise in unreality. What he and the Fellows should be studying is the dominance of financiers in the PR counseling industry and the power exerted by PR organizations such as PR Seminar, PRSA itself, Arthur W. Page Society, Council of PR Firms, etc. What should be studied is whether organizations like Omnicom, Interpublic, Home Depot, PRSA, etc., show any interest in what the public thinks...another topic is the high cost of health insurance. A family plan at Oxford, moderate-priced New York area insurer, will cost $19,000 as of July 1. Even single people will be $6,000 yearly. For one thing, these costs drive PR firms to hire single people or part-timers or hire PR pros whose spouses have insurance. Since men are more likely to have such insurance, this is a factor in the preponderance of women in PR.

Accreditation draws little interest at IABC and PRSA. A goal of 2006 ABCs (Accredited Business Communicators) by 2006 was set several years ago by IABC leader Ned Lundquist. But the total actually reached has been 764 among 12,000+ members, up from 640. ABC chair Eric Bergman remains hopeful, saying there was a record number of applications last year and ABC revenues topped expenses...PRSA members show a similar lack of interest in APR. June 30 will mark the first three years of the new procedure (readiness interview and multiple-choice exam). Only 98 new PRSA APRs were created in the first 21 months and probably less than 200 for the first three years. This is far below the needed replacement rate since PRSA loses about 5,000 members a year and 20% of members are APRs. With the old test, an average of 278 PRSA APRs were created yearly. Three of the nine participating PR groups have never sent in a single application; one has sent in one, and another sent in four.

--Jack O'Dwyer