DE VRIES SELLS TO INTERPUBLIC

DeVries PR has been acquired by Interpublic, the world's biggest ad/PR combine.

"I am complimented by Interpublic's interest in my firm, and am delighted to join its team," Madeline deVries told this NL.

What attracted her to Interpublic most was her long-term friendship with Larry Weber, who runs IPG's Advanced Marketing Services Group.

"Larry has the same passion for PR that I do," deVries said. "He also shares my philosophy of handling a few big clients," she added.

Her firm will operate as an independent unit of Interpublic. DeVries will report directly to Weber.

Weber said deVries' firm will operate as a "global boutique." He praised the firm as the "Tiffany of PR."

DeVries said her shop bills $12 million and has been growing at a 20 percent rate. It had fees of $10 million in 2000.

DeVries PR has 10 clients including Procter & Gamble, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Tupperware, Old Navy, 3M and Glaxo Wellcome.

PUCIE BOLTS KNIGHTS FOR F-H

Chuck Pucie, 57, has left his Knights of Columbus VP-PA post for a senior counselor slot at Fleishman-Hillard in Washington, D.C.

The former Army captain and Vietnam veteran was at Bob Gray's shop in D.C. in 1985 when it was acquired by Hill and Knowlton. Pucie left an EVP post at H&K in 1991 to establish Capitoline International Group. He forged a partnership with Manning, Selvage & Lee, and then left for the KofC in 1998.

FRIEDMAN JOINS BAYER

Ellena Friedman, who was senior VP in Edelman PR Worldwide's healthcare group, has joined Bayer Corp. as communications director at the firm's West Haven, Conn., North American pharmaceutical headquarters. She reports to Mark Ryan, VP-public policy and communications.

Friedman, who also did a stint at Hill and Knowlton, is to enhance the image of Bayer, which has more than 2,100 employees at West Haven.

Bayer, which is based in Germany, has announced an $80 million expansion of the pharmaceuticals unit.

Heyman Assocs. placed Friedman at Bayer

NRW CUTS 20; EXITS NEW YORK, AUSTIN

Niehaus Ryan Wong is shutting down its New York and Austin offices, and laying off 20 staffers, Bill Ryan, partner at the San Francisco high-tech firm, told this NL.

"We had to 'right-size' the firm to make sure it is in a financially sound condition when the market recovers," he said.

NRW will now focus its sights on the Silicon Valley and San Francisco marketplaces.

Ryan said NRW has already laid off about 30 or 40 people this year.

He believes the market has pretty much hit its bottom. "This is the end of it," he said of layoffs. NRW now has about 50 staffers.

Laid-off staffers received a July 30 memo from Dana Carstensen, director of human resources. She wrote: "As of today, your employment with NRW is no longer available." Carstensen also noted NRW has frozen salaries and suspended discretionary spending.

She closed with: "We appreciate the contributions you have made while working at NRW and wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavors."

CDR ENDS MIAMI RUN

Citigate Dewe Rogerson has closed its Miami office because it could not reach the profit levels demanded by its New York headquarters, according to Robert Holtzman, who had headed the office. Nine staffers were let go.

Holtzman told the Sun-Sentinel that his office's travel orientation did not jibe with CDR's overall financial/corporate focus.

CDR still keeps the Miami office on its website. Its listed phone number connects with a voice message from Holtzman saying the office has been closed.

ECUADOR HIRES BKS&H

Burson-Marsteller's Black Kelly Scruggs and Healey lobbying wing has a $180K contract to provide strategic advice to the embattled Gov't of Ecuador.

The country, bordering Peru and Colombia, has been wracked by killer mudslides, environmental protests over a proposed pipeline and a rebellion by its native Indian people. Ecuador lifted a "state of emergency" in February that was imposed following widespread protests to the Government's austerity plan.

The Government also worries about the U.S.-backed "Plan Colombia" war on drugs. It's concerned that the drug violence could spill onto its territory.

UNITED BUSINESS BUYS ROPER FOR $88M

United Business Media, which owns PR News-wire, the New York-based press release distributor, has acquired Roper Starch International for $88 million in cash.

United, which is headquartered in London, said N.Y.-based Roper Starch adds an extensive range of research studies including syndicated reports on consumer attitudes, lifestyles, values and behavior in the U.S. and globally.

Roper Starch's studies include Roper Reports Worldwide and Roper Youth.

UBM, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol of UNEWY, said difficult trading conditions in the U.S. high-tech market had resulted in 4.3% lower revenues and 37.8% lower profits for the six months ended June 30.

The company said news distribution activities were affected by the downturn in new issue and merger activity, but profits were "just ahead" of last year.

KETCHUM PROMOTES HIGH-TECH SAVVY

Ketchum/Chicago will promote the 2001 Illinois Technology Showcase (ITEC) to show off its own technology savvy to potential clients, according to Peter Duckler, who is handling media relations at Ketchum for the event.

"We are donating our services, and will use the work as a marketing tool," he told this NL. Scott Patterson is the "team leader" for Ketchum. He is assisted by Dave Stone, Erica Hess and Duckler, who said other firms pitched the pro-bono account.

Paul Rand, head of Ketchum/Corporate Technology Communications, said of ITEC "As the stagnant economy persists, deal-making events like the ITEC pair technology vendors with purchasers, and that's critical to business sources in this sector."

ITEC, which is produced by Imark Comms., will be held Sept. 12-13 at McCormick Place. Ketchum will host a panel of business and marketing pros that will discuss the challenges facing the high-tech community.

HALO FILES FOR CHAPTER 11

HALO Industries, the leading player in the $15 billion promotional products category, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Larry Larsen, managing supervisor in Fleishman-Hillard's Chicago office, is handling media for HALO.

The company cited poor results from its Starbelly .com acquisition as part of the reason for the filing.

HALO announced the $240 million deal for Starbelly, which markets apparel with corporate logos over the Internet, in January 2000.

Then-CEO John Kelly called Starbelly the "cornerstone of HALO's e-transformation strategy and commitment to the future, igniting HALO for aggressive long-term growth and value creation."

HALO, however, recorded a $50 million net loss on $715 million in revenues last year.

New CEO Marc Simon announced a restructuring program in April that included writing off the company's investment in Starbelly.

The filing is expected to protect HALO's core business, which is marketing buttons, pens, hat, t-shirts and other items with corporate logos.

NO. IRELAND NAMES GCI/CHICAGO

GCI Dragonette was named to handle PR for the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland.

The firm, which is based in Chicago, will promote Northern Ireland as a business location for companies in North America.

GCI Dragonette is part of the GCI Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grey Advertising.

DRUG CZAR SPOKESMAN OPENS PA SHOP

White House Drug Policy Office spokesperson Bob Weiner has set up Robert Weiner Assocs. in Washington, D.C.

Weiner told this NL that he "is gratified that President Bush allowed me to keep my job the six and a half months" that he has been in charge. That allowed Weiner to reach the 20-year of federal service milestone.
John Walters, Bush's nominee for drug czar, has not yet been confirmed.

Weiner held the drug office's director of PA slot under both Lee Brown and Barry McCaffrey.

He also worked for Democrat Reps. John Con-yers, Charlie Rangel, Claude Pepper and Ed Koch, and Sen. Ted Kennedy.

RMA will advise clients on dealing with the government, drug and aging issues.

Joining Weiner are David Sternoff, former president of Young Democrats of America; Jay Wind, CEO of American Environmental Institute, and Linda Bayer, author of "Ruth Ginsberg: A Biography."

Sue Ducat, communications director for the Council for Excellence in Government, and former producer of PBS' "Washington Week in Review," will advise RWA.

COKE TOPS LIST OF VALUABLE BRANDS

Coca-Cola was ranked as the world's most valuable brand for the third straight year by Omnicom Group's Interbrand unit.

Microsoft was a close second, followed by IBM, according to the report.

Coca-Cola will spend an additional $300 million to $400 million in marketing this year to boost flagging soft-drink sales.

Ford Motor lost 17% of brand value after fatal crashes were linked to Firestone tires on Ford's Explorer SUV, though it remained the eighth most-valuable brand in the world, the report said.

Technology and Internet companies including Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, Yahoo and Amazon.com had the greatest decline in brand value in the last year amid a slowing U.S. economy, the report said.

FINANCIAL JOURNALISTS TAKE A LICKING

The news media was bashed by two financial columnists who testified July 31 in the second of two hearings before a panel of the House Financial Services Committee, which is looking into stock analysts' conflicts of interest.

Adam Lashinsky, a financial columnist for TheStreet.com, recalled that when he started covering publicly traded companies 10 years ago, he was told to authenicate stories by quoting Wall Street analysts. He said hundreds of journalists got similar instructions.

'Knew Nothing'

"I knew nothing about the firm where the analyst worked, nothing about the investment banking ties the analyst may or may not have had, nothing about the difference between a 'sell-side' (brokerage firm) and 'buy-side' (money management firm) analyst, and almost nothing about which analysts were better than others.

"All I knew was that an analyst who returned my phone call was more valuable than one who didn't," he said. "Nobody explained it to me in any greater detail."

He said individual investors are in the same predicament that he was as a cub reporter.

"An investor seeing 'an analyst' plugging a stock on CNBC or in The San Jose Mercury News, where I worked before joining TheStreet.com, had every reason to believe that the analyst in question was a credible source, an objective observer of a company's financial prospects and, therefore, of its stock market value."

While the TheStreet.com systematically discloses analyst conflicts, Lashinsky said it "didn't do everything right. We did our share to hype the momentum stocks of the era. We created the Red Hot Stocks index-notice that it hasn't been mentioned much lately. And we wrote favorably about IPOs (initial public offerings) on the assumption that new offerings would continue doubling, tripling and quadrupling upon their introduction."

Christopher Byron, an investment commentator, told the hearing, "One can make a strong and convincing case that the entire tech bubble...was caused by Wall Street's amplified megaphones of cable TV and, most especially, the Internet."
Byron blamed "compliant journalists" for giving analysts a global voice to tout their stocks.

"It is the Wall Street analysts and the media voices who helped turn analysts into pseudocelebrities who now bear responsibility for the consequences," he said.

Offers Solutions

Lashinsky said analysts should be encouraged to disclose their conflicts of interests, and reporters should be critical. Investors should be admonished to do their homework before buying securities and investment banks should be embarrassed at the way they have misled the general public, he said.

Other more radical solutions offered by Lashinsky include: split investment banks from brokerages; allow fixed-rate minimum commissions; require greater disclosure, and support Regulation FD.

TV REPORTER BOUNCED AS EVENT HOST

Charles Thomas, a reporter for WLS-TV, got bounced as master of ceremonies at the new Jewel-Osco store that opened last week in Chicago's South Loop.

Jim Kirk, the Chicago Tribune's ad columnist, said he called WLS news director Eric Lerner to discuss whether a reporter ought to be hosting a publicity effort by a major advertiser.

"Lerner wasn't aware of the deal until we brought it to his attention, at which point he said in a return phone call: `We don't approve of our on-air people taking part in events like this...Charles will not be doing it,'" said Kirk.

TAUBMAN IS DEPUTY EDITOR/EDITORIALS

Philip Taubman, 53, was named deputy editor for editorials for The New York Times.

Taubman, who was assistant editorial page editor, will succeed Philip Boffey, 65, who plans to retire, according to Gail Collins, who took over as editorial page editor on Aug. 1.

Taubman became assistant editor in Nov. 1994. He was deputy national editor from 1993 to 1994, and deputy Washington editor from 1989 to 1992. He reported for the Times from Moscow from 1985 through 1988.

Boffey joined the Times as an editorial writer in 1977 and held several other positions, including that of science editor, before returning to the editorial page as deputy editor in 1990.

PEOPLE _____________________

Pam Belluck, who was previously Chicago bureau chief for The New York Times, has been transferred to Boston as the paper's New England bureau chief.

Her husband, Bill Dedman, who was The Chicago Sun-Times' metro editor, is going with her to become a consultant on computer-based reporting for the Times and The Boston Globe.

William Gaines, 67, an award-winning reporter for the Chicago Tribune for many years, has retired. He will teach investigative journalism at the Univ. of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Chuck Neubauer, 51, who won many awards for his investigative reporting, is leaving The Chicago Sun-Times, to join the investigative unit of The Los Angeles Times' Washington, D.C., bureau, which is expanding from four to eight reporters.

His wife, Sandy Bergo, a producer for CBS in Chicago, and Pam Zekman, an investigative reporter, are also joining the LAT unit.

(Media news continued on next page)

SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT LAUNCHES USE PR

A new study of nearly 100 new product launches shows highly successful products are more likely to use PR-related activities than less successful ones.

In the study, executives reported "significantly greater returns and perceived impact across all PR-related activities," especially when PR practitioners were used to generate consumer press coverage, create retailer interest, and obtain positive product reviews and positive trade press coverage.

While between 76% and 90% of highly successful products used a PR firm to help plan and execute a launch, the study revealed less than 60% of less successful ones had done so.

"We learned that the role of PR, while underutilized, was extremely significant when leveraged," said a report on the new study, which was commissioned by Schneider & Assocs., a Boston-based PR firm, in collaboration with Boston University's Communication Research Center, and Susan Fournier, who is associate professor of marketing at Harvard Business School. The study is believed to be the first of its kind.

Researchers found only 44% of the new product cases included the assistance of a PR firm on their most recent launch, and less than 60% of the companies with a PR firm had put a PR practitioner on the core team for its product introduction, although virtually all of those same organizations had an ad agency representative on the launch team.

Findings were based on data aggregated from nearly 100 in-depth surveys of senior marketing executives from major consumer product companies.

Almost two-thirds of the new products in the study conducted by Prescott & Assocs., Pittsburgh, were in the food and beverage categories, followed by sporting goods (16%), and apparel and shoes (13%).

The study findings are available from Jennifer Viera, Schneider & Assocs., 617/536-3300.

PLACEMENT TIPS ____________________

Heeb, which is an ethnic slur short for "Hebrew," is the title of a new magazine that Jennifer Bleyer, a 25-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y.-based freelance writer, wants to start.

Bleyer will use a $60,000 grant from a fellowship supported by Steven Spielberg, Charles Bronfman and others, to publish the first issue in January. Her goal is to raise $300,000 so the magazine can publish on a quarterly basis.

The magazine will be targeted at young "hip" Jews. Bleyer, who lives in the Fort Greene section, said it is all part of an "image makeover" for Jews.

The lineup of articles in the first issue will include a feature on an Australian punk band called Yidcore; a profile of painter Nicole Eisenman, and an essay by a rabbi who has been involved in the anti-globalization protests.

Michael Schiller is managing editor.

Robert Smith, who owns a book publicity firm in Rockford, Ill., recommends this technique as a way to get producers to return calls:

"Call a producer and say 'I've found out and it's not too late.'

"When they call to find out what you are talking about, there's your chance to 'pitch' your book," said Smith, who also says handwritten envelopes will put "your envelope in the producer's 'A' pile."

Azteca America, the third Spanish-language TV network in the U.S., was launched on one Los Angeles TV station on July 28 by Pappas Telecasting of Visalia, Calif., and TV Azteca, Mexico's No. 2 broadcaster.

Programming, which included talk shows, news programs and Mexican league soccer, debuted on KAZA-TV and will soon be joined by novellas, or soap operas, all produced by TV Azteca.

STYLE MAGAZINE, ONE, FOLDS

One Media founder Dana Lyon will stop publishing One after the August issue, now at the printer.

The bimonthly style magazine for the dot-com generation ran articles about fancy sport watches, sushi plates, ski gloves, designer lamps and cheap, chic chairs, and sold them from its website.

The cross-media venture was seen as the new wave of service journalism when the magazine was launched last December.
One's 44-person staff, headed by editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison, was split between San Francisco and New York.

WOR's LOSS IS WABC's GAIN

WOR dropped "Rambling with Gambling" last fall because advertisers had little use for the morning show's mostly over-65 audience.

The show, which had aired for 75 years on WOR, was replaced by Ed Walsh, a former WOR news director who was most recently a morning show host in Phoenix.

WABC, which picked up Gambling, was the beneficiary, according to Crain's New York Business. The paper cites recently released spring Arbitron ratings that show WOR's listeners fled from the new morning show in droves, and WOR's small group of 25 to 54-year-olds also turned out to be fans of Gambling too.

Since Gambling began airing weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on WABC, the AM station has beaten WOR in morning drive time for the first time in memory, said CNYB.

WOR's general manager Bob Bruno believes Walsh's more newsy approach in the morning will bring in a better audience in time.

Bruno said all but one of the advertisers that left when Gambling was dropped have returned

HOPE: 'BUZZ' MARKETING IS GOOD FOR PR

Bob Hope, president of Hope-Beckham, Atlanta, said big ideas that were always available, but were going unused are now a hot commodity.

Hope said companies like Procter & Gamble are declaring the creation of "buzz" as a top priority. "The classic `silver bullet' of the 30-second spot is tarnished by clutter," said Hope.

He said his firm is creating "buzz" for the National Peanut Board.

The "world's largest peanut" is on the road and drawing big crowds from coast to coast for the NPB, said Hope.

"Some might call it clever, others hokey. But it is fun, draws a lot of consumer and media attention and tells the story of the peanut better than any 30-second TV spot ever could," he said.

Hope said "well over 100,000 people responded" to an offer by Coca-Cola to nominate someone who inspired them to a chance that the person will run in the upcoming Olympic Torch Relay.

He said the relay itself is expected to be a "celebration to behold with excitement and great story-telling events all over the country."

For Coors Brewing, H-B created the Coors Silver Bullets, an all-women's baseball team that traveled the country playing 50 games a year in big league and minor league ball parks.

After four years, the Silver Bullets were declared a "successful beer promotion," said Hope, who noted the entire program cost Coors half of what Budweiser spent with one Major League ball club.

"This is a great trend and one that makes it a fun time to be in this business," said Hope.

BYRUM, GALLOWAY, PHAIR NOMINATED

Reed Byrum, managing director of PR, Trilogy/Ford Joint Venture, Austin, Tex., was nominated as chair-elect of PR Society of America.

The Assembly of PRSA will be asked to change this title to president-elect at its meeting in Atlanta.

Byrum has been serving as treasurer of PRSA.

He was formerly director of corporate PR, EDS (Electronic Data Systems). Before that he had his own firm and was director of communications, GE Capital Computer Leasing, from 1991-93.

Del Galloway, executive VP and COO of Husk Jennings, Jacksonville, Fla., was nominated as treasurer. This post usually leads to the highest elective post at PRSA.

Judith Turner Phair, VP for PA, Council on Competitiveness, Wash., D.C., was nominated as secretary.

Samuel L. Waltz Jr., who was chair of PRSA in 1999, served as chair of the 20-member nominating committee, which met July 27-29 in Chicago.

Joann Killeen, president of Killeen Comms., Los Angeles, is slated to be president of PRSA in 2002.

She will succeed Kathy Lewton, who is now serving as chair.

The slate of nominees is at www.prsa.org.

GPC INT'L TO MAKE NOISE FOR LONGVIEW

GPC International is working to boost visibility for Longview Solutions, which Cathy Cowan, a GPC account group director, calls "Canada's quiet success story."

The Toronto-based firm will promote Longview's financial software in both North America and Europe, Cowan told this NL.

Marilyn Schaffer, GPC VP, is also working on the business.

Susan Gershman, Longview's chief marketing officer, acknowledged GPC's global reach as a reason why it won the competitive pitch.

She said RMR & Assocs., Rockville, Md., and Sacke & Assocs., which is in Toronto, were finalists.

Longview markets software to Global 2000 companies to enable them to improve their management reporting, budgeting, planning and forecasting processes.

GPC's first task is to create brand positioning for Longview's Khalix line.

It will then develop media and analyst relations, employee communications, trade show publicity and product promotions.

GPC is a unit of Omnicom's Fleishman-Hillard.

THE ONION SPOOFS PR LAYOFFS

The Aug. 1 edition of The Onion spoofs a fictional, laid-off Porter Novelli PR pro who "has great things to say about unemployment."

The satirical paper profiles 36-year-old Josh Wallace who said he had been "helping clients meet their brand-building and reputation-management needs through creativity in thinking and execution" at PN since 1995 before getting the ax.

"That particular move on [PN's] part definitely was not expected," he said. "But in the post-economic boom, the company needed to streamline operations and free up certain employees to multitask."

Wallace said he wasn't fired, but that his position was "phased out through the outsourcing of certain activities and the restructured insourcing of others."

Eager to "reassess" his career path and "concretize" his goals, The Onion writes, Wallace said he is "thrilled to be offsite."

NEGRIL RETURNS TO CAM

The Negril Chamber of Commerce (Jamaica), which was handled by the shuttered Citigate Dewe Rogerson Miami office (story on page 1) has returned to Cheryl Andrews Marketing, Coral Gables.

Cliff Reynolds, president of the Chamber, said while he was disappointed with the CDR shutdown, he has a "strong comfort level" with CAM, which had the account during the mid-`90s.

CAM hired Michelle Palomino, who headed the Negril account at CDR, to run the business. She said CDR started work on the account on June 1. CAM will initially focus on arranging "media fam" trips to Negril.

PR OPINION/ITEMS

Companies are increasingly combining their advertising and marketing budgets, according to the 15th annual Communications Industry Forecast published by Veronis Suhler, which calls itself a media merchant bank. Companies are formulating overall marketing strategies rather than separate advertising and promotion strategies. In response, VS notes that large ad agencies are now offering multiple services, from media buying to strategic planing to PR to accommodate the diverse needs of marketers. VS expects the advertising market will slump 1.1 percent this year. It rose 11.1 percent to $177 billion last year spurred by "double-digit growth in television, radio and consumer magazines-as well as Internet advertising," says VS. "Declining stock valuation, along with evaporating cash and liquidity in the second half of 2000, slowing the runaway Internet advertising trend," is the reason for this year's lackluster ad market, according to the report. VS expects the marketing services and specialty media sectors to grow 4.6 percent this year, compared to 7.9 percent last year. That category includes PR.

The PR business should spend more time talking about how it sells products and makes money for Corporate America, a veteran counselor said during lunch last week. He complained about conferences and seminars that are designed to somehow validate the importance of PR or deal with topics such as "getting a seat at the management table." There shouldn't be a need for PR pros to be told how important their roles are. PR is about creativity. That creativity deserves to be compensated. While it's nice to tote up the various industry awards, clients are more interested in how they can fatten their bottom lines. That's the message that PR people must get across. If PR is going to survive-especially when firms are being gobbled up by giant ad agencies-it's going to have to "show clients the money." That will enable firms to get top dollar for their creative expertise.

Lizzie Grubman and Rep. Gary Condit have provided much grist for the tabloid (especially New York) fodder this summer. PR people can't get enough of Grubman, but have had it with Condit, according to polls conducted by the odwyerpr.com website. When asked if the media overplayed the Grubman story, 224 said 'no,' while 194 answered 'yes.' Grubman, a New York publicist, allegedly ran into 16 people at a Hampton's nightspot. She has been charged with assault and reckless endangerment. Grubman also faces civil suits.

PR people, however, believe Dan Rather made the right move in limiting coverage of the Condit/Chandra Levy story. They voted 85-41 in favor of Rather, who is in the running to snag the big interview with Condit. Marina Ein, who is Condit's PR counselor, says the decision on whether Condit will grant an interview has not yet been made. Fraser Seitel, who writes a PR Commentary for the O'Dwyer website, believes Condit should avoid Rather at all costs. "Rather would turn up the heat on Condit, to prove to his own detractors that the ace newsman won't lie down for anyone," wrote Seitel. Larry King is a better choice, he says.

President Bush scored impressive victories as the House passed his energy, patient's rights and agricultural bills last week. The President, however, ended the week on a flat note with news that he will be spending August at his ranch in Crawford, Tex. That reinforced the perception that Bush is not fully in charge. "President Bush, six months after his inauguration, will begin a monthlong vacation Saturday that is twice as long as the average American getaway," wrote Laurence McQuillan in USA Today. By the time he returns to Washington in September, he will "have spent nearly 60 days at the 1,600-acre spread," wrote Dave Goldiner in the New York Daily News. Bush also has spent 14 weekends at Camp David and a long-weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a Bush family get-together. The Bush schedule is a sharp departure from the Clinton years, when the nation's leader would barely find two weeks for an August vacation in Martha's Vineyard, according to Goldiner.

Clinton's PR-orchestrated return to public life. Clinton, meanwhile, was given a rousing welcome in the New York press when he opened his office in Harlem on July 30. The black community overwhelmingly supported Clinton during his Presidential campaigns, but how much of the pro-Bill coverage was due to the skillful hand of his former White House spokesman Joe Lockhart? Lockhart's Glover Park Group masterminded the "second coming" of the former President. Lockhart, himself, was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos, another former Clinton aide, on "Good Morning America" the day of the opening. He handled the press during Clinton's impeachment crisis. Lockhart is joined at GPP by Carter Eskew, a veteran of BSMG Worldwide's PA unit, and Michael Feldman, who worked on the Gore campaign.
--Kevin McCauley