New York counselor Mike Paul, a member of PR Seminar for many years, is skipping the meeting May 31-June 3 in Colorado Springs to protest lack of people of color in high PR posts.
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There is only a “sprinkling” of such people in the group, which has nearly 300 members, says Paul. He is one of 13 executives on the group’s website praising it along with one other person of color, Barry Caldwell of Waste Management.
Paul, president of Reputation Doctor LLC, said he is taking such action “as a means to bring more attention to the lack of senior executives of color in corporate communications, especially at the critical chief communications office level in our industry.”
The Seminar, he says, “is like Davos for CCOs and PR executives. It is the most selective group of corporate communications and PR executives in our industry.”
Members mostly work with the CEOs of the biggest companies in the U.S. Many of the CEOs were named in a three-page article in the May 16 New York Times headlined “Shareholders’ Votes Have Done Little to Curb Lavish Executive Pay.”
Gretchen Morgenson wrote that such pay has risen 12% annually in recent years despite passage of federal laws aimed at curbing the increases and stockholder proposals.
Average pay for CEOs at the 200 biggest public companies is around $14 million. CEO pay many years ago averaged 20 times employee pay but has soared to more than 400 times that pay in recent years.
PR and CC staffers may get more than $1 million in pay and benefits at such companies since pay packages have to be “proportionate.” Clay McConnell, VP-communications of AirbusAmericas, Herndon, Va., is 2015 Seminar chair. Registration for the meeting is about $3,500.
Companies, Firms, PR Groups Blamed
Paul said companies, PR firms, PR groups and executive recruiters have failed in recent years to recruit people of color for top positions.
Asked about the PR Society’s Foundation, which is concentrating on attracting minorities to PR, Paul said that the main thrust appears to be recruiting for entry-level jobs. He said more action is needed from other PR groups such as the PR Council and the Arthur W. Page Society. Many members of the Seminar are also members of Page.
Said Paul: “For years, we have heard cries of ‘we can’t find any qualified senior executive candidates of color’ and that ‘we must focus on entry level positions. It must stop now.”
“I have offered a plan to help end this crisis in our industry for many years and will continue to discuss the plan with much more attention within our industry and with sectors external to our industry over the coming months,” he said. “It is time to discuss this issue with solid and viable, authentic senior executive solutions.”
Ethics of PR Seminar Questioned
The presence of editors and reporters at the yearly off-the-record meeting at some of the finest resorts in the U.S. has touched off criticism from journalists who contend that those at the meeting are compromising their journalistic principles.
Peter Sussman, a longtime member of the Ethics Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, says failure of such media as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Inc., Washington Post, Thomson Reuters and about 20 others to cover or even mention the existence of the group is a violation of the SPJ Code.
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Speakers this year include Gerard Baker, editor-in-chief, Dow Jones and WSJ; Brian Stelter, senior correspondent of CNN and host of “Reliable Sources,” and Peter Cashmore, CEO of Mashable. They will discuss “What is Fact in the New Media Environment.”
Also on the program is Roger Goodell, National Football League commissioner; Ryan Crocker, ambassador to Iraq from 2007-09; Cameron Munter, ambassador to Pakistan, 2010-12; Aflac CEO Dan Amos, Carlyle Group CEO David Rubenstein and counselor Harold Burson, who will appear in a “CEO Session.”
NYT Editors Attended Meetings
A number of NYT editors have addressed the group over the years although the paper has never mentioned its existence. Neither has WSJ or Dow Jones.
John Geddes, NYT financial editor, spoke to the group 1996. A.H. Raskin, longtime labor columnist and editorial writer for NYT, spoke to it in 1973. James “Scotty” Reston spoke in 1975, praising President Ford for his “warmth, candor and accessibility.” Editorial board member Dr. Harry Schwartz addressed the 1984 meeting.
Catherine Mathis, who headed NYT PR from 1997-2009, was listed as an attendee for four years. However, she told this website that she never attended any of the meetings.
Monie Begley Feurey, SVP of CC of Forbes, has been a regular attendee for many years.
Panetta Addressed 2014 Meeting
Leon Panetta, former head of the CIA and former Secretary of Defense, addressed the 2014 meeting. Other speakers were Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, and Bob Johnson of RLJ Companies, described by Wikipedia as “America’s first black billionaire.”
The group’s administration and publicity is now being handled by Assn. Mgmt. Services, Pasadena, Calif. It has increased the group’s web presence.
Legal name of the group, used in it tax returns, is “PR Seminar.” It dropped the “PR” from its name in referring to itself in 2007 when Jon Iwata of IBM was chair. EIN of the non-profit is 41-1838593.
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