Bruce Crawley, president/owner of Millennium 3 Management, wants his fellow Philadelphians to have better understanding of Cordish Cos., which hired Crawley’s PR firm earlier this week amid allegations that the casino company racially discriminates against black patrons.
“The best PR strategy is to aggregate the actual track record of Cordish, which has had an outstanding reputation for close to 100 years, and share that information with [city] leaders and the media,” Crawley said. “We’ve got to bring brand awareness to the city.”
Crawley stressed that his firm was not hired simply because it is black-owned and Cordish is fighting racial discrimination allegations.
Cordish hired Millennium following a series of charges and countercharges involving the company that wants to build a $500 million casino and hotel in South Philly.
A new report by the Philadelphia chapter of the National Action Network contends that Cordish systematically seeks to limit the number of blacks who enter its venues in Louisville, and Kansas City, MO, according to Philly.com
However, Zed Smith, Cordish’s COO, told the Philadelphia Daily News the charges contained in the report are "false and malicious" and are similar to allegations tied to a labor union.
Paula Peebles, chairwoman of NAN's local chapter, called on City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, whose district the casino and hotel would be built in, to hold off on introducing zoning legislation for the project until Council has hearings to investigate the discrimination allegations, Philly.com said.
Crawley said he has spoken with both the CEO and the head of gaming operations at Cordish, which is based Baltimore, regarding the communications strategy in response to the charges in Philly.
“We’re confident that, once the communications plan has been effectively deployed, the City Council and community leaders will see the great impact that Cordish will have on the city,” Crawley added.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
Manuel Rocha, former US ambassador and intenational business advisor to LLYC, plans to plead guilty to charges that he was a secret agent for Cuba.
CEO mentoring is an often-overlooked aspect of why CEOs are able to make good decisions, and sometimes make bad ones—all of which intersects with the role and duties of a board. 
How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
Have a comment? Send it to 
No comments have been submitted for this story yet.