PENNSYLVANIA LOOKS AT AD/PR TEAMS

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Health is looking at advertising/PR teams for a health initiative worth an estimated total of $23 million including $8M for PR.

The department is just starting the review process and no decision is expected until after the first of the year. There are already a number of health-related ad/PR campaigns sponsored by the department but the new one reportedly will link anti-smoking efforts with other health-related campaigns.

Ad/PR teams are being examined and at least one member of the team must be based in Pennsylvania. The contract calls for inclusion of a minority-owned PR or ad agency as part of the account team.

Catherine Diodato, Division of Contracts, Department of Health, Harrisburg, is the contact.

MICHELIN CONSIDERS PR TRIO

Edelman PR Worldwide, Cohn & Wolfe and Manning, Selvage & Lee are in the running for the Michelin North America account, Nan Banks, a spokesperson for the France-based tire maker, told this NL. The budget has not yet been determined, but Banks said it is in the $1 million range. A decision is expected by the end of the year.

Banks, who speaks fluent French, said Michelin has used Edelman for projects and Trone for product PR.

The tire maker has emphasized its commitment for safety via its "baby" ads developed in 1983 carrying the "Because so much is riding on your tires" tagline. Omnicom's DDB/N.Y. handles that campaign.

Michelin NA is based in Greenville, S.C. It employs 26,500 of the company's 128,000 work force.

ST. JOE GOES WITH SPRING, O'BRIEN

Spring, O'Brien beat Hill and Knowlton, Fleishman-Hillard and Burson-Marsteller for the race for the $1 million St. Joe Company account of Florida's largest private landowner.

CEO Chris Spring said his firm will provide economic development, travel and tourism support and real estate promotions.

The goal, he told this NL, is to transform the "Red Neck Riviera" into Florida's Great Northwest.

St. Joe owns more than one million acres in the state, including wetlands, woodlands and water front on the Gulf Coast.

It purchased Arvida, a top real estate company, a few years ago to develop its vast holdings in Florida.

G/HI LANDS SHARE OF $10M SYMBOL TECH BIZ

Golin/Harris International and Interpublic sister unit Draft Worldwide have won Symbol Technologies' integrated communications program, said ST's Doug Picker, PR director, and Tony Wilson, VP/marketing communications.

Six teams pitched for the account that could bill in the $10 million range. They said finalists were Omnicom's Porter Novelli/DDB units, and a tag-team of WPP Group's Alexander Ogilvy and Cordiant's Bates Worldwide.

Richard Wolff, G/HI's worldwide director of financial relations, and Barbara Shrager, senior VP, will head the ST account, said Picker and Wilson.

OMNICOM ENTERS CORP. 'SPYING' GAME

Omnicom has established SafirRosetti to spearhead its foray into the "business intelligence" and "executive and personal protection" arenas.

Former New York City police commissioner Howard Safir, and ex-Kroll Assocs. and IBM security director Joe Rosetti head the operation that Omnicom CEO John Wren calls a "natural extension" of the communications combine's business.

Omnicom's clients, said Wren, require high-level security consulting services including marketing promotions and sweepstakes' authenticity; crisis management; and acquisition and litigation support.

Safir noted that in the aftermath of the terror attacks, security is no longer a corporate option.

DC&W FEASTS ON TACO BELL

Douglas Cohn & Wolfe, a unit of C&W, has been named agency of record for Taco Bell, which runs more than 6,700 restaurants in the U.S., Laurie Gannon, TB's director of PR, told this NL.

The business grew out of an assignment that DC&W won in August to launch TB's Chicken Quesadilla item. "We also considered Edelman PR, Paine PR and BSMG for that project," Gannon said.

DC&W impressed TB's PR staffers with its support for the "Think outside the bun" campaign.

CNN SAYS IT PLAYS MID-EAST 'STRAIGHT'

CNN Miami bureau chief John Zarrella told PRSA's Gulfstream chapter Dec. 5 that the news network is even-handed when covering the Israeli/Palestinian dispute.

Asked about CNN coverage of the deaths of 26 Israelis on the weekend of Dec. 1-2 caused by Palestinian suicide bombers, Zarrella said, "I've heard some awfully tough questioning by our on-air people, our anchors, on both sides in the wake of this weekend's tragic events." He added: "I've come away feeling that the coverage has been pretty straightforward, right down the middle, and I don't think you can afford to be any other way."

Zarrella, who addressed 50 PRSA members at the Sun-Sentinel auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale, said 9/11 has brought many changes to CNN including creation of a "War Desk" and a "Homeland Defense Desk."

CNN has been criticized by both Honestreporting.com, representing Israeli interests, and Fairnews.org (Palestine Media Watch), for coverage of various news stories.

Honestreporting hit CNN for referring to the Gilo Jewish community in Jerusalem as a "settlement" and got CNN to change its policy.

PMW, meanwhile, says that the suicide bombings Dec. 1-2 were covered for hours in "real time" by CNN with "ambulances zipping back and forth, and witnesses being interviewed on the scene."

No such coverage was given to the deaths of five Palestinian boys aged 8-14 on Nov. 22 when they set off an Israeli explosive device, said PMW.

Because of competition with MSNBC and Fox, CNN "has gone to star power," said Zarrella, citing the recent arrival of Paula Zahn as a morning anchor from Fox and Aaron Brown from ABC.

The Palestinian website on Dec. 9 blasted Zahn for being "gentle" and "fearful" with Israelis and pro-Israelis while being irascible, "impatient and sometimes downright obnoxious" with Arabs and Muslims including Dr. Edward Said, a Columbia University professor and frequent writer on Israel/Palestine.

SAUDI AMBASSADOR RAPS MEDIA

Saudi Arabia enjoys an "excellent" relationship with the U.S. despite a campaign by some American media to discredit the Kingdom, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, told the Saudi Press Agency on Dec. 11.

Saudi Arabia, which uses Burson-Marsteller and Qorvis Communications for PR, has been roundly criticized in the U.S. media for failing to crack down hard on groups and people that are suspected of having financial links to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network.

Prince Bandar, who is Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the U.S., is "surprised" that the American media have not accepted "assurances" from President Bush and Secretary of State Powell that ties with Saudi Arabia "remain strong." That's an "indication," to the Prince, that there are people who do not wish U.S.-Saudi relations to remain strong.

INDEPENDENT PR FIRMS FORM ASSN.

A group of independent PR firms is starting "The National Assn. of Independent PR Agencies" to "extol the virtues of independent PR counsel."

"We will point out that excellent PR counsel is available at reasonable prices from firms that have low overhead and provide senior PR pros on accounts they serve," said Shelley Spector, president of Spector & Assocs., New York.

The object of the group will be to help clients get "the biggest bang for their PR buck," she added.

She said the group has created a logo and will establish a secure website for those who join. "We're going to be PR's first virtual organization," she said.

Members will serve as correspondent agencies for each other, point out and contribute relevant articles and papers for professional development, share knowledge about websites and databases, and share ideas for winning new business.

They will meet on the Internet and via e-mail to trade ideas and help each other.

There is no intention to seek a state charter, collect money from members, or open an office, Spector said. Prospective members may e-mail her at shelley @spectorpr.com. Her firm has about 20 employees.

PRESS GETS RARE ACCESS TO CRUISE

Celebrity PR doyenne Pat Kingsley was called Tom Cruise's "de facto personal marketing adviser" in a Wall Street Journal profile last week about his just-released flick "Vanilla Sky."

The WSJ said Kingsley, who is ever-protective of the actor's image, provided access to Cruise because the movie needed a PR jolt. The reason: Cruise's nasty split with Nicole Kidman may be a major turn-off for his "core audience of women," wrote John Lippman.

Cruise hit the road in Dallas, Toronto and Chicago, which is rare for a star of Cruise's stature, wrote Lippman. He also got involved in "publicity stunts," such as sitting in the cockpit of a jet fighter at a Texas military base. Cruise made the round of talk shows ("The Charlie Rose Show," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," twice on "Today" and "Oprah" for the first time in seven years).

Cruise has a financial stake in the outcome of the $60 million film. Since he didn't take an upfront fee, his compensation will be determined by the number of tickets sold.

The National IR Institute will let members pay their 2002 dues of $425 in five monthly installments and the $850 conference fee for 2002 in three installments. NIRI, which has $4 million in its treasury, suggests members (to save on taxes) can pay in 2001 for their 2002 dues and the 2002 conference. Companies on a cash basis can deduct such payments in 2001 and those on an accrual basis can make the deduction as a "recurring item" even though the services are not received until 2002.

TEENS GO TO THE 'NET FOR HEALTH NEWS

A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds teens and young adults (ages 15-24) are going online to look up information about health issues.

Two out of three young people (68%) have used the Internet to search for health information, and one in four says they can get "a lot" of health information online. The survey also suggests a significant proportion of youth are acting on what they find: four out of 10 (39%) online health seekers say they have changed their own behavior because of information they found on the web.

The survey report, Generation Rx.com, includes findings on how young people use the Internet as a health resource.

The majority (55%) of those who have surfed the web for health information do so just a few times a year, but nearly four in 10 (39%) do so at least once a month.

The survey found half (50%) of all online youth have searched the web for information on specific diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

Sensitive, youth-oriented topics are also popular: about four in 10 (44%) online youth have turned to the Internet for information about sexual health, including pregnancy, birth control, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and about one in four have looked up information on weight issues, mental health, drugs and alcohol, and violence.

When asked about a variety of sources, 17% say they trust health information from the Internet "a lot," as compared to 85% for doctors, 68% for parents, and 30% for TV news.

While a large majority of young people (73%) say that knowing who produced health information is very important to them, only 29% of these who looked up health information online checked the source the last time they conducted a search.

XM SATELLITE RADIO SEEKS GUESTS

XM Satellite Radio, which is now available nationwide, is producing a slew of original programs for airing on its 100 commercial-free channels.

The Washington, D.C.-based station has 71 music channels, 29 sports, comedy, and news channels that subscribers can receive on an XM-compatible radio, costing about $300, for $9.99 per month.

Lee Abrams, who is XM's chief programmer, said XM's staff of 42 program directors are interested in booking guests for interviews on the various programs which air on a daily basis.

The majority of programs are produced in XM's Washington, D.C., Broadcast Center (1500 Eckington pl.), and its facilities in Nashville (Country Music Hall of Fame) and New York (111 W. 57th st.).

Some of the programmers are: Emma Wilson, who handles "Babble On," a 24-hour youth talk channel (202/380-4481); Mark Parenteau, program director for the comedy channels (202/380-4381); Bob Mackowycz, who oversees a program based on news and information appearing in USA Today (202/380-4383), and Ken Johnson, who handles "Open Road," a talk channel for truckers.

Irina Lallemand is news director (203/380-4799), and Kevin Straley, is talk director, (202/380-4378).
The station's complete channel lineup is available on the company's website (www.xmradio.com).

PLACEMENT TIPS

Rootstock magazine has been started by Organic Valley, a large cooperative of 400 family farms in 15 states, based in La Farge, Wisc.

Theresa Marquez, an organic activist, is editor of the twice-yearly magazine, which seeks to revitalize the heritage of family farming, support sustainable agriculture and encourage stewardship of the Earth.

Marquez said the magazine will contain breaking news and features about the organic movement.

The Fall/Winter 2001 edition highlights award winning chef Ann Cooper, who writes about her decision to trade in life as a "celebrity chef" for a "lunch lady" at a small school committed to sustainability.

Organic Valley is located at 507 W. Main st., 54639. 608/625-2602; www.organicvalley.com.

Ziff Davis Media Game Group, in San Francisco, has begun publishing a new magazine for Xbox gamers, called Xbox Nation. The first issue of the quarterly went on newsstands Dec. 11.

Simon Cox, editor-in-chief, said the magazine will cover Microsoft's new Xbox games and accessories, offering news, game reviews and previews, along with tips and strategies.

Ziff Davis also publishes Electronic Gaming Monthly, which covers PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, GameBoy Advance, PS One and Nintendo 64; GameNow, a monthly guide tailored to teenage gamers, and Computer Gaming World, for core PC gamers.

Better Homes & Gardens, which is getting a facelift in April, is devoting more editorial coverage to lifestyles.

Editor-in-chief Karol Nickell, who joined the monthly women's service magazine from Traditional Home, plans to put more emphasis on family.

The February issue will have a photo of a mother and daughter on the cover, the first people to be featured on a BH&G cover in more than 10 years.

MOVED: The Sports Network, an international real-time sports wire service, has relocated its corporate headquarters to new facilities in the town of Hatboro, a suburb of Philadelphia.

TSN has more than 100 fulltime employees and an additional 400 correspondents and journalists worldwide.

(Media news continued on next page)

CHAIN OWNER TO RUN CANNED EDITORIALS

CanWest Global Communications, the new owner of Southam Publications, is making its chain of 12 daily newspapers across Canada run a "national editorial."

The editorials, which will eventually run three times a week, are written at the company's corporate headquarters in Winnipeg.

Southam publishes dailies in Halifax, N.S. (Daily News), St. John, Newfoundland (Telegram), Montreal (Gazette), Ottawa (Citizen), Windsor (Star), St. Catherines (Standard), Regina (Leader Post), Saskatoon (Star Phoenix), Calgary (Herald), Edmonton (Journal), Vancouver (Sun), and Victoria (Times-Colonist). CanWest also publishes The National Post.

A group of 65 reporters and editors at the Gazette have protested the new policy, saying it will constrain the editorial boards of each newspaper and undermine the independence and diversity of each paper's editorial board and thereby give Canadians a "greatly reduced variety of opinion, debate and editorial discussion."

David Asper, who is chairman of the publications committee of CanWest, and chairman of the editorial board of Southam News Services, said there are two reasons for the new policy.

First, on certain national matters, he believes the local view is sometimes not always what is arguably best for the nation as a whole.

His other reason is that "far too much `opinion' comes from southern Ontario and we are very proud that our editorial group in Winnipeg is adding to the diversity of those voices.

"We think the existence of a media power base other than in Toronto is good for Canada and we'll never apologize for that belief," said Asper.

MORE AMERICANS TRUST NEWS PEOPLE

More Americans today now trust people who report the news and their President, than they did in 1998, according to Harris Interactive.

The pollster, which conducted a similiar poll in 1998, asked a nationwide sample of 1,011 Americans in November whether or not they would generally trust a list of people in different professions.

This time 54% said they generally trusted TV newscasters as compared to 44% in 1998, while trust in news people as a whole rose six points to 49% to move ahead of business.

President Bush was trusted by 79%, while President Clinton was trusted by 54% of the Americans in the 1998 poll.

Overall, the findings show the largest numbers say they generally trust clergymen (90%), teachers (88%), and doctors (84%).

Because of the war on terrorism and the role of the American military in Afghanistan, military officers were added to the list this year. A better than two-to-one majority say they generally trust them.

REVIEWER PLUGS NEW 'BIAS' BOOK

Bernard Goldberg's new book, "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News," should be taken seriously, says New York Times book reviewer Janet Maslin.

The former CBS News correspondent, who wrote an op-ed article in 1995 for The Wall Street Journal, accusing his employer of slanting the news, examines news coverage of such issues as race, AIDS and homelessness to support his belief that most of those who shape these stories tilt to the left.

He mentions several examples, such as a rule for the Gannett newspaper group insisting upon minority sources for all stories.

MOTOR TREND HAS A NEW EDITOR

Kevin Smith, 49, was named editor in chief of Motor Trend magazine, replacing C. Van Tune, who resigned.

Smith, who resides in the Los Angeles area, will oversee the editorial content as it relates not only to the magazine but all of its brand extension. He will also oversee the Los Angeles and Detroit bureaus.

Motor Trend, a Primedia publication, was started in 1949 and has a circulation of 1.26 million with a readership of about 6.8 million.

'TODAY' GETS A CONSUMER REPORTER

Ann Brown will report on consumer affairs for NBC News.

Brown, who resigned Nov. 1 from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, will do 12 consumer stories a year for NBC's "Today" show.

Her first report, on toy safety, aired Nov. 21.

While head of the CPSC, Brown was criticized by ABC and CBS morning shows for appearing exclusively on Today on product recalls.

Since Brown left, press representatives for the commission have appeared on TV to discuss agency findings.

PEOPLE

Linda Wertheimer, 58, is leaving her hosting duties on "All Things Considered" to become a senior national correspondent for National Public Radio on Jan. 2.

John Omicinski, who wrote the "Modern Times" column for the Gannett News Service for about 15 years, is retiring. His last column ran Dec. 13.

Sam Feist, executive producer for CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports" in Washington, D.C., was promoted to senior producer of "Crossfire" and "Wolf Blitzer Reports."

Princell Hall was named to replace Roger Bell as news director of KCBS-TV Los Angeles. Hall will continue to oversee several CBS stations' news departments in addition to running the news in L.A.

REVIEW OF 2001

The nightmarish tragedy of 9/11 defined 2001. War fever appears on the rise and puts a question mark over all activities and plans including marketing.

The U.S., whose PR was shaky early in the war, got on solid ground with the outing of bin Laden tapes in which he gloats over WTC deaths.

The former Denora Prager (the queen of the PR world for many years as Denny Griswold) died in seclusion at 92, cut off from friends for five years. All her treasured memorabilia disappeared.

Omnicom, a mutual fund (since it keeps hands off its acquisitions), is now also a venture capitalist. It started a corporate detective agency from scratch. Few PR or ad firms are left to buy.

Those who bought $850 million in OMC zero-coupon bonds (LYONS) are thus far holding the bag since they convert at $110 a share, $25 above OMC's current price. Bondholders have to pay taxes on interest they haven't received while OMC can deduct interest on payments it hasn't made.

The Securities Industry Assn. (700 stockbrokers) started a campaign to roll back the "Fair Disclosure" initiative of the SEC. The Assn. for Investment Mgmt. & Research was "profoundly disappointed" with the passage of Reg FD.

New York Times panned Jack Welch's book, saying the former GE chairman spends most of it praising fellow employees and even confessed in the book that it was a chore and a bore writing it.

Pollyanna PR philosophy of Arthur Page ("PR is 90% doing the right thing and 10% talking about it) was described in a bio by Noel Griese.

Hit movie "Cast Away" was a giant plug for Fed Ex, even featuring its CEO in one scene. Fed Ex allowed movie to show one of its planes crashing.

Magazine casualties included Mademoiselle (after 66 years), Industry Standard, Working Woman and Brill's Content.

Ouster of Jacques Nasser as CEO of Ford was due to the "nightmarish PR" that accompanied the Firestone/Ford tire catastrophe, said Fortune.

The president of the American Society of Travel Agents said negative news is "murdering travel."

Arab TV news network Al Jezeera became a force. Its D.C. bureau head told CNN's Paula Zahn that it does "not mix patriotism with journalism," which he accused the U.S. media of doing.

New York's mayor-elect Mike Bloomberg, addressing the New York Financial Writers' Assn. criticized dot-com CEOs for being inexperienced although he started Bloomberg's with no news background and was not previously in politics.

Polk Laffoon, VP/corporate relations, Knight-Ridder newspapers, warned K-R editors that reporters who want to do a story about K-R "virtually always have an agenda." His advice: either say nothing or confuse them with a lot of contrary information.

IABC, which lost $1M and cancelled its directory, said it was hurt by "an unbelievably sloppy level of accounting practices."

Lawyer Mitchell Schrage has recovered $10M+ in fees for PR firms like Burson-Marsteller, Edelman and Cohn & Wolfe. He hits deadbeats with a draft summons and court complaint.

Many failed dot-coms stiffed their PR firms, which had reported huge high-tech billings for 2000. How much was ever collected?

Some women are so attractive that men cannot hear what they are saying, said Women in PR by Profs. Larissa Grunig, Elizabeth Toth and Linda Hon. Men were accused of "lookism" (focusing on the body parts of women rather than the complete person).

National IR Institute won't give or even sell its directory of 5,300 members to reporters but PR Society of America gives its directory of 19,500 members free to any reporter who asks for it.

Interpublic EVP Barry Linsky told IPG managers worldwide (for the second time) not to talk to the press about office closings or staff reductions because such stories are "Chinese water torture." Bruce Rubin, IPG's one PR contact, was retired.

Omnicom CEO John Wren told the annual meeting OMC keeps a lean h.q. staff and can't spare $$ for its own full-time PR person. Wren's stock at the time was worth $163 million.

OMC's media buying unit, OMD, is negotiating a deal to buy product placements on TV shows to combat zapping of commercials and ad clutter.

Ogilvy PR CEO Bob Seltzer made $450K in 2000 plus $338K in bonuses, $41K in longterm pay and $25K in health, cars, clubs, etc. Howard Paster of Hill and Knowlton got $925K in total.

Ads work best on "light" readers of news and have little effect on "heavy" readers, said a study for the Institute of PR by Insight Farm unit of Burrelle's.

Advertising Age said Wall Street's takeover of Madison Ave. is a "good thing" because "a stock that keeps growing over the long haul is a fine employee motivator." IPG's stock is half of what it was two years ago and OMC is off about 20%.

"Your numbers suck!" was how the CFO of Cohn & Wolfe started one phone call to Anthony DeMartino of C&W/Atlanta, according to a deposition. Twelve employees walked and a suit was settled out of court. C&W closed its Atlanta office.

"Journalism today is relentlessly competitive, amoral, aggressive and negative," PR counselor Jim Lukaszewski said in a mailing.

United Business Media, owner of PR Newswire, did a $3 billion flip from U.K. consumer media to U.S. high-tech trades just as high-tech tanked.

Bobby Zarem told Brill's his secret to creating celebrities is the "pitch letter, gossip campaign, and the continual making of connections."

Obits included Patrick Jackson, 68, longtime PRSA leader who believed PR should change "behaviors," and John Scanlon, who socialized with media bigs.

Drug companies are increasingly paying celebrities to tell reporters about their drug treatments.

(continued on page 8)

The "Tower of Babel" that earnings reports have become points up the need for PR and IR pros to again take up their role of being "corporate consciences" and not just other salespeople.

It takes gumption for IR pros to tell their companies that it's wrong to put out misleading reports.

The IR pros must tell their CEOs and CFOs that they need to help busy financial reporters and not do things that might confuse them or waste their time.

It would help the IR pro if he or she could quote a national IR organization as saying that real earnings must come first and "pro forma" or "whatever" earnings must come later (not to mention eliminating numerous other abuses in earnings reports).

But that cannot be the case when we found 10 of the 14 directors of the National IR Institute are putting out earnings reports that don't give the real earnings first. Several of the reports are misleading and have been challenged by media.

The worst Q3 report of all was by the $24 billion "Baby Bell" giant, BellSouth. The report spoke about new DSL customers, growth in data revenue, "normalized earnings" and foreign currency losses.

It took some minutes for us to comb through this 18-page document and find that earnings of BLS plunged 99% in the quarter to $7 million from $1 billion. Nowhere in the report is a candid description given for this: BLS's investment in Qwest Communications (broadband) plunged because Qwest stock collapsed from $48 to around $11.
What is so bad about putting this in the lead? Nothing. Eventually, no one is fooled by the circuitous report. IR pros have taken a dive, becoming mere salespeople.

We talked to a PR pro at BLS about this (because IR head and NIRI board member Nancy Humphries won't return our calls and e-mails). He had no reply except that BLS had to acknowledge the stock drop.

The situation is the same at PR Society of America, where the old ethics code has been dumped in favor of a new one whose first word is "Advocacy." The first sentence says, "We serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent." So do salespeople.

But how does PRSA behave? A leadership call Dec. 17 from 11 a.m. to 11:40 provided no financial information to participants except an assurance by treasurer Reed Byrum that $200,000 would be returned to "reserves." PRSA invited us to sit in on the meeting at h.q. but refused to give us any financial data. The Society has the computers that could print out a full report any moment during the day and has the ability to broadcast them on its website. We especially want to know the loss on APR this year since the program cost a net of $1,794 for each of the 246 new PRSA APRs created in 2000 (income of $150,074 and costs of $566,502). We want to know 2001 travel spending because that soared 23% in 2000 to a record $717,478. (NIRI and IABC each spend about $120K yearly in travel.)

We're suspicious of rosy statements about PRSA's finances because last year a $3,000 profit was predicted and this turned into a $678,893 loss. The reform of PRSA giving quarterly financial reports established by 1997-98 presidents Debra Miller and Mary Cusick has been forgotten. The APR fundamentalists who run PRSA continue to promote an exam that is 17 years old and unrelated to modern PR practice.

REVIEW OF 2001 (continued from 7)

Anthony Lewis, who has been sympathetic to the Palestinians ("A Strangled People"-11/3) was retired by the New York Times. Last column 12/15 said "Fundamentalist Judaism and extreme Israeli nationalism" have fed the settlement movement, "fueling Islamic militancy among the Palestinians."

Mark Haines of CNBC's "Squawk Box" told NIRI/NY that reporters are "skeptical," not "negative," and pro forma earnings are "B.S."

Three speakers at PRSA's conference in Atlanta (Coretta King, Andrew Young and Lester Thurow), who probably got upwards of $20K each, forbade the recording of their speeches by PRSA. There was little coverage since writing about a "closely cabined" speech like that can lead to a lawsuit.

"Healthscare" industry virtually annexed media which went down without a fight. Morning radio became a gallery of ghoulish medical reports.

National Review ran a cover story on the "Pervasive Presence of Porn." Columnist Robert Thompson, of the Independent, said porn is spun as "adult" entertainment but it's actually "infantile." President Bush is proud of America but certainly not of this phenomenon.

Lizzie Grubman hurt 16 people by backing into them with her SUV at a nightclub. But sympathizers said she was out doing her job at 2 a.m., networking and partying with clients and press, unlike the 9-5 pattern of many PR pros.

www.odwyerpr.com opened a free database of everything on the site from Jan. 1, 2001. Meanwhile, 13 years of the complete texts of this NL and O'Dwyer's PR Services Report (since Jan. 1, 1989) are on Lexis-Nexis, which has a new "pay-as-you-go" service that does not require continuing membership (lexis-nexis.com). Registration is required and headlines can be searched free.
--Jack O'Dwyer