$500K 'HONG KONG IS FREE' DRIVE TO H&K

Hill and Knowlton is receiving $500,000 from Hong Kong to reassure skittish Americans and U.S. policymakers that the city retains a "high degree of autonomy" under China's rule. That's according to a two-year contract that the WPP Group unit recently filed with the Justice Dept.

The PR firm is to tell investors about Hong Kong's "continuing economic and political viability," and inform them of opportunities in the communications and financial sectors.

It is to respond "swiftly to inaccurate or unfavorable coverage as appropriate, through interviews, letters to the editor and op-ed" pieces.

H&K has assigned an "A" team, including its legendary vice chairman Frank Mankiewicz, to handle the business.

The State Dept. has just issued a report to Congress calling Hong Kong "one of the freest cities in Asia." It did criticize Hong Kong's treatment of Falun Gong followers. China considers FG an evil cult. Hong Kong is considering passing an anti-cult law.

F-H/CANADA CANNED BY BRISTOL-MYERS

Bristol-Myers Squibb has dumped Fleishman-Hillard/Canada for using excessive hype about its anti-clotting drug, clopidogrel.

Linda Smith, senior VP and general manager of F-H/Toronto, told this NL that an F-H staffer sent a cover note to six reporters along with a press release on clopidogrel. That note, which was intended to summarize the press release, "created inaccuracies" and as a result, "they let us go," she said.

Smith said she was surprised by the move but added that the incident was uncharacteristic of F-H's services.

The New England Journal of Medicine's Dr. Greg Curfman said F-H overstated the case for clopidogrel. The drug has only "marginal efficacy," he said.

F-H issued a retraction on Aug. 15. "The second paragraph (of the original release) states that the results represent a major advance with huge implications. In fact, the benefit found was modest, and offset by an increased risk of bleeding, including bleeding necessitating transfusion," it said.

Applied Comms., San Francisco, beat out eight firms for Verisign, a $1 billion Internet security company. AC, which will handle media and analyst relations,also services Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and Veritas.

UBM MAKES RUN AT MEDIALINK

United Business Media has offered to acquire Medialink in a deal valued at $29 million at the $5-a-share price. Kekst & Co. is representing UBM.

Under the proposal, Medialink would be merged with UBM subsidiary PR Newswire. The proposal was communicated in a letter sent from Charles Gregson, executive director and board member of UBM and PR Newswire, to Medialink's directors.

Larry Moskowitz, CEO of Medialink, said his company's board would consider the UBM offer.

The $5 per share offer represents a premium of 49% over the $3.35 per share closing price of Medialink on Aug. 13.

Medialink issued a "preferred stock rights" plan to protect against a hostile takeover bid. UBM said it expected that move.

MORAVICK TO LONDON; ELLIOT JOINS ROLEX

Ann Moravick, who heads Manning, Selvage & Lee's global health practice, has been named managing director of MS&L/London.

She replaces Jackie Elliot, who is moving to Geneva to assume the communications director job at watchmaker Rolex.

Lou Capozzi, CEO of MS&L, called Moravick a "veteran skilled at training teams" to deliver the best PR counsel and services.

He credited her with doubling the size of the MS&L health unit, which counts Phamacia, Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, and Hoffmann-La Roche as clients.

Moravick will continue to be responsible for healthcare when she assumes her new duties on Oct. 1.

GREY GLOBAL'S NET SLIDES 58%

Grey Global Group reported a 57.6 percent decline in second-quarter net income to $2.4 million on a three percent rise in gross billings to $2.1 billion. For the first-half, net fell 75.4 percent to $2.7 million. GGG stock has fallen from $760 to $610.

The company cited weak spending by high-tech and telecom clients, combined with a "significant increase in severance costs incurred to reduce expenses in the current environment" as reasons for the profit decline.

On an upbeat note, GGG cited new business wins from American Home Products for Advil at Grey Worldwide; Holiday Inn and Saab Automobiles at GCI Group, and Absolut Vodka at G-2.

INTERPUBLIC STILL HUNGERS FOR MORE

Interpublic "is currently engaged in a number of preliminary discussions that may result in one or more substantial acquisitions," according to the firm's second-quarter 10-Q form that was filed Aug. 14 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sean Orr, CFO, had promised analysts-during a July 26 conference call-that Interpublic would be more selective on the acquisition front.

The document states: "These acquisition opportunities require confidentiality and from time to time give rise to bidding scenarios that require quick responses by Interpublic."

An announcement of any deal "may lead to increased volatility in the trading price of the shares of Interpublic."
The company's stock trades at $26.37. The 52-week range is $47.43 and $25.90.

The 10-Q continues: "The success of recent or contemplated future acquisitions will depend on the effective integration of newly acquired businesses into Interpublic's current activities."

Interpublic has already announced a $500 million restructuring charge that will cover the cost of merging True North into its operations.

The majority of that charge will be in the current quarter to cover 3,500 layoffs and the shutdown of 75 offices.
The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 16 how Interpublic's "financial profile rapidly deteriorated in the first half of this year."

It noted that Interpublic doubled short-term debt to $1.34 billion from $549.3 million since the beginning of the year.

Orr said since clients have cut spending, Interpublic needed the funds to cover payroll and rent. He is "comfortable" with IPG's financial condition.

Interpublic lost $138 million for the six-month period ended June due to various writeoffs.

NY TIMES GIVES GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLUG

The New York Times ran an op-ed piece on Aug. 14 "written" by six-time Olympic track and field medal winner Jackie Joyner-Kersee about her struggle with asthma.

The paper failed to note that Joyner-Kersee is part of the "Asthma All-Stars" national education program about asthma and its treatment.

According to the All-Stars website, the program is "supported" by GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Ventolin, an inhalation aerosol for asthma.

Co-sponsors are the Allergy and Asthma Network, Mothers of Asthmatics, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, American College of Chest Physicians/The CHEST Foundation, American College of Sports Medicine and National Assn. of School Nurses, according to its website.

Ogilvy PR Worldwide/Washington, D.C., handles the GlaxoSmithKline account. An Ogilvy spokesperson, David Prager, said neither his firm nor GlaxoSmithKline would comment about the Joyner-Kersee piece. Tom Beall is co-managing director of Ogilvy's health and medical practice in D.C.

Op-ed Follows Death of Wheeler

The Joyner-Kersee piece follows the death this month of Rashidi Wheeler, the Northwestern football star who died following an asthma attack during practice.

In the article called "Asthma and the Athlete's Challenge," Joyner-Kersee tells how she hid her own asthma from coaches during college because she feared losing her scholarship. She also didn't follow the medical advice given by her doctor about treatment. Then in 1993, she suffered an asthma attack that almost killed her.

H&K, RUBENSTEIN SHARE NEXTWAVE

Hill and Knowlton and Rubenstein Assocs. are handling PR duties for NextWave Telecom, the Chapter 11 company that is battling the Federal Communications Commission over the right to retain control over wireless communications licences.

Those firms pitched against three or four other firms and against each other for the "substantial" account, Jim Cox, senior managing director at H&K, told this NL.

NextWave, he explained, requested that H&K and RA share the account. It felt that H&K's strategic thinking and reach, combined with RA's media connections were a perfect fit.

Howard Rubenstein said he heads the account at RA, and described the relationship with H&K as a "seamless" one. "My staff has enjoyed working with Hill and Knowlton," he added.

Cox feels the firms are working "very well" together despite an "unusual" relationship. "We're pretty much partners," he added.

H&K CEO Howard Paster and Paul Clark, senior management director, join Cox on the NextWave Telecom business.

NextWave, which is based in Hawthorne, N.Y., won a 1996 FCC auction to offer wireless services in 90 markets. It bid $4.74 billion payable over 10 years. The company, however, ran into financial trouble, and could not cover the FCC payments. It filed for bankruptcy in 1998.

The FCC then revoked the award to NextWave, and reauctioned the same wireless spectrum for $15.9 billion.
NextWave sued, and a Federal appeals court ruled the FCC violated bankruptcy law by seizing NextWave's licenses.

The FCC appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court has not yet decided whether it will hear the case.

Cox said NextWave has arranged $5 billion in new equity financing and debt, and stands ready to build its wireless network once the litigation is settled.

The Wall Street Journal, on its Aug. 9 front page, said the "big losers in the fight are people in NextWave's territories."

RAINES MAY RUN MORE ENVIRO NEWS

Howell Raines, who takes over as editor of The New York Times next month, could open some new column inches for coverage of environmental issues ranging from wetlands to oceans, according to Andrew Revkin, a science reporter for the paper.

Ever since the mishandling of a story on open water at the North Pole, Revkin said editors at the Times have become "gun-shy about subsequent, more legitimate, climate reports."

"The story has haunted me and the Times ever since," said Revkin. "I rarely got climate news on the front page, even when it deserved to be there," he told a recent Great Lakes Journalists seminar. "The paper treats astrophysics better than it treats environment," he added.

Revkin believes Raines will change the situation when he becomes editor next month because he has an affection for fishing and the outdoors.

Revkin finds it useful in his reporting to have some sources whom he likely would never quote or name, but rather use for fact-checking. He urged the reporters to "quote invisible people" whose expertise and independence they have come to respect.

PLACEMENT TIPS ____________________

Frank Parisi, SVP-communications for the Star Tribune Co., who is joining Fleishman-Hillard (story on page 6), said journalists and PR professionals should list their home phone numbers.

"Communications/PR people who don't make their home numbers readily and widely available are not doing their jobs," he said in a letter to MediaNews.org.

Parisi said he has stated his home number for years on his voicemail and never regretted it.

"We're supposed to be available to journalists throughout the world according to their deadlines, not ours," he said.

"Christopher Closeup" is celebrating its 50th year on TV by returning to its TV roots in California.

The weekly half-hour program has L.A. interview opportunities still available Sept. 17, 18, and 19 providing airtime on over 100 outlets nationwide and overseas. The interview-intensive program seeks celebrities, authors, artists and politicians who are engaged in or promoting charitable or spiritual endeavors.

A pitch with a "making a difference" hook has a better shot at booking, according to Tony Rossi, who is handling guest bookings.

Send e-mail to [email protected] or call him at 212/759-4050.

Send mail to TV and Radio, The Christophers, 12 East 48th st., New York, NY 10017.

Stern & Co., New York, used a "unique" hook to get The Wall Street Journal to do a report on Edward D. Jones & Co., a securities firm based in Des Peres, Mo.

Richard Stern said the article, which ran on Page 1 of the Journal's Aug. 8 edition, is an example of "our ability to identify the essence of what makes a client company unique, then develop the messages that fit a specific media outlet, such as the Journal."

The hook was the client's old-fashioned way of doing business.

ACTIVIST KNOWS HOW TO GET PUBLICITY

Jane Colton, an animal rights activist who lives in New York, has become a prime source of news about missing pets and animals in distress, according to The New York Times.

The paper said nearly every major newspaper in the city (including the Times), each of the city's local TV news broadcasts, "Dateline NBC," and New York magazine have recently run stories based on information provided by Colton, who is a former flight attendant.

"Ask any publicist: it is not easy to get a New York City reporter or TV news crew interested in anything short of doom and destruction," said Times reporter Sherri Day, who wrote the story about Colton.

Every day editors are swamped with press releases, e-mails, letters and telephone calls.

"Few of these unsolicited ideas actually make it into newspapers or onto the air," said Day. "But Ms. Colton, a fascinating storyteller who speaks in sound bites, has learned to use her quick wit and zany anecdotes to get reporters and assignment editors to take her calls and cover her issues."

"Once Colton takes up a cause, she doesn't rest until it has a headline," said Day.

Clementi Lisi, a reporter for The New York Post, said he got 15 calls from Colton in one day about a lost parrot. "She knows what reporters want. She's constantly trying to push her angle," Lisi said.

PEOPLE _________________________

Richard Lodge, 47, was named editor of The MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass., replacing Ruston Lodi, who is joining the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund as director of public affairs. Lodi spent 22 years at MetroWest.

Lodge will also oversee The Daily News Tribune of Waltham, The Milford Daily News, The Neponset Valley Daily News of Dedham, and 22 weekly papers.

Kathleen Hays, whose on-air nickname as a correspondent on CNBC's "Squawk Box" and other shows is the "Bond Belle," is joining CNN as an economic correspondent on "Lou Dobbs Moneyline."

Peter Bart was suspended as editor-in-chief of Variety after he was quoted as making racist remarks in a Los Angeles Magazine article.

Anita Busch, who recently quit as editor of Hollywood Reporter, and Beth Laski, another former HR editor, will co-write a column for Premiere.

(Media news continued on next page)

EDITOR: DAILIES ARE NOT DYING

James Shelledy, editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, says daily newspapers are not a dying news medium.

Shelledy attributes the gloom-and-doom to "journalists who view change as the end of good newspapering as we know it; those in management who tend to see every downturn in advertising as the final handwriting on the economic wall; and futurists who continue to preach that the Internet is about to off traditional media.

"To this I say: bunk," Shelledy said in his "Letter From the Editor" column that ran Aug. 12.

Shelledy said he has experienced at least a "dozen come-and-go ad slumps" in his 30 years in the business.

"Few newspapers ever fail to turn a profit. And short-term cutbacks to remedy revenue losses produce as much long-tern heartburn as bottom-line salve," he said. He believes newspapers, not the Internet, are the largest gatherers of news and information and will remain so.

"Eventually, a future generation of computers will replace the printing press and carriers, but not our news-gathering and news-crunching function." In whatever form, newspapers will be considered important by "our children," he said.

The veteran journalist said the newspaper audience is huge but stagnant. "However, with flexibility, quality, relevant journalism and combining the best features of digital and print, the future for daily newspapers is as solid as it is long-although not for the faint of heart or sourpusses."

He said the thought of a mass print media renaissance was reinforced this spring by the largest newspaper consumer study in history: 37,000 readers at 100 daily newspapers.

Shelledy said the Northwestern University study showed the best bets for reinvigorating readership were stories on local people, health, food, government, movies, international, TV, weather, business and personal finance, sports, crime and environment.

BRIDGE TO DISMANTLE OPERATIONS

Bridge Information Systems will dismantle its news operations as part of its bankruptcy proceedings that began in February.

Joel Weiden, a spokesman for BIS, said two of the company's news units-those covering commodities and company news-will be closed down after the bankruptcy court approves the sales of the two news units contracts to Dow Jones for $6.5 million.

Weiden said DJ only intends to keep 10 members of the current staff of the affected units, meaning the 140 other employees would likely be laid off. The fate of about 235 people who work for other parts of Bridge's news business remains uncertain.

Bridge has already sold off much of its assets, including a $275 million deal reached in April that will give Reuters control over several of Bridge's financial information assets including EJV, a bond pricing and data service; Bridge Trading, an electronic trading business, and eBridge, an online information provider for large financial institutions.

The main asset remaining to be sold is Telerate, a bond information service that Bridge bought from Dow Jones.

PROTEST AGAINST FORMAT CHANGE

Several hundred people gathered outside the office of the Forward Assn. in New York on Aug. 16 to protest its decision to switch the format of WEVD-AM to an ESPN 24-hour sports talk station on Sept. 1.

The association, which owns The Forward, said it made the lease agreement with the Walt Disney Co. to pay for its unprofitable newspapers.

The move would end several radio programs, including those of Bill Mazer, Alan Colmes and Edward Koch.

NAACP HEAD MAY GET OWN TV SHOW

Kweisi Mfume, who is president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, has taped a pilot for a national TV talk show that would be syndicated by Hearst-Argyle.

Last week at a news conference in Los Angeles, Mfume accused network TV of moving too slowly to increase racial diversity in acting and executive roles. He singled out ABC for the worst performance, with NBC right behind.

Mfume had been the host of a weekly public affairs program for more than 10 years at Hearst's Baltimore station, WBAL. He has been head of the NAACP for five years.

INDUSTRY STANDARD BITES THE DUST

The Industry Standard is suspending publication while the parent company, Standard Media International, looks for a buyer. The final issue was published earlier this month.

Spokeswoman Alissa Neil said the weekly magazine may file Chapter 11.

Based in San Francisco, the magazine, which was started 3.5 years ago to cover the Internet industry, employed about 400 people, including 130 journalists.

The magazine had its first profitable year in 2000 on ad revenues of about $140 million. In the first half of this year, advertising has declined 75%, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

BRIEFS: Working Woman's title has been put on the shelf and the entire staff of the magazine has been laid off...Cowboys & Indians, a monthly magazine, is celebrating its 80th birthday. Based in Dallas, the magazine covers a range of lifestyle topics: art, home, interiors, travel, Western films and Southwestern cuisine.

LUND GROUP PITCHED MOLD STORY

"Without Bea and Mike, people would not know what dangers may be lurking behind their walls and under their floors," said Melinda Ballard, whose tangle with dangerous molds was told in a cover story in the Aug. 12 New York Times magazine.

Ballard, a former executive of Ruder Finn/New York who recently won a $32 million lawsuit against the Farmers Insurance Group on claims related to molds in her Texas home, was referring to Beatrice Lund and Michael Bruneau of The Lund Group, New York, who were retained by Ballard in 1999.

"We have accomplished our goal of making the public aware of problems with dangerous molds," said Ballard, who appeared on the cover of the magazine in a head-to-toe protective garment.

The amount awarded in the lawsuit, which only covers property damage and does not address the claims of bodily harm advanced by the Ballard family, is now in mediation.

Ballard, her husband Ron Allison, and their son, Reese, also suffered illnesses because of the mold. The family claims that Farmers should have immediately attacked the Stachybotrys and other molds that were growing in their home because sub-flooring had become wet due to a leak.

"Bea and Mike put a tremendous amount of energy into this cause," said Ballard. "Their specialty is working with the media."

USA Weekend Was Big Hit

The initial big hit in the mold public awareness campaign came Dec. 5, 1999, when Ballard and her family were featured on the front cover of USA Weekend, which has a circulation of 22 million.

The Fox affiliate in Austin had aired the first segments on the problem in June 1999. More than 150 TV segments have aired on local and national TV stations thus far.

Lund and Bruneau spent "hundreds of hours" briefing reporters and editors on what was a highly complicated and technical story.

Print coverage, besides the N.Y. Times magazine (circulation 1.6 million) and USA Weekend, included a story on the front page of the "Marketplace" section of the Wall Street Journal; cover story in Lawyers Weekly USA, and a story in Claims magazine. TV shows doing segments included CBS-TV's "48 Hours," which has an audience of 12 million households and which devoted an hour to the mold problem built around Ballard's story; NBC-TV's the "Today" show and "Nightly News"; CBS-TV's "The Early Show," and the News of Texas syndicated news.

HENRY TO RETIRE FROM EPA

Rene Henry, a 48-year veteran of PR and a member of PRSA 38 years, will retire Oct. 1 as director of communications and government relations, mid-Atlantic region of the Environmental Protection Agency. He is 68.

No successor has been named to the post, based in Philadelphia, which pays between $92,381 and $120,095. If the EPA decides to go outside, the job could be listed on www.jobsusa.org.

Henry, who chairs the College of Fellows of PRSA for 2001, has just authored his sixth book, Offsides!, described as "Fred Wyant's provocative look inside the National Football League."

It is published by Xlibris Corp., part of Random House ([email protected]).

Wyant was an official in the NFL for 27 years, including 19 as a referee. He tells what calls officials miss the most and why; "the greed of owners who want public funding for new stadiums"; the pros and cons of instant replay, and the "lack of positive role models in football today."

Henry, who has been at the EPA since 1996 after being executive director of university relations for Texas A&M University from 1991-96, has also authored Marketing PR-the hows that make it work!, How to Profitably Buy and Sell Land, and You'd Better Have a Hose If You Want to Put Out the Fire, a guide to crisis and risk communications.

Henry, a senior VP at Daniel J. Edelman from 1967-70, had his own firm from 1970-74 and was a partner in Allan, Ingersoll, Segal & Henry from 1974-75. He was a co-founder and partner of ICPR from 1975-81 and returned to his own firm until 1986. He was campaign director for Athletes and Entertainers, George Bush for President and Bush/Quayle in 1988. He was president and CEO, National Institute of Building Sciences, from 1986-88, and was also with the Dept. of Agriculture, Agency for International Development and the Dept. of Labor before joining the EPA.

EMERY HANDLES CRISIS IN-HOUSE

Emery Worldwide is using its in-house PR capability to deal with the crisis triggered by the voluntary grounding of its 37-plane fleet.

That's what Nancy Colvert, director of PR at CNF Inc.-Emery's parent company-told this NL.

"I've been busy fielding calls from local media" concerned with safety matters, she told this NL. Emery operates in 229 countries.

A Federal Aviation Administration probe of Emery's fleet found more than 100 safety violations, including planes it deemed unfit to fly. ValueJet Airlines was the last carrier to shut down its fleet following pressure from the FAA.

Emery issued a statement assuring customers there will be no interruption of freight service. It will use planes operated by Ryan Aviation.

The company also said that it expects to resume flying its planes once the FAA matter has been resolved. The planes could be out of service for months.

Emery has furloughed about 800 pilots, crewmembers and other employees.

The carrier is No. 2 in the air cargo market (shipments over 70 miles) trailing the U.S. Postal Service, but ahead of United Parcel Service.

PR OPINION/ITEMS

New York publicists Beatrice Lund and Mike Bruneau were "instrumental" in educating the public about the dangers of mold in the home, said client Melinda Ballard.

More than two years of media placement efforts by Lund and Bruneau were capped by a cover story in the Aug. 12 New York Times magazine (1.6M circ.).

But the PR team has no intention of entering their efforts in any PR awards program.

They would have to make up a thick binder showing their pre-research; describing the strategy they created; detailing placement activities, and describing what research was done after the campaign. Besides the considerable amount of time and money this would take, they would also have to pay hundreds of dollars in entrance fees to the major PR contests and then upwards of $300 a ticket if they wanted to attend the awards banquets.

We've been hearing complaints for some time that major firms, with lots of money to toss around, have come to unfairly dominate current PR awards programs. For instance, four PR firms captured 18 or 43% of the 41 Silver Anvils awarded by PRSA in June out of a field of 736 entries. Plenty of good work is going unheralded because PR firms don't want to get involved in what has become a costly, rules-bound ritual dominated by a few firms with deep pockets.

A good case can be made for making awards throughout the year and shining the spotlight on one winner at a time rather than announcing upwards of 100 winners at once with resulting dilution of attention for any one winner.

To recognize the efforts of the Lund Group and others like them, the O'Dwyer Co. is starting the "O'Dwyer Award for Excellence in Public Communications" with Lund as the first recipient. A solid walnut plaque with gold lettering will be sent to the firm. Lund will not have to fill out any forms, send us any entry fees, nor send us proofs of what it accomplished. The coverage obtained speaks for itself. PR firms and clients that feel qualified for an "O'Dwyer Award" need only send us a brief description of their successful efforts to educate the public on a subject. Availability of the CEO or other principals involved for cross-examination by the press and public is a key element we look for. Awards will be announced throughout the year.
--Jack O'Dwyer

Fleishman-Hillard and Ogilvy PR Worldwide made big healthcare PR news last week. F-H/Canada was fired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for hyping the benefits of an anti-clotting drug. Canada's National Post Online said on Aug. 17 that F-H now has to "protect its own reputation" following the incident. Linda Smith, head of F/H's Toronto office, has been forthright in apologizing for the release of a cover letter touting clopidogrel as the "biggest cardiovascular treatment since aspirin." The Post, quoting an unnamed source, reported that it is unusual for an agency to be fired in mid-stream and suggested that the move could hurt F-H/Canada's reputation with other healthcare clients. "I think it would definitely discolor their relationship with other pharmaceuticals; it is a specialty within the industry and you have to be knowledgeable about it," the person said. Bristol-Myers Squibb issued a statement saying it was unaware of F-H's excessive claim until it had been sent to reporters.

Ogilvy scored a powerful op-ed placement in the New York Times for GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of an asthma treatment. The Times ran an op-ed "written" by Olympic star Jackie Joyner-Kersee about her struggles with the illness. She is part of an Asthma All-Star Team that is supported by GlaxoSmithKline. The Times must not have known about Joyner-Kersee's spokesperson work. It didn't identify her as such. Nobody at Ogilvy, GlaxoSmithKline or the Times wants to talk about the op-ed article.

If the high-tech "leaves don't begin to flutter next month," the market won't rebound until next year's second quarter at the earliest, says Donovan Neale-May, who heads a Silicon Valley PR firm. Clients have never been as tight with a buck. High-tech RFPs are floating around budgeted at 30 to 40 percent less, while requiring the same amount of work as proposals of two years ago. One of the reasons Neale-May established Global Fluency, a worldwide network of independent PR firms, was to cut costs. He doesn't want the expense of establishing new offices to service clients. Neale-May says he gets a lot of leads in the Boston area that he can now refer to GF partner Media Boston International...FitzGerald Communications is dealing with hard times in techland by setting up a special situations group to handle clients that are laying off people, restructuring or declaring Chapter 11...Middleberg Euro RSCG, which was heavily invested in the dot-com world, closes its San Francisco office. CEO Don Middleberg spends time refuting a nasty e-mail portraying the Havas' unit's future as bleak. One of the firm's cyber-specialties is to monitor chat rooms and the `Net to squelch gossip spread about clients...The Industry Standard, which chronicled the rise of the dot-com world, goes kaput. It was packed with $140 million worth of ads last year. Advertising plummeted 75 percent for the first-half of this year. The company once had 400 staffers.
--Kevin McCauley