"PR" Society chair Mike Cherenson went to the Akron chapter last week and brought with him the Society's shroud of secrecy and censorship that enveloped chapter members, three local universities — Akron, Kent State and Youngstown State — and the Akron Beacon-Journal.
All attempts by us at obtaining coverage failed even though we offered $200 for an assignment of a couple of hours.
PR and journalism profs at the three colleges were unable to cover and they couldn't get any of their students to cover the speech.
Mike Cherenson |
The Akron Beacon-Journal took a pass, a reporter and an editor telling us its readers are interested in local news and not the "workings" of a PR group.
The top editor did not return a call or e-mail in which we said a figure of national and even international importance was coming to town and he has been evading our questions, particularly those of a financial nature.
False and non-existent financial reporting by banks and companies is at the root of the current U.S. economic debacle, we explained.
Googling Beacon-Journal gave us an answer.
Owner Black Press of Canada, said a profile in the Seattle Weekly (free sister paper of the New York Village Voice) runs more than 100 papers and has dedicated them to "low-key community journalism."
That explained the almost complete lack of interest Beacon-Journal reporter Betty Lin-Fisher had in anything we had to offer. She was not going to cover Cherenson's appearance before the chapter although it would take place two blocks away at the University of Akron. Rather, he would visit the paper. She had an "assignment" from her editors and would pursue that, the results which were published in the paper and on ohio.com May 18.
In that story, Cherenson is quoted as saying that "Clear communication from companies of all sizes to the public is more important than ever" and that, "It's especially important during a negative situation to communicate openly and honestly, instead of avoiding the public, because there are no secrets anymore…it's imperative that organizations communicate effectively…now, in this economic climate, is the worst time to hibernate."
Standard & Poor's in January cut Black's credit rating to "junk-level" B from B+ and its "recovery rating" was lowered from 3 to 2 (meaning investors can expect to get back 50-70% of their investment in case of a payment default).
Two PR professors on a blog bemoaned the decline of the Beacon-Journal to an "OK local newspaper" from one that had won four Pulitzers.
Meeting Was Open and Then Shut
Chapter president Danielle McCann initially told us on Monday that chapter lunches were always open to the press. But on Tuesday she e-mailed us that she was mistaken and "no press is or was invited to attend."
Someone had filled her ear with the usual fusillade of slander and defamation that the Society rains on us. We know what it says — that for decades we've been doing everything we can to discredit and hurt the Society and we should be totally avoided. We agree the Society is being hurt — by the leaders themselves.
We were interested in the Akron visit of Cherenson because it's his only chapter visit that we have learned about. The tightest security surrounds his speaking schedule. Last year's chair, Jeff Julin, did not speak to any of the 109 chapters until August and only appeared before six chapters. We never learned of any of the visits since they were not on the Society website.
Tim Penning |
Had Cherenson followed the definition of PR as put forth by Prof. Tim Penning in the September 2008 Tactics ("debate, dialogue and discussion"), he would have had his appearance in Akron audiocast on the Society website and would have engaged in a slam-bang debate with chapter members on the Society's 2008 audit.
Another Society event that should be audiocast gavel-to-gavel is the June 5-6 "weekend in New York" for chapter presidents-elect that costs the Society about $100K. This is members' money (including $500 for each president-elect) and they should know what their "leaders" are up to. It should be a "learning experience" for all and not just a few insiders.
The Society teleconference May 12 was told that many travel expenses of board members are paid but the chair is a whole different ballgame—just about every expense related to travel is paid. One elected head some years ago ran up more than $100K in expenses, reports said. Just about every expense was put on the tab no matter how small.
CPAs Criticize PRS Audit
CPAs have found plenty to criticize about the audit, including the investing of 57% of cash in stocks and bonds, losing $383,000; failure to defer dues income; removal of "overhead" expenses in 13 categories; making $465K profit on its annual conferences when such conferences are supposed to be a member service and not a money-maker, and spending only $2,317 on "ethics" (down from $4,360 in the previous year) when PRS puts such great emphasis on monitoring and encouraging ethical behavior not only of its members but the entire PR industry.
Accounting professors Edward Ketz of Penn State, Charles Mulford of Georgia Tech and Phil Wolitzer of Long Island University had criticized the small amount PRS put aside as deferred income in 2005.
When reporters ask the New York State Society of CPAs for an accounting opinion, the Society refers them to Wolitzer. He does not speak for the Society itself but is its recommended expert on accounting matters.
He has conducted free classes for many years for reporters, on behalf of the NYSSCPA, helping them to cut through accounting complexity and legalese in financial documents. Others now conduct such classes.
Wolitzer said the 2008 PRS audit fails to defer sufficient amounts and questioned the propriety of PRS risking funds in the stock market.
Bankers are taking it on the chin. Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter says a few hundred bankers have committed what "may well turn out to be the greatest nonviolent crime against humanity in history," driving "an estimated 200 million people worldwide into poverty." The $2.9 trillion headed to banks works out to $9,508 for each of America's 300 million citizens, he says…Page/PR Seminar will meet as scheduled starting Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton at Laguna Niguel, Calif. We have asked speakers Nick Ashooh of AIG and Mike O'Neill of American Express to give us copies of their formal remarks on the subject of "Global Financial Crisis — Lessons Learned." However, they said they won't have formal texts and will only lead the discussion. The gathering is continuing its policy of everything off-the-record, a policy followed by the reporters and editors who address it. Only one editor will speak at this year's meeting — Alan Murray, executive editor, Wall Street Journal Online. PR reps from six entities that are getting bailout money were at the 2008 meeting including those from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae…the three major PR networks of WPP, Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton and Ogilvy PR, all grew during 2008, XVP Howard Paster says in the WPP annual report. "It was not unusual in 2008," he says, "for clients of these three agencies to dominate the business news on any given day." H&K "enjoyed one of its finest years in its eight-decade history," said CEO Paul Taaffe. Cohn & Wolfe, having absorbed GCI Group, is now a "true global competitor with expertise across all practice areas and offices in 55 markets," reports CEO Donna Imperato. PR/PA was the "fastest-growing communications services sector with constant currency revenue up 6.9%," says the report. Overall profit margins are 16.6%. The balance sheet showed WPP to have 3.999 billion pounds in "bonds and bank notes" as of Dec. 31, 2008, which were worth about $8B when the pound was around $2. It is now under $1.50. WPP calculates "net debt" as "averaging 2.2B pounds in 2008 and net debt as 3.1B pounds on Dec. 31 vs. 1.3B pounds a year earlier, reflecting the cost of TNS and other acquisitions. WPP obtains net debt by subtracting cash on hand from debt.