WSW HANDLES ISSUES FOR DAIRY MGMT.

Dairy Management Inc. has selected Weber Shandwick Worldwide for its "issues management" account, according to Jean Ragalie, executive VP, public & industry relations at DMI.

Fleishman-Hillard, Edelman PR Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller and Porter Novelli also pitched the account, which could be worth $2 million.

Ragalie picked WSW because the firm presented the most "comprehensive" PR package during the pitch.

Sara Galvin heads the DMI account from WSW's Minneapolis office. She is supported by staffers in Washington, D.C.

"Mad cow disease" and foot and mouth disease are potential issues for WSW to deal with.

Jerry Swerling, Marina del Rey, Calif., consulted for DMI on the PR search.

Ogilvy's Lovallo, PN's Travatello join WSW

Ogilvy PR Worldwide's John Lovallo has joined Weber Shandwick Worldwide as executive VP-corporate & investor relations.

He was senior VP at Ogilvy responsible for IR/financial communications. Lovallo also put in stints at Morgen-Walke, Banker's Trust and European American Bank.

Porter Novelli's Lisa Travatello is now executive VP-consumer and creative director at WSW. She also worked at Edelman PR Worldwide and Ogilvy & Mather during her 20-year career in PR.

WSW, in another move, made consultant Jack Domeischel an executive VP-healthcare.

He was on the WSW team that recently won Novo Nordisk's hemophilia business.

Jordana Friedman, a top communicator in the social responsibility and human rights sectors, is now at Burson-Marsteller. She joins from the Council on Economic Priorities, and did stints at two human rights groups. She is to bridge the gap between B-M's multinational clients and NGOs...Hill and Knowlton has picked up Central Park SummerStage as a client, and will pitch it as one of New York's top cultural attractions. H&K also will handle media relations for the 2001 festival of 28 free shows of dance, opera and spoken word that run from mid-June to mid-August. H&K will be paid a retainer and contribute matching pro bono time to SummerStage, which has attracted more than five million people since it was founded in 1986.

PR DIRECTORY LISTS 2,900 FIRMS

The 2001 O'Dwyer's Directory of PR Firms, which will be published in mid-June, will have listings on 2,903 PR firms including 2,154 in the U.S. and 749 in 58 foreign countries. It is the largest PR Directory ever.

Providing agency statements and logos were 427 firms. These firms also appear on the O'Dwyer website, which is open yearlong for additional firms. Listings can be sent directly to the website.

The new directory will rank the 171 independent and ad agency-owned PR operations that provided the documentation the O'Dwyer Co. has been collecting for 31 years. Thirteen ad agency-related PR operations that declined to supply any proofs are listed separately without dollar figures in the cities where they operate. The $175 directory can be purchased via the website, by phone or mail.

GUGGENHEIMER PLEDGES DENNY DRIVE

Elinor Guggenheimer, founder of the New York Women's Agenda which represents groups with total membership of 100,000 women, pledged May 17 to seek reforms that will prevent residents of nursing homes from being held incommunicado.

The Wilton Meadows Health Care Center, Wilton, Conn., has admitted that it wrongfully barred most visitors, mail and phone calls to the late Denny Griswold during the first nine months of her stay at the nursing home starting Aug. 7, 1995.

All contacts from the outside world had to be approved by Susan Prager Garrett, niece of Griswold, who held power of attorney for the founder of PR News and who has apparently inherited the entire $10M+ estate of Griswold.

The home has said it improperly interpreted the power of attorney and that after complaints were made to the Connecticut Long Term Care Ombudsman, visitors were allowed.

However, none of the 55 friends of Griswold at the memorial service for her at the Penn Club May 17 was able to contact her by mail, phone call or visit after she entered the nursing home in 1995.

Guggenheimer said: "I pledge today that we're going to fix this up...she needed to know how you felt...we can never allow this to happen again."

The leader of the New York women's community said she tried "once" to contact Griswold when she found out she was in Wilton Meadows. "I was

(continued on page 7)

ORACLE HIT FOR 'SMASHMOUTH PR.'

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is using "smashmouth PR" tactics by issuing press releases attacking competitors such as Siebel Systems, i2 Technologies and PeopleSoft.

That's the opinion of Forbes ASAP, which has a piece in its May 28 issue about how Oracle has brought "Washington-style mudslinging to Silicon Valley."

Alan Kelly, CEO of Applied Communications, which does Oracle's PR, told Forbes ASAP that his job isn't mainly to position Oracle in the marketplace, but to "de-position" its competition.

Mark Jarvis, Oracle's chief marketing officer, said each week he carefully plans what competitor to pick on.
He belittled Siebel, i2 and PeopleSoft as bit players, and said Oracle likes to have its "dog growl at them occasionally."

Could Backfire

Oracle may be setting itself up for a fall, according to PR guru Regis McKenna, who once sat on its board.

He noted that attacks on a competitor may draw sympathy for it, or create an interest that didn't previously exist.

That's what happened to PeopleSoft, said its CEO Craig Conway.

He said Oracle issued a media alert on Jan. 29- right before PeopleSoft was to release its earnings- urging journalists "to remain skeptical of the difference between [Conway's] claims and the reality behind them."

Analysts, said Conway, noted the release, and told him 'you guys must be doing well, if Oracle is starting to bash you."

GOLIN/HARRIS HELPED LURE BOEING

Golin/Harris International played a major behind-the-scenes role in getting Boeing to relocate its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, according to Rich Jernstedt, CEO of the PR firm.

He said G/HI advised Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Gov. George Ryan on the need for a communications campaign to show Boeing that the people of Chicago and its companies are "friendly to Big Business."

The "leaders of government, business, labor and community organizations in Chicago have been willing to work together for the good of the city," wrote Daley in a letter to Boeing.

It touted world-class institutions such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Art Institute of Chicago, Lyric Opera, and the Steppenwolf Theater.

G/HI Developed Pro-Chicago Message

G/HI developed the overall pro-Chicago messages, designed a brochure, participated in press conferences, monitored the media and helped prepare the pitch made to Boeing.

President Dave Gilbert headed the effort which was coordinated with Shelia O'Grady, Daley's chief of staff.

Boeing CEO Phil Condit announced May 11 that he would move 500 employees to Chicago, which beat out Denver and Dallas.

Boeing received more than $40 million in incentives to move to Chicago.

Arthur Andersen estimates that Boeing will have a $4.5 billion impact on the city's economy.

BG&R GETS $600K PACT FROM MACEDONIA

Macedonia, which is waging a war against ethnic Albanian rebels, has signed well-connected lobbyist Barbour Griffith & Rogers to a $30,000 a-month contract, plus $3,500 in expenses for government relations and trade promotion. The contract runs through the end of next year.

The New York Times, on May 18, ran a story called "A Trail of Misery as Macedonia Fights Albanian Insurgency" that blamed Macedonian security forces for "spreading fear as well as exacerbating ethnic tensions."

BG&R's job is to improve Macedonia's ties with the U.S. and European governments, as well as court investors from the information technology sector.

It will pitch the former Yugoslavia republic as a "strong democratic ally in an unstable part of the world," according to the firm's contract.

BG&R already arranged a dinner for Macedonia's President Trajkovksi in Washington, D.C., with U.S. executives. The topics ranged from the prospective Balkan policies of the Bush Administration, trade/investment and how the U.S. can help with the "recent border instability."

The Times says Macedonia-though it retains broad international support--has lost territory to the rebels in recent weeks.

PR PRO SAYS MATERIALISM POSES THREAT

New York PR counselor Robert Dilenschneider urged the graduating class of Muskingum College, in New Concord, Ohio, to reject today's American culture, which "celebrates buying and taking and ignores content and ideas."

Dilenschneider, who was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in public service by the school, said the character flaws that destroyed some of the great civilizations in the past have afflicted the U.S.

"We embrace four-letter words in our music. We actually consider watching someone being executed on TV. We read about outrageous executive salaries and are regaled with list after list of who is most important and powerful," said Dilenschneider.

He said graduates must "rekindle" the American spirit "before we spiral down further into the pit of bad taste and incivility."

He said there are several occupations where graduates can "give back," including public servant, journalist, and educator.

'FOOD DIARY' DEBUTS IN N.Y. TIMES

What does a food reporter eat?
Two dozen doughnuts, for one story, scallops at five different restaurants for another.

What about in "real life," on a first date, when home alone or cooking for someone special?

Amanda Hesser will share her experiences and adventures in her new food column ("Food Diary") that made its debut May 13 in The New York Times Magazine.

The column will alternate with Jonathan Reynolds's "Food" column and together replace free-lancer Molly O'Neill's food coverage.

Hesser is a trained cook, cookbook author and food reporter while Reynolds, a playwright and screenwriter, has no food writing credentials.

"Any reporter who covers a beat obsesses on his or her subject," said Amy Spindler, style editor of the Sunday magazine.

Hesser's column will take inspiration from her life and will provide continuing story lines with returning characters, while Reynolds's column will continue to range far and wide with eclectic stories.

THE ECONOMIST TO PRINT IN COLOR

The Economist has begun using four-color photographs, artwork and graphics.

The magazine will give its cover a more contemporary look, and will also streamline its layout to provide easier navigation of the sections. Each section will contain its own table of contents and there will be subtle changes to the whole look and feel of the paper.

Editor Bill Emmott said the new look is in line with The Economist's tradition of taking world affairs, of all levels of seriousness and complexity, and making them understandable to all readers.

He said new readers will find "us easier on the eye but just as stimulating to the brain."

The weekly magazine, which is based in London, reports and analyzes a range of topics in world politics, business, finance, science and technology, culture and society.

Over 760,000 people worldwide subscribe to or buy the magazine, delivering an estimated audience of some three million readers each week.

The Economist's largest market is North America which has nearly 350,000 subscribers.

BARNHART ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SABEW

Bill Barnhart, a financial columnist at The Chicago Tribune, was elected president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers on May 2 at SABEW's 38th annual convention in New York.

More than 3,000 business journalists in North America are members of SABEW, which is headquartered at the Univ. of Missouri school of journalism, in Columbia, Mo.

ELLE SPIN-OFF TARGETS TEEN GIRLS

Hachette Filipacchi, which publishes Elle, will start ElleGirl.com, a website in June, and Elle Girl, a print magazine, in August, followed by four more issues in 2002.

The new entries, which are aimed at teenage girls, will compete against Seventeen, YM, Teen, Teen People, CosmoGirl, Twist, Teen Vogue, and Teen Beat, Tiger Beat & Bop.

According to Teenage Research, Northbrook, Ill., the 31.6 million U.S. teen population spent $155 billion last year.

PLACEMENT TIPS ______________________

Cable Neuhaus, who is general editor of Entertainment Weekly, based in New York, oversees the magazine's coverage of the Internet.

His staff covers the Internet and produces the monthly supplement, "Entertainment Weekly Internet," which includes reviews of TV and film websites, as well as updates about entertainment on the web.

Neuhaus' job is to match the story to the writer and then to edit the story so it feels like an Entertainment Weekly story.
He can be pitched by e-mail at: [email protected].

Carrie Donovan is rejoining The New York Times Magazine, where she was style editor for 17 years, as a contributing editor.

Amy Spindler, who is style editor, said Donovan will interview designers for a regular column, called "Conversations with Carrie," that will run in both the weekly Sunday magazine and the Part 2's as part of the "Footnotes" package.

Donovan's first column is set to run June 17.

Since retiring from the Times in 1994, Donovan has been featured in Old Navy ads as its spokesman.

Pauline Frommer, editor of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Online, seeks stories about vacations that cost less than $100 a day.

She is open to all types of travel stories, including package deals, destinations, cruises, and accommodations. Contacts: [email protected].

The website is visited by almost two million readers a month.

Business Wire said its recent media relations survey shows journalists want greater control over their outreach to news sources, and more direct contact with industry experts.

As a result, BW has redesigned ExpertSource, its password-protected database.

Registered journalists can use the free service to get the names, profiles and contact information on some 8,500 industry and academic experts.

Journalists can register for the free service at www.businesswire.com/expertsource.

(Media news continued on next page)

GROCERS PULL ADS OVER BAD NEWS

The New York Post reported on May 15 that two grocery chains-Gristedes and Associated-have pulled their ads from The New York Daily News for its series of articles on supermarket inspections by the New York Health Department.

"Page Six" said Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman had initially praised the paper's "Dirty Shame" series, but toned it down and moved it off the front page after the grocery chains pulled their ads.

The Post also claims the News owner helped edit articles. A News spokesman, Ken Frydman, said Zuckerman did not line-edit the story.

Gristede's chairman John Catsimatidis told Page Six that the stories were inaccurate.

The News used information from the Health Department, which had mistakenly listed the Gristede's at 251 W. 86th st. as one of "The Worst Supermarkets" in the city.

The store had failed inspections, in June 2000 and Sept. 2000, due to street repairs which brought in vermin and dirt. But the stores more recently passed inspections, in Nov. 2000 and Feb. 2001.

The story was picked up by radio station WINS.

The second piece included several quotes from angry supermarket spokespeople, including Gristede's, and a companion story noted that "eight of the 10 stores passed reinspections."

The third installment, which ran on May 6, was a guide to "super shopping" and included a box called "Gristede's report"-which offered an apology to the chain.

STUDY SHOWS HOW NEWS/ADS INTERACT

The author of a new study that compares news coverage and advertising found each has its own impact on consumers, and these impacts interact to influence perceptions, attitudes and behavior.

The study, which examines the differences in effectiveness of media coverage and advertising for AT&T over a specific period, was conducted by Bruce Jeffries-Fox of the Insight Farm, a Burrelle's/VMS company, for the Institute for PR, Gainesville, Fla.

The author reached these other conclusions:

-In times of "normal" news coverage-i.e., mostly positive with some negative-news and advertising work together, and incremental advertising has a positive impact on attitudes.

-In times of widespread and extremely positive news coverage, the incremental positive impact of advertising is much less than in normal times.

-In times of widespread and extremely negative news coverage, incremental advertising does not have a positive incremental impact, and may even have a negative effect.
Complete text of the study is available on IPR's website at www.instituteforpr.com.

USN&WR TO STRESS MORE SOFT NEWS

The editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report said the magazine will not get out of the newsweekly field, but it will scale back foreign news coverage and shift from hard news toward more lifestyle and pop culture coverage.

Mort Zuckerman, the magazine's owner, told a group of media buyers in Chicago that the magazine will concentrate on "news you can use" coverage, such as college rankings and top hospitals.

He said all of the newsweeklies have been hurt by the soft magazine market and increasing reluctance by advertisers to buy all three newsmagazines.

MEDIA BRIEFS ________________________

The new Latin American Media Directory, which is published by the media center at Florida International Univ., is now available only online.

The updated directory, which sells for $99 per country or $5,000 for all 19 countries plus Puerto Rico-includes all Spanish and Portuguese-language daily newspapers-more than 1,300-plus all radio and TV networks and major independent stations.

There is also a description of the media scene in each country.
Income from the sale of the directory helps fund the training of Latin American journalists.

More information is available from John Virtue at 305/919-5672.

The just published Senior Media Directory 2001 lists approximately the same number of newspapers, radio and TV programs aimed at the senior market as the 2000 directory-1,255-but the number of publications with websites jumped by 58%, from 450 last year to 711 in 2001. E-mail addresses jumped to 816, according to Pat Picard, marketing director of the 218-page directory, which is published by Creative Ink, Burnsville, Minn.

The directory sells for $110. 952/894-6720.

The Journalism Forum on CompuServe has been merged with CompuServe's PR Forum to form a new service, MediaPro.

The new service is available on CompuServe and on the web at http://go.compuserve.com/MediaPro.

JForum, which served thousands of journalists worldwide with job listings and messaging in four languages on a variety of topics, was founded by former NBC News manager Jim Cameron.

MediaPro will be operated by PR Forum's Mike Bayer.

United Parcel Service has given $125,000 to the National Newspaper Publisher Assn., comprised of up to 200 weekly newspapers targeting African-American communities, to help launch a central website-BlackPressUSA.com.

The site, which will be online by the end of summer, will feature articles from 50 member papers.

GUGGENHEIMER PLEDGES (cont'd from 1)

turned away, and failed to make a second, third or fourth attempt...we should be ashamed of ourselves for not making further efforts," said Guggenheimer.

Support "Thrills" Stepdaughter

The support shown for Griswold and her late husband, Langdon Sullivan, "would have thrilled Denny and my father," Margot Sullivan Grosvenor, stepdaughter of Griswold, told the gathering.

"I thought I was all alone," she said.

She said Griswold was "tricked" into signing a paper that limited Grosvenor's visits to Griswold, although other members of her family were allowed to visit on rare occasions. "We must right this terrible wrong and make sure it's not done to other people," she said.

Eliot Jordan, real estate broker and friend of Griswold, said that after she went into Wilton Meadows Garrett rented the Griswold townhouse at 127 E. 80th st. to Whoopie Goldberg and her friend, Frank Langella, for a year for $25,000 a month.

"All the beautiful furnishings and art were taken out," said Jordan, including a chandelier that Griswold was particularly proud of. The townhouse was sold for $3.6 million in 1998. What happened to the contents, including many pieces of art and furniture of historical value, and many boxes of PR papers and documents, is not known.

Garrett has remained unreachable by anyone from the PR community for many months. She also did not return calls from the New York Times which did a major story on Griswold May 13.

Burson, Others Speak

Also speaking were Harold Burson, co-chair of the Denny Griswold Memorial Committee; Lisa Kovitz, president of Women Executives in PR, which arranged the service; Deborah Radman, who said WEPR hopes to raise $25,000 for a Griswold scholarship; Larry Foster, former head of PR at Johnson & Johnson and a longtime friend of Griswold, and other friends including Terry Mayer, Norma Lee, Robert Sorensen, and John Budd.

Should Have Called Police-Ombudsman

Thersa Cusano, head of the Ombudsman program for Connecticut, said that friends should have made complaints to her office. "You do not need to be a member of the family to make a complaint," said Cusano. They could also have gone to the local police, she added She said records show that there were no further complaints after the initial visits by the Ombudsman's office. Cusano said she is an "avid" follower of this story on the O'Dwyer website and feels that something "did go wrong here." She said it was "an unfortunate case."

SECRET PR SEMINAR MEETS 50TH TIME

PR Seminar, the private gathering of 160 blue chip corporate PR executives and a dozen heads of big PR firms, is meeting for the 50th time June 6-9 at the Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Calif.

With the conference fee set at $1,800 per member and rooms starting at $400 a day, spending on the off-the-record meeting will probably top $750,000.

"You have entered a very elite circle, you are the cream of the crop of the PR world," William H. Shepard, then VP-PR of Aluminum Co. of America, told new members of PR Seminar in 1979. All living ex-chairs of PRS have been invited back to this meeting, which could be the largest gathering ever.

Speakers include Paul Gigot, Potomac Watch columnist of the Wall Street Journal; Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute; Ken Dychtwald, specialist in lifestyles of the aging, and Faye Wattleton, Center for Gender Equality.

Sweeney Blasted Nike

Some of the speakers, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, have released their remarks to the press. He blasted the "Nike Economy" at the 1998 PRSA in Pebble Beach, saying Nike seeks contractors offering the lowest wages in foreign countries. He called the new working condition standards proposed by Nike CEO Phil Knight "a cheap PR stunt" because they are voluntary. Knight had promised ten days earlier to improve the conditions of those working on Nike products.

Howard Paster, chairman and CEO of Hill and Knowlton, is this year's chairman.

There will be special recognition of Walter Barlow of Research Strategies, Princeton, N.J., the only member to have attended all 50 of the meetings.

Among companies expected to be represented are Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart Stores, General Electric, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Time-Warner, Eastman Kodak, Aetna, Hewlett Packard, World Bank, Chevron, Dow Corning, McDonald's, Sears Roebuck, Prudential Insurance and American Airlines.

Some 30-35 new Seminarians are needed each year now to replenish the ranks vs. only seven or eight in the 1970s. High turnover in CEOs is the cause.

Citigroup Not Attending

One of those not attending is John M. Morris, retired senior PA director of Citigroup, who now works part-time as a consultant to the company.

Morris said he attended PRS for four or five years but did not go last year. His successor at Citigroup, Leah Johnson, VP and director of external affairs, is not going either. Morris said Johnson does not believe in groups such as PRS. "Our department is focused more on getting out a defined corporate message or philosophy about Citigroup than connecting with other PR executives," said Morris.

Caroline Persell, Ph.D., chair of the Dept. of Sociology, New York University, who analyzed the group for the O'Dwyer Co. in 1990, said that "By meeting at elegant resort hotels, holding black tie dinner parties and having numerous other social events, Seminar participants mimic the social lives of the corporate elite whom they serve. In the temporarily self-contained world of the secret Seminar, the PR executives have a higher status than they do in their occupational worlds."

PR OPINION/ITEMS

The 171 PR firms that have submitted proofs of their fee income and employee totals (page one) are in stark contrast to the 13 that haven't. The vast majority of PR operations want dollar figures that are backed by solid documentation such as income tax returns, W-3s showing total payroll, CPA statements, account lists, etc., and that are collected by legitimate media. The boxcar figures being touted by the growth obsessed ad agency PR units are increasingly unbelievable..a group of PR leaders (page one) has pledged to battle the conditions in which the late Denny Griswold was held during the last five years of her life. The case is complicated by a possible legal battle over the distribution of Griswold's estate. Apportioning blame is a problem. One thing is certain: there is no good reason why Susan Garrett, the niece of Griswold, did not tell Griswold's friends that she had broken her hip in 1995 and reveal where Griswold was being treated. That is the normal human impulse when someone you love has been injured. You want their friends to shower them with love and attention...nursing homes need plenty of reform, as a recent series in the New York News pointed out. Seniors who are wheelchair-bound or who have trouble moving about should be equipped with their own cell phones. Their personal calls should not be routed through some administrative desk where they can be censored. At prices up to $100K a year and more (which is what Griswold was paying), they should also have their own mailboxes, just like ordinary citizens. No one should have the chance to hold up or edit their mail. Seniors often need hearing aids which can be purchased for as little as $50 from Haverhills, a frequent advertiser in the major magazines (haverhills.com)...Agency.com (ACOM), in which Omnicom has a 36% interest (18.5 million shares), has made another staff cut, this time dismissing 350 staffers, leaving 1,080. Its first quarter loss grew to $10.3M from $4.2M in the year earlier quarter. Founders Chan Suh and Kyle Shannon are selling their shares, once theoretically worth close to $1 billion, to Seneca Investments, a company formed by Omnicom and Pegasus Partners II, giving Seneca a 65.7% stake. Pegasus, based in Greenwich, is known for buying "distressed properties," said the May 21 Advertising Age. OMC's dot-com investments (Razorfish, Organic, ACOM and others) were once worth $2 billion+ but declined to well under $100M based on stock prices. They basically became worthless in the public market after having fallen to the $1 and $2 range. Ad Age called six sources for its story on Agency.Com (OMC, Pegasus, etc.) and none would talk to it, underscoring the lack of PR at these companies. They can only duck and hide when a story breaks.

The concept of "materiality" is used to cloak many a corporate deal. The routine claim is that a certain matter involves too few dollars or is otherwise too unimportant for anyone to know about. Interpublic takes this tack with practically all of the 210 firms it acquired from 1998-2000. But suppose IPG was buying printing, photo businesses, and messenger services? Such deals could be small from a dollar standpoint but material to observers since it would show that IPG had run out of ad/PR firms to buy. New York Times accounting columnist Floyd Norris claimed May 18 that even a small transaction can be "material." Sunbeam claimed an improper $8M in profits in 1997 and Arthur Andersen allowed the false claim because the amount was so small it was deemed to be not "material." Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, called in for an opinion, agreed with this line of reasoning, reported Norris. But he argues that "It is material information for investors if a company is trying to report fraudulent profits, regardless of the amount." This principle would seem to be "obvious to anyone but an auditor," says Norris...the Securities Industry Assn., Washington, D.C., made up of 700+ leading stockbrokers, is mounting a campaign to roll back the SEC's Reg Fair Disclosure rule. SIA has unveiled a study that says the public is not getting the information it was supposed to get; costs of implementation are soaring, and FD has increased the ups and downs of the stock market. Other industry groups are joining in the anti-FD battle. The New York Post, writing about SIA's study, says "the real reason" for Wall Street's opposition to FD is that it's taking a "huge chunk out of Wall St.'s main franchise: information"...the Post, which lately is taking a more noticeable stance on the side of the "little guy" vs. institutions, reported that two supermarket chains (Gristede's and Associated) cancelled "millions of dollars in advertising" in the Daily News because it ran a series on failed health inspections of stores (331 of 610 stores owned by various companies flunked their state tests). Some of the info was dated but one Gristede's store failed inspections last June and September but passed two later inspections. The series made the advertisers "furious," said the Post. This is the normal reaction of executives when an employee or supplier crosses them. It can be counter-productive when what's at stake is public opinion...another Wall Street abuse, with the "take" amounting to hundreds of millions, was described by columnist Gretchen Morgenson in the May 13 New York Times. Brokerage firms demand payment in advance for sending customer orders to a specific trading firm. "In any other business it's call bribery and is illegal," she wrote. Payments made to attract option orders totaled "$350 million, if not more," in a recent eight months period, she said.