Wes Pedersen, Wes Pedersen Communications
and Public Relations (5/15): Jack, you are off base here. I appeared
at various times in PRQ for 30 years or so. Never did I assume I would
be paid. I was delighted to do so because Howard Hudson was a friend of mine (he
talked me into being his Washington correspondent sans any compensation; I did
the same for years for your old friend, Denny Griswold). I know that neither
Howard Hudson nor Elaine Hudson was in it for the money. PRQ has always been a
shoestring operation, and praise be, it has survived through tough times. It's
a wonderful resource for public relations at all levels. PRQ contributors
are just that: Contributors. You know: like the PR professionals who give so generously
of time and talent to O'Dwyer's Newsletter. Ron
Levy (5/15): Since my friend Howard Hudson is no longer alive to
tell what his understanding with Linda Morton was when he was PR Quarterly editor
and she submitted articles, I'll tell you my opinion of what he would say: "I
have all my life been honest--as honest as Jack O'Dwyer, Linda Morton or anyone
you know--and no one has ever suggested otherwise. "I served America
as an Army Colonel, I served PR as president of PRSA's Washington chapter, I served
clients as head of the Ruder Finn Washington office, and I served thousands of
readers by editing and publishing in PRQ articles on bottom line PR--what works,
what doesn't, and tips on counseling management so that your counsel is respected
and management benefits. "Jack O'Dwyer has referred to PRQ as having
'some of the best writing in PR.' PRQ has had articles by Gavin Anderson, Bob
Dilenschneider, Dave Drobis, Dan Edelman, Bill Heyman, Gershon Kekst, Jim Lukaszewski,
Jack Modzelewski, Jack O'Dwyer, Ed Stanton, Jan Van Meter, Richard Weiner and
hundreds of other top people. Also hundreds of BOTTOM people and in-between people
because PRQ offers readers great ideas, not just famous authors. "The
authors who submitted articles to PRQ knew very well I would see the submission
as implicit permission to print the articles. All over the world, editors understand
that articles are submitted in the hope they will be published--and that later
the publications will be sold. "I always felt I owned the contents
of PRQ just as Jack O'Dwyer felt he owned the contents of his publications so
that anyone who reprinted his material without permission had ripped him off.
"As owner and editor of PRQ, my opinion was that I had a right to
sell current issues, back issues, parts of issues or the whole business. I built
PRQ with my BLOOD. I worked on stories into the nights and on weekends. "You
can judge whether my opinion was reasonable from the fact that under section 101
of the 1976 Copyright Act, a person (and my company is legally a person) for whom
a work is prepared may be considered the author of that work and the owner of
the copyright if the work is 'for use as a contribution to a collective work'
(which PRQ certainly is) or 'for use as an instructional text,' which PRQ also
is, and few students have emerged from a basic or advanced course in public relations
without seeing citations from PRQ. "Those wishing to assert their
right to copyright protection affix what people call 'that little bug'--a letter
'c' in a circle followed by the copyright date. Any author of a PR article can
tell you whether such a copyright notice was affixed to the article submitted.
"Many of Linda Morton's articles were excellent--some especially so
with top quality ideas and writing. I believe she submitted the article to benefit
the public, since PRQ doesn't pay authors, and that on reflection she will be
pleased at the additional public benefit that results from the additional circulation.
-- Ron Levy Speaking as Howard Penn Hudson Now speaking
as Ron Levy, I testify to you that Howard Hudson was intensely honest and a superb
editor. I think most of his articles were a joint product of writer and editor.
Some would say Howard never got rich from PRQ but are they wrong! His work enriched
PR, and the satisfaction of doing that work enriched Howard tremendously. His
articles helped PR people to protect and advance companies, associations, colleges,
hospitals, professions and others for whom the protective value of Howard Hudson
and PRQ was like a blessing from God Almighty. PR Quarterly cost $65 a
year and is published at 44 West Market Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572. |