CONGRESS WANTS QC's SAUDI PR RECORDS

Qorvis Communications, Patton Boggs and the Gallagher Group have received subpoenas from the House Committee on Government Reform demanding they turn over their PR and lobbying records for Saudi Arabia. The panel is probing reports of American children kidnaped and held in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Embassy claims those documents are protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as "archives and documents of the mission," an argument bitterly rejected by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who heads the panel.

Burton, on Nov. 21, released a six-page letter to Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar [whose wife may have inadvertently funneled monies to Al-Qaeda], in which he criticized the Saudi claim of protection a "without any support in the legal precedents of the U.S." He also noted that the Vienna Convention is "intended to protect foreign diplomats but has no application to American citizens "who choose to sell their services as public relations/lobbying mouthpieces for foreign interests."

To the contrary, Burton wrote that the Foreign Agents Registration Act makes clear the "activities of such 'propagandists', including the documents they generate, send and receive in the course of those activities, are to be subject to the 'spotlight of pitiless publicity' so that the American people may be fully informed of both the identify of the propagandists and the nature of the activities they undertake on behalf of their foreign masters.'
Both sides are plotting their next moves.

SUNBEAM USES RL&M FOR REORG.

Robinson Lerer & Montgomery is helping Sunbeam Corp. recover from its disastrous "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap legacy, emerge from Chapter 11, and position it as a revived entity under the American Household Inc. corporate name.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Sunbeam's Chapter 11 reorganization plan on Nov. 25. The Boca Raton-based company plans to emerge from Chapter 11 "as soon as possible."

Sunbeam lost $170M-following a $167M writeoff on $1.5B in revenues for the first nine months of this year. RL&M staffers Mark Baker and Jeanne Abi-Nader are responsible for the account. WPP Group's Young & Rubicam is RL&M's parent.

FITCH GOES NEGATIVE ON WPP

Fitch Ratings has downgraded WPP Group's senior unsecured rating to "BBB-" from "A-" due to the persistent weakness in the advertising market, and the ad/PR conglomerate's increased debt due to a combination of acquisitions and share buybacks. The firm gives WPP a "negative rating outlook."

FR predicts global ad spending will decline two-to-three percent this year, and will either be flat or chart minimal growth during 2003.

WPP has stated that it doesn't expect spending to perk up until 2004 driven by the Athens Olympics, U.S. Presidential election and European soccer championship. FR believes those are only "initial stimuli." They must be supplemented by sustained economic growth in the major industrial countries for ad spending to rebound, said FR. The ratings firm also notes the possible war with Iraq could torpedo recovery for advertising.

FR credits WPP's "ability to leverage off its industry leading brands and its global networks." CEO Martin Sorrell's effort to keep a lid on costs puts WPP in a strong position to take advantage of any economic growth, according to Fitch.

W&C HELPS GET AMERICANS 'RETIREMENT READY'

Walt & Company has been chosen over five other firms by the National Retirement Planning Coalition to handle a campaign promoting retirement issues and planning in the U.S. Deborah Tucker, director of PA at the NRPC, told this NL billings could reach the multimillion-dollar range, depending on coalition members' sponsorship.

She said members were asked to submit names of PR firms they had experience with for the pitch process, and a decision was made based on that field.

Bob Dole has signed on as spokesman for the coalition, which includes the Actuarial Foundation, American Savings Education Council, Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards, National Allianceof Caregivers, National Assn. for Variable Annuities and the National Preretirement Education Assn.

Supporters of the groups include American Express, Pfizer, AT&T, and Ernst & Young.

Tucker said Dole gave the coalition immediate credibility with their target audience of retirement-age people.

Bob Walt, president of W&C, told O'Dwyer's the work is a key win for the firm because it extends W&C's traditional high-tech focus. He stressed that retirement planning is a national issue and not a commercial interest.

His firm helped roll out National Retirement Planning Week last week and will develop events and pitch issues as the campaign unfolds further.

SEC UNVEILS FIRST REG FD ENFORCEMENT

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 25 announced its first-ever enforcement actions under its Regulation FD, which bans companies from providing information to analysts before the public.

The government reached agreements with Raytheon, Secure Computing Inc. and Siebel Systems. The companies did not admit to any wrongdoing, but said they would comply with the Reg FD rule.

The SEC probe of Raytheon focused on whether CFO Franklyn Caine violated Reg FD when he called analysts in February 2001, and told them their earnings projections for the defense contractor were too high.

According to the SEC: "Caine also told certain analysts that their estimates for first quarter earnings or revenue for particular divisions were 'too high,' 'aggressive,' or 'very aggressive.'

After their conversations with Caine, the analysts revised their estimates. The revised estimates caused the Street's consensus to fall to one penny below Raytheon's internal 2001 first quarter EPS estimate."

Raytheon issued a statement, noting that the SEC "did not impose any civil penalty or other monetary sanctions against Raytheon or any of its employees, and it does not affect Raytheon's results of operation or financial condition." The company "neither admits nor denies the findings in the SEC's administrative cease and desist order settling the matter, and remains committed to full and fair disclosure to all investors."

SCI also did not have to pay a penalty, though SS was fined $250,000.

The SEC announced that it completed a Reg FD investigation of Motorola.

BKSH HOOKS UP WITH VIETNAM'S FISHERMEN

Burson-Marsteller's BKSH & Assocs. lobbying wing is pushing for fair play on behalf of Vietnamese catfish producers who are locked in a hardball trade battle with their American counterparts.

The Vietnamese, according to a Nov. 3 New York Times article, learned a "quick lesson in the rough world of the free market" from the Catfish Farmers of America group. The organization, fretting over loss of 20 percent of the U.S. market to the Vietnamese, lobbied in support of a labeling bill in Congress barring the Vietnamese from using the name 'catfish' on their product.

A Vietnam fishery official complained to the Times that Americans were using "un-American tactics" to keep their fish out of the U.S. Texas oil man Albert Huddleston apparently agreed. He is the person who hired BKSH & Assocs. on behalf of the Vietnam Assn. of Exporters and Producers, a unit of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. A BKSH staffer, who did not want to be named, described the client as a private businessman and ardent free trader.

BKSH has put its 'A' team on the account as Charlie Black, the long-time Republican political operative, is leading the charge for Huddleston. The firm handled a similar trade battle on behalf of Chilean salmon and grape producers.

DILENSCHNEIDER: WEST, ARABS ARE PR FLOPS

Both the Western democracies and Muslim nations have "failed to effectively communicate to one another the core values and realities of their respective ways of life," which "is why we stand on the brink of war," Bob Dilenschneider told a Conference Board meeting in London.

The West, he said, "has failed miserably to show peoples in other parts of the world how they can benefit and prosper from the advances and developments that have taken place in democratic nations. Instead, "we have come across in movies, books, magazines and the popular media as arrogant, divided, greedy, unwilling to work with one another and consumed by materialism and violence," Dilenschneider said.

The Muslim world, according to The Dilenschneider Group CEO, has not "communicated the richness of its culture and art or the sophistication, and intellectual depth that often mark its daily life. We only see terrorism, Al Qaeda, the Wahabi sect, and closed, intolerant backward societies fearful of democracy and technological change."

Dilenschneider doesn't subscribe to the "clash of civilizations" argument that has been advanced by some historians. "If the West and Muslim world can communicate the way of life they experience among themselves to the rest of the world, we will have taken an important step toward eliminating some of the threats we now read about every day, and perhaps the terrorism we see played out on our television screens almost nightly," he said.

People, he explained, "need to be open and take in the best of the West and the best of the Muslim world and use that awareness to help further improve life elsewhere," he said.

ZILKA, KEEGAN JOIN EDELMAN

Jeff Zilka, who once ran Hill and Knowlton's financial communications practice, is now in charge of Edelman PR Worldwide's financial group in Chicago. The 47-year-old is executive VP responsible for IR, corporate governance, transactions and financial marketing.

He joins from The Weiser Group, which has decided to close its Chicago office to focus on Washington, D.C., and New York.

Edelman added Bill Keegan, also 47, , who was at NiSource, an energy services company, to serve as its senior VP crisis/issues management. In October, Nick Kalm, who had headed Edelman's corporate reputation group, left to start Reputation Partners in Chicago. He was joined by former Edelman execs Marta Rhyner (senior VP) and Jane Falzell (A/S).
Zilka and Keegan report to Mark Shadle, who is managing director of Edelman's 60-member Chicago corporate group. It counts Boeing, Kraft Foods, Expedia and Household International, which is being acquired by U.K.-based HSBC Holdings, as clients.

JUSKA NAMED HOME EDITOR AT LHJ

Kiernan Juska has joined Ladies' Home Journal as home editor.

Juska had been home and crafts editor at Rosie magazine, where she oversaw all home, garden and crafts stories. Before that, she was associate style editor at Goodhome.com where she produced celebrity home makeover segments for the TV show "Famous Homes and Hideaways."

Diane Salvatore, editor-in-chief of LHJ, said Juska will be an "important part of our new focus on heart, home and family which will premier in the March issue."

Other new staffers hired by Salvatore include Carla Engler, previously at My Generation, to the position of beauty/fashion director, and Marybeth Dulany, formerly photo director for Rosie magazine, to the position of photography director.

MYERS JOINS NBC's INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

NBC News' Lisa Myers was named chief investigative correspondent for a newly created investigative reporting unit.

Myers, most recently NBC's chief congressional correspondent, started at the network in 1981. She is joined in the investigative unit by Jim Popkin, who was named senior investigative producer, and producer Rich Gardella.

Norah O'Donnell will replace Myers on the congressional beat.

The investigative unit will contribute to all NBC News programs, including "Nightly News," "Today," "Dateline NBC," as well as MSNBC.

Immediate priorities include coverage of U.S. counterterrorists, corporate corruption and international issues, according to Neal Shapiro, president of NBC News.

PEOPLE

Ward Bushee, editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer, was named editor of The Arizona Republic, replacing Tom Callinan, who succeeds Bushee as editor of the Enquirer.

James Asher, who was metro investigations editor at The Baltimore Sun, was named to head Knight Ridder's new investigative team in its Washington, D.C., bureau.

Stephen Henderson, associate editor of the Sun's editorial page, was named the bureau's new legal affairs correspondent.

Laurie Schechter, former style editor of Vogue, moves to Ramp, a new men's magazine, as fashion director.

Kristina Stewart, previously society editor at Vanity Fair, has joined Harper's Bazaar as executive editor in charge of features.

Vernon Scott, 79, an entertainment reporter for United Press International, died Nov. 18. He had covered Hollywood for 52 years.

Kim Osorio was promoted to editor-in-chief of The Source Magazine, and Antoine Clark was named her replacement as executive editor.

Jerry Adler, a senior editor at Newsweek since 1993, was named the magazine's science writer.

NEW MAG COVERS AIRPORT SECURITY

Transportation Security magazine has been launched by Primedia Business Magazines and Media.

The new Atlanta-based monthly publication, a spin-off of Access Control & Security Systems magazine, will focus on providing news and information surrounding the development and implementation of technology in airports all over the country.

Another spin-off magazine, Government Security, was started in 2002 and will be published quarterly in 2003.

Larry Anderson, who is editor of AC&SS, also is editor of GS and TS. He and other editorial staffers can be reached at 770/618-0118.

NEWS OUTLETS FORM ALLIANCE IN FLA.

The Miami Herald and WFOR-TV (CBS 4) are forming an alliance to share news gathering, personnel,online content, office space and promotional efforts.

Under the terms of the new agreement, CBS 4 will feature a "Herald Report," highlighting the newspaper's stories, in its three daily newscasts. In return, the Herald will give CBS 4 a slot on Page 4A to feature whatever it chooses, and the right to break Herald exclusives, access to the paper's foreign bureaus and office space in the Herald's Fort Lauderdale bureau.

Other projects are in the works, including a weekly news show that the two entities would co-produce.

SOFTWARE SAVES AND FINDS CLIPS

Can't remember where you placed a clipping on the hottest new restaurants in Philadelphia or why you saved the April issue of Oprah?

A new software program called Scanalog, which was designed by the Dieck's Group in New York, claims to be the only interactive CD-ROM that allows users to scan magazine articles, save them and organize them in their computer in 11 categories like "Career," "Parenting," and "Crafts."

The new system was created by Kim Goldstein aftershe could not find an article she had saved on flagstone patios. She wanted to make sure she and others would never have to search for another article again.

Visit: www.scanalog.com.

Tennis Week, which is based in Rye, N.Y., is cutting back from 56 issues annually to 11 issues in 2003.

(Media news continued on next page)

PR PRO WANTS TO SHUT NEWSPAPER

A. Bruce Crawley, who is president of Crawley Haskins & Rogers PR, in Philadelphia, is continuing to lead an attack on The Philadelphia Daily News.

Crawley organized a rally on Nov. 19 in which about 100 people set fire to copies of the DN to protest the paper's obituary of Edwina Baker, an activist in the African-American community.

Crawley, who is also chairman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce, is spokesman for the Coalition for Fair News Coverage, a consortium that he helped organize last September in reaction to a DN cover story about 41 people-all black, Hispanic, or Asian-wanted on murder charges.

"We need to show people who disrespect us that we can re-focus the money we spend on newspapers," Crawley told those who attended an earlier rally, where he called for a boycott of the 76-year-old paper, which is owned by Knight Ridder.

"There are all types of papers that we can read that don't insult us. Don't buy the Daily News. Shut it down!," said Crawley.

The group has recently enlisted 39 clergy to sign a petition requesting that the Philadelphia school district stop distributing the paper to students, and his PR firm is creating an ad campaign for six black newspapers to promote readership of those publications.

The CFNC, which is comprised of more than 100 black activists, church leaders and others, also has demanded the resignation of managing editor Ellen Foley and editor Zack Stalberg.

Stalberg said he believes the newspapers are just using the controversy to promote business, and has compared the coalition's tactics to those of the Nazis.

Stalberg also said the boycott has had no measurable impact on advertising, circulation, or reporters' access in the black community, which he estimates makes up about half the paper's approximately 150,000 daily readers.

NEW TRAVEL MAG TARGETS VACATIONERS

Cruise and Resort, a new travel publication which will be launched in April 2003, will target vactioners who are interested in "real world" destinations.

The magazine, which will publish eight times annually and feature a guaranteed national circulation of 225,000, will also provide relevant information about entertainment, dining, local tours and traveling with the family.

Anthony Adler is CEO/publisher of the magazine, which is based in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Adler has been on the advisory boards of Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, and several others.

Ralph Grizzle, a veteran travel editor and freelance writer, who co-founded a weekly fax publication in 1995 called Cruise Week, which covers passenger cruise ship industry news, is editor of C&R. He is based in Asheville, N.C., where he resides.

The Blaze Co., Venice, Calif., is handling marketing communications and PR for the magazine.

PR PROS REVEAL PITCHING TECHNIQUES

Ben Silverman, publisher of DotcomScoop.com, a weekly online newsletter, who also writes a business column for The New York Post and a PR column for eReleases.com, a distributor of press releases, does not like to get PR pitches.

"I want to be informed by a company, not annoyed by it," he writes in his Nov. 13 column for eReleases. "PR people have consistently told me they believe the battle is won not on the phone or in person, but behind the scenes," he said.

Emily Lenzner, the spokesperson for Tom Golisano, who recently lost a bid to become governor of New York, told Silverman she does not like to make cold calls or pitch stories.

Lenzner, who previously was in corporate communications and was a TV news producer in Seattle, prefers to keep journalists informed about what her client is doing and hopes that one day they will come calling her looking for news.

An unnamed VP of corporate communications for a top company said that when it needs positive news coverage, it employs a carrot and stick philosophy, dishing out news "kernels" in hopes of getting something back.

"We'll trade news with a journalist in the hopes it pays off when we have something good happening that we feel warrants more coverage than the media will be willing to give us. It's a game and you have to learn how to play it."

"As keepers of the information flow, PR people can keep a stranglehold on information, good or bad. Using such information wisely will usually pay off through better relations with the media," said Silverman.

MEDIA BRIEFS

Faith Talk Magazine has been started by Salem Communications, a radio broadcaster, whose programs focus on religious and family themes.

The new magazine, which will complement Salem's programming, will be distributed initially to 340,000 homes in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Portland and Washington, D.C. At least two issues will be published in 2003.

Jim Cumbee, president of non-broadcast media, who is overseeing the magazine, is based in Nashville, Tenn., at 615/312-4268.

Reed Business Information is shutting down the print edition of Electronic News. The last issue of the weekly, which was started in 1957, will be Dec. 2. The paper coined the phrase "Silicon Valley."

Reed will continue to run the Electronic News website, and starting in April 2003, the frequency of Electronic Business will double to twice monthly.

Weider Publications, owner of Shape and Men's Fitness magazine, will be sold to American Media, which owns the National Enquirer.

AA PUT CRISIS PLAN ON SHELF ON 9/11

American Airlines-like most companies-had a sophisticated crisis plan ready to be put into action if necessary, but it proved totally inadequate on Sept. 11 when two of its jets were turned into armed missiles, Tim Doke told the PRSA/San Francisco conference on Nov. 19.

"We realized that nowhere in our plan did we contemplate such a circumstance," said the carrier's VP-corporate communications.

Classic PR bromides, such as putting your CEO front and center with the media, were all for naught, "since clearly the CEO in charge that day was not Don Carty, but George W. Bush," said the PR executive.

Doke also mentioned that AA was buffeted by the post 9/11 grounding of its fleet, layoffs of 20,000 people, the crash of Flight 587 in Queens, N.Y., in November, and the Richard Reed shoebomber episode.

Activates PR 'sleepers'

Doke spoke of how AA had to be creative when the "FBI essentially gagged us from any meaningful media interaction immediately following the terrorist attacks." When the media demanded to know how the terrorists got through security, AA used a number of airline security people that it had "intentionally cultivated relationships with over the years to help carry our messages and put some of the media hysteria into perspective."

When AA was told not to talk to the media following the shoebomber incident, it put its side of the story on its CEO/employee hotline to clarify info about Flight 63. "Don's hotline became an incredibly valuable tool during this entire period, since we had an obligation to keep our own people informed, and since the media conveniently know the phone number."

Doke praised the work of Weber Shandwick. A WS staffer made it to JFK Airport though the roads were closed following the 9/11 attacks. "When traffic came to a standstill, he parked his vehicle, got out and walked to the airport, seven miles away," said Doke.

GC IMPROVES INSURANCE BIZ IMAGE

Global Communicators has picked up the Insurance Marketplace Standards Assn. account, a group of more than 200 insurers, account to help improve the image of the industry.

CEO Jim Harff says the PR program will be directed at companies, consumers and federal/state regulators. It launches Jan. 1.

He believes the effort is especially needed in the current business environment, which is dominated by a "crisis of confidence in corporate governance, declining respect for business executives and a faltering economy." The IMSA seal of approval, to Harff, "represents honesty, integrity and high ethical standards."

IMSA members market and sell life insurance and annuity products. It is based in Chevy Chase, Md.

'FOLLIES' RIBS WALL STREET

Wall Streeters and political leaders took their usual pasting from the New York Financial Writers' Assn. at the annual "Financial Follies" Nov. 22 at the New York Marriott.

The black tie audience, whose size is a barometer of the stock market as well as financial PR and IR, was well below the high point of 1,250 reached in 2000.

About 980 tickets were sold at $300 each, up slightly from last year's show when the 9/11 tragedy and the recession held the audience to 870.
Burson-Marsteller bought the most number of seats by a large margin. It had 11 tables occupied mostly by clients who were not identified.

Purchasers of tables have the option of identifying their guests or not identifying them.

FD Morgen-Walke, which was the biggest sponsor for several years, buying 14 tables at the 2000 "Follies," only had two this year.

Bloomberg Business News had four tables and the following had two each: Aetna, Banc of America Securities, Brunswick Group, Citigate Sard Verbinnen, Dilenschneider Group, Kekst and Co., Manning, Selvage & Lee, Oppenheimer Funds and Weber Shandwick.

Accountants, Martha Stewart, Jack Grubman, companies that move to Bermuda, Harvard Business Review editor Suzy Wetlaufer and Enron were also targets.

CANADIAN GOV'T PR ADVISORS MOCK BUSH

MediaWorks West, a PA advisor to the Canadian province of Alberta's government, has issued a correction and apology after a memo to Premier Ralph Klein's staff called President George W. Bush an "idiot."

The incident follows another verbal slap at the President from Prime Minister Jean Chretien's communication director, Francoise Ducros, who has resigned her post following a backlash against her characterization of Bush as a "moron" at a NATO summit this month. Chretien had initially refused Ducros' resignation, but relented after the aide said her comment made it impossible to do her job.

MediaWorks had issued a memo which read, "New! Chretien refuses resignation of his communications director and says there is no evidence Francoise Ducros used the word 'moron' to describe THAT IDIOT (my caps) [sic] George Bush." Ten minutes later, the firm issued a correction and later circulated an apology by VP Jodine Chase, who called the matter an "editing error," according to The Ottawa Citizen.

Chretien, a golf pal of former President Bill Clinton, hails from the left wing of Canada's ruling Labor party and is reportedly at odds with the Bush Administration on several issues. Reuters has noted that Chretien is one of the few leaders of a close U.S. ally that has not been invited to President Bush's Texas ranch.

If your name is long, hard to spell and/or hard to pronounce, shorten it for PR and business purposes.

This is advice given by New York PR consultant Michael Pennacchia who uses "Michael Penn" for his business. He still uses his given name for personal situations and has never bothered to legally change his name.

Name-changing is common among PR pros but we find newcomers to PR are often repelled by the idea, fearing they will be seen as traitors to their ethnic heritage. Get over it, we say. Look at this from the other person's point of view.

Pennacchia shorted his name to Penn when he had to make 100 "did you get our release?" calls to media a day while working for a big PR firm.

He was spending a good part of his time spelling his name. Some calls required multiple spellings since he would be bounced from editor to editor.

PR recruits have to realize that time is money and a lengthy name can cause their resumes to be tossed.

Some other abuses PR recruits should avoid: first initials and middle initials; hyphenated names; names that give no indication as to gender such as Chris, Pat, Casey, Desta, Esin, etc., and nicknames in quotes. A PR pro's name is his or her "brand" and should be short and memorable (user friendly). Best time for a new name is at the start of a career.

One reason for the failure of decoupling to pass in PRSA's Assembly was the lack of leadership by the National Capital chapter, the biggest with 1,033 members. Steve Grant, chapter president, was the third speaker in the debate but made the weakest argument-that Assembly chairs needed to be filled. He talked about "a few" Assembly seats being empty when 24 of the 117 chapters were unrepresented because of lack of APRs who could attend.

The empty seat argument was quickly demolished by other speakers who said the new APR test, open to all throughout the year at convenient locations, would solve that. The best argument, that chapters should have the right to chose their own representatives, as advanced by some of Grant's own board members, wasn't mentioned by Grant.

A questionable torpedo was launched against decoupling by first speaker Mary Pat Adams of Colorado who cited a bogus "poll" of chapter members "who supported our opposition to this." We obtained a copy of the e-mail that was sent to members and found it violates practically every rule of a legit poll. First of all, the e-mail notes that the chapter board opposes the change "because we saw it as a weakening of support for accreditation."

It's improper for someone making a poll to argue in favor of one side. In fact, the maker of the poll should be anonymous. E-mail recipients were only given the chance to say "yes" or "no" and did not have the option of saying "I don't know" or "no opinion." Furthermore, it's doubtful all 506 chapter members have e-mail, had them turned on, or were available to answer.

Neither respondents nor anyone was ever given the numerical results of the poll, which would be further violations. Non-respondents should have been called to see if their votes matched the votes made by respondents. If they didn't, it would mean the "self-selected" respondents were biased and the poll was invalid.

The APRs, who have supposedly achieved the highest point in ethics and professionalism, laid a spurious "poll" on the Assembly.

Rebecca Brandt of Portland said no one had actually proved that a shortage of APRs was causing the empty Assembly seats although Dave Rickey of Birmingham, representing the corporate section, said sections, districts and chapters have been claiming exactly this for years...Cary Greenwood, past and founding president of the 30-member Oregon Capital chapter, said her chapter had told her to vote for decoupling and she had told them she would do so but would speak against decoupling "because I feel so strongly about it."

She said that when she became APR in 1990 it was "held as the ultimate achievement with the organization and was viewed as something that was highly prized and valued." But the actual APR process, she found, did not "reflect" that. Nevertheless, she has given her support to it "all of these years"...although other Assembly delegates spoke of APR as a "mark of distinction," "hallmark of our profession," etc., those who created APR in 1964 only thought of it as a test of "minimum" PR skills.

William Gaskill, 1969 APR chair, said the test was "designed to assure that minimum requirements for the practice of PR have been met."

James Earl Jones, who was paid about $30K as the leadoff speaker at the PRSA conference, talked of cultural and language differences among nations. What is acceptable in some nations may be highly forbidden in others such as leaving a baby outside a store. This is fine in Denmark but not in the U.S. where it can lead to an arrest.

People must be "sensitive" to different shadings and meanings in language, said Jones, who did not take any questions. He also did not allow PRSA to record and sell his talk...full registrants at the conference totaled 1,200; educators, 94; day registrations, 145; exhibitors/sponsors, 194, and single events, 330. A total of 1,215 members of PR Student Society of America had a parallel meeting.
-- Jack O'Dwyer