B-M 'RE-BRANDS' DHL AIRWAYS

Burson-Marsteller is handling the re-branding of DHL Airways, which is changing its name to Astar Air Cargo following the June 30 completion of its $57 million buyout by an investment group headed by John Dasburg.

DHL is in the midst of a battle with rival carriers United Parcel Service and Fedex. They maintain DHL is controlled by Germany's Deutsche Post in violation of U.S. rules limiting foreign ownership of American carriers. A federal judge on May 27 said he will rule on the case despite the Dasburg-led takeover.

Dasburg, who served a decade as CEO of Northwest Airlines, and organized the buyout of Burger King, believes the DHL takeover will "reinforce the reality" that Astar is not a corporate unit of DHL Worldwide Express.

DHL also operates 40 aircraft for the U.S. military, currently providing service to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Matt Triaca, in B-M's aviation, transportation and tourism unit, handles DHL's PR.

IMNEX LANDS $1M UZBEK ACCOUNT

Uzbekistan has given Chicago-based Imnex International a $1 million contract for PR and investment promotion. The Central Asian state is a key ally in the 'war on terror,' offering basing rights to the U.S. military. The State Dept. has issued a travel warning for Uzbekistan, saying terrorists may attack hotels used by Westerners.

Imnex, according to its contract, will work with "media, government and legislative agencies, international financial organizations, banks, investment funds and think tanks" on behalf of Uzbekistan.

Mark Proujanski, Imnex president, reports to Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

CSV SPARKS IPO MARKET

Forstmann Little & Co. plans to raise more than $300 million via the initial public offering for Citadel Broadcasting, the Las Vegas-based company that owns more than 200 radio stations.

Citigate Sard Verbinnen, which is owned by Incepta, is handling the deal for Ted Forstmann's investment firm. Bloomberg News believes the Citadel deal may spark a pickup in the moribund IPO market.

CSV's Anna Cordasco says FL&C will retain an 84 percent stake in Citadel following the transaction. The investment firm spent $962M for Citadel in 2001.

IPG MUST DEFEND VS. INSIDER SUIT

A New York federal judge ruled May 29 that a suit charging insider trading violations by Interpublic executives can go forward.

Schiffrin & Barroway, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., is the lead law firm, besting nearly 20 other law firms that filed suit. Class action status is sought.

One of the lawsuits charged that 17 IPG executives sold $100 million of IPG stock since 1997 at prices that were more than double the prices in August, 2002. IPG's price plummeted from the $20's and $30's to as low as $7.40 after it said it would have to restate earnings for a number of years.

Retired finance head Eugene Beard had sold stock worth $35.2M; ex-IPG CEO John Dooner, $28M; retired CEO Phil Geier, $21M; Frank Lowe of Lowe Lintas, $17M, and XVP Barry Linsky, $5.1M.

Numerous lawsuits were also filed against Omnicom executives when its stock price plunged from the $80's to as low as the mid-$30's after a Wall Street Journal article last June 12. There is no current information on the status of these suits.

Yahoo! said 15 insiders sold 841,439 shares worth $72M at an average price of $85 in the period from April 25, 2000 to June 22, 2002.

Keith Reinhard, CEO of DDB, sold 313,450 shares for $27.4M after exercising options that cost $6M; Alan Rosenshine, CEO of BBDO, sold 242,000 for $21.3M, exercising options that cost $1.8M.

Smith Barney lowered its rating on IPG to "inline" from "outperform," saying a turnaround could "take some time."

SORRELL GETS PAY HIKE

Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, got a pay hike of more than 80% last year, despite a decline in the company's pre-tax profits by more than half.

The ad/PR conglomerate's annual report shows Sorrell was paid a salary of $2.6 million in 2002, up from $1.4 million in 2001.

A WPP spokesman told The London Telegraph that Sorrell's salary for 2001 "looks low" because he had declined to take the bonus he was due, as the "company had failed to live up to its margin objectives and the market was very tough."

The spokesman said Sorrell's salary for 2002 includes a bonus of £731,000, which was not taken in cash, but in restricted shares which cannot be cashed in until May 2005. He also got £336,000 in 2002 for a private pension plan.

DELTA MUM ON FUTURE PR PLANS

Delta Airlines has just announced plans to shift its ad and marketing work in house and wind down its relationship with Publicis' Leo Burnett. But the number two air carrier was less clear about its PR plans.

Delta spokeswoman Peggy Estes told this NL the company would not comment on whether it would continue to retain Ketchum, its outside PR firm. She would only confirm that the company currently uses outside PR counsel. In a statement, Delta billed the ad account move as a cost-cutting measure.

Robin Massey, spokeswoman for Ketchum, said the firm will continue to work for Delta and its Sky magazine.

Delta's budget carrier, Song, will continue with Dan Klores Communications.

DKC partner Sean Cassidy said his firm has a one-year deal and is currently planning work into 2004 for the airline. Song hired Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners for a $10 million ad project with its PR unit Lime last week. Cassidy said KB&P, a client of the firm, was hired on recommendation from DKC.

Delta lost $450 million in the first quarter, $1.3 billion last year, and is in the midst of seeking concessions from its pilots.

BLUE CHIPS CONVENED IN GEORGIA

More than 150 heads of Fortune 1000 PR departments and the heads of the largest PR operations met May 28-31 at The Cloister, Sea Island, Ga. The occasion was the 52nd annual meeting of Public Relations Seminar, a by-invitation-only group whose members head the PR departments of major U.S. and international companies and about ten of the largest U.S. PR operations.

Leslie Gelb, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke on "The World after Iraq." Richard Edelman, president and CEO, Edelman PR Worldwide, introduced him.

Warren Rudman, former Senator from New Hampshire, spoke about "Domestic Terrorism: How Real Is the Threat?" His introducer was Phyllis Piano, VP-corporate communications, Raytheon.

P.J. O'Rourke, columnist and author, was the dinner speaker on May 30. A panel on "corporate governance" was held on May 30 with David Faber of the Wall Street Journal as moderator.

Panelists were Rudman; Ralph Larsen, former chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson, and Peter Peterson, chairman, The Blackstone Group. Bill Nielsen of J&J was session chair.

Brian Williams, NBC News anchor, spoke May 29 on "Current World Events." Session chair was Beth Comstock, VP, corp. comms., General Electric.

Lou Gerstner, retired chairman and CEO of IBM, spoke May 29 on "Elephants Can Dance." His interviewer was Roger Bolton of Aetna.

Proceedings of PRS are normally off the record although some speakers have on occasion supplied texts of their speeches. The next PRS will be May 26-29 at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara Biltmore.

BECKHAMS INVADE U.S.

Global Talent Group is handling the campaign to create recognition for British soccer star David Beckham and wife, Victoria, the former Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, in the U.S.

The couple, who are treated like royalty in the U.K., scored a front page profile ("Posh 'n' Becks Hear America Calling") in the May 25 New York Times style section. Cathy Horyn wrote that the Beckhams "are trying to extend their celebrity into the only country on earth that has not heard of them." That's because "this is not a nation that pays a great deal of attention to soccer."

That may change following the success of the independent film, "Bend it like Beckham," and the U.S. tour of Beckham's Manchester United, the world's most popular sports team. GTG also helped arrange an interview for the Beckhams with "20/20" earlier this month, and sessions with editors from Vogue and W, according to Horyn.

Thomas Martin and Mark Young head the Soho N.Y. headquarters of GTG, which is based in London. They were Artista Records publicity directors for the east and west coast, respectively. The duo have represented Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston, Busta Rhymes, Santana, Kenny G and Annie Lennox.

Besides the Beckhams, GTG handles Naomi Campbell, Angie Stone and Alicia Keys.

MWW BOOSTS DUBAI

MWW Group is generating awareness of the Dubai International Financial Center, which wants to position itself as the hub for companies wanting to do business in the Persian Gulf states, Syria, Lebanon, India/Pakistan and eastern Africa.

Dubai is slated for a major profile boost as host of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meeting set for September. More than 6,000 delegates and 2,500 journalists are slated to attend the sessions.

MWW's team includes Jonathan Slade, Michael Baxter and Matt Horn. MWW is part of Interpublic's Golin/Harris unit.

SIEGEL TO AMERICAN COLLEGES

Eilsa Siegel, a VP at Goddard Claussen Porter Novelli, has left for a senior VP post at the Association of American Medical Colleges, a GCPN client, in Washington, D.C.

Siegel, who takes the title of senior VP of the office of communications, joined GCPN in 1995 as part of the team that developed the "Harry and Louise" ads for the Health Insurance Assn. of America, a campaign which lambasted President Clinton's proposals for healthcare reform.

She began work for AAMC in 1997 when GCPN was charged with raising the profiles of medical schools and teaching hospitals and their role in healthcare.

She replaces Susan Neely, who left AAMC to head communications for the Department of Homeland Security.

LEVY OFFERS FEATURE-WRITING TIPS

PR pros can satisfy the appetites of hungry feature editors by giving them a "sandwich," said veteran PR writer Ronald Levy.

Levy, who is president of Episodic PR Assistants, a New York-based PR service firm, and the former chairman of North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS), which he founded, provided these tips for writing feature 'sandwiches':

1. Lead by promising a reward.

Examples: Verizon leads a feature with a promise of tips on the "best way to help a child succeed in the classroom."

American Academy of Ophthalmology promises a checklist: "When preparing children for the upcoming school year, parents often have a checklist."

2. Follow-up with the main part of your feature -the "ways"-five or ten things to do or not to do as to get the reward.

Examples: Federated Investors provides "avoid trouble" tips on planning a portfolio. So does the propane industry which averts trouble for the public and the industry by educating campers about the "dangers of having a portable propane heater in an unventilated enclosure."

3. Close by repeating the reward and giving a website address or an 800 number where readers can get more information that will help to get the reward.

"Ways for the wise are efficient," said Levy. "A feature takes little time to write and distribute and can often be adapted from consumer literature you already have," he said.

National distribution via a newswire can be made for under $500. Your tips help the public, help the newspaper, and deliver your key message in two ways, he said:
"You can attribute the tips to 'safety experts at...' or `'heart specialists at...' With this kind of attribution, you don't just get a mere mention of your organization but you get the newspaper to present your organization as a source of expert, consumer-oriented tips, and you also get a chance to present your product as a better choice."

Attribute Facts

How do you get editors to leave in your attribution? "By attributing facts for which the editor would rather not be responsible," said Levy.

"If you lead with something obvious ('summer is a time when many people go on vacation'), most editors will delete the 'according to' line.

"But if you say 'Five common health mistakes may cut your longevity by years, according to...' any editor knows that killing the attribution would mean loading onto the newspaper unwanted responsibility for the facts," said Levy.

By having a round amount of numbered tips such as ten, editors won't cut the tip with a product reference, said Levy.

No one should feel "above" providing easy-to-understand information helpful to millions. "Gifted medical writers even at Memorial Sloan-Kettering- the world's top cancer hospital-put out information in the plainest English on how to avoid the disease and what signs of trouble to watch out for," he said.

U.K. READERS WANT MORE FEATURES

A survey of 2,000 newspaper buyers shows hard news is no longer what the average reader in the U.K. wants, particularly in the Saturday edition.

The survey, which was conducted by Human Capital, a media strategy and research consultancy, found serious news (and sports for men) remain the most important stated reasons why broadsheet readers buy their paper during the week.

But on Saturdays, buyers of both broadsheets and tabloids want to read more features, especially women readers under 45, who omitted news entirely from their top four choices-preferring review sections, holidays, TV, the magazines, homes, stars and other feature areas.

In the case of tabloid readers, the survey showed readers under 45 are not interested in news that has nothing to do with celebrities or sports. For younger women, celebrity news was their first choice.

Older tabloid readers, particularly male, still want news and opinion as part of their mix throughout the week, including Saturdays.

THE NEW ATLANTIS PREMIERES

The Ethics and Public Policy Center, in Washington, D.C., has started a new magazine on technology, ethics, and American politics. Called The New Atlantis, the premier issue is available in print or online at www.thenewatlantis.com.

Eric Cohen, who is editor, said the magazine will take a special interest in biotechnology and medicine -from embryo research to human cloning to genetic enhancement-where big questions about human nature clash with high-stakes politics.

"We want to stir things up in the biotechnics debate, and change the way the country thinks about modern science and technology-from medicine to education to warfare," Cohen said, who can be reached at 202/682-1200, or [email protected].

PEOPLE

James Miller was named senior executive producer of CNN's "American Evening with Paula Zahn."

Kevin Cook, previously executive editor of Travel & Leisure Golf, was appointed editor of Golf Magazine, published by Time Inc. He replaces Jim Frank.

Jeff Gralnick, who is rejoining NBC News as the executive in charge of "The News with Brian Williams," will have oversight of the broadcast on CNBC while Patrick Burkey will oversee the daily production of the hourlong newscast which airs at 7 and 10 p.m.

(Media news continued on next page)

STUDENTS START CONSERVATIVE PAPERS

More than 80 right-leaning newspapers and magazines are circulating on campuses from Stanford to Yale, according to a report published May 26 in The Baltimore Sun.

That's the most ever, and 50% more than two years ago, according to the Sun. Brian Auchterlonie, executive director of Collegiate Network, which trains conservative journalists, said this year alone it had 35 inquiries for starting new papers.

The Sun said more than a dozen college students were in attendance at a recent seminar sponsored by the Leadership Institute at the Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C.

"By the end of the day, the student journalists are fired up for battle-determined not only to change the tenor of notoriously liberal campus dialogues, but also, in the long run, to alter the basic makeup of U.S. professional news outlets," John Johnson wrote in his report for the Sun.

"They say they have watched aghast as left-leaning professors and student leaders blamed America for the [9/11] attacks. So they're starting their own guerilla publications, often styled as unbridled opinion journals, to drum up support on campus for President Bush and the Iraq war," the Sun reported.

D.C.-BASED REPORTERS TRUST WEBSITES

Most Washington, D.C.-based political reporters surveyed online cited the website as their "most trusted source" (excluding direct personal contacts) in a new survey of capital insiders.

In contrast, 17% of the reporters polled said they relied on news alerts; 13% on press releases, and 4% on e-mail newsletters.

Congressional staffers (about 84%) also prefer to access information from interest groups, lobbyists and other sources when preparing for a vote.

The survey of nearly 300 inside-the-beltway opinion leaders was conducted in early spring on NationalJournal.com by Mindshare Internet Campaigns, an online public affairs firm, based in D.C.

About seven out of 10 Congressional staffers find newly released position papers most useful for interest groups, corporations or other organizations to provide online.

Nearly the same percentage want to get an analysis of impact on their state or district; 54% find tutorials explaining complex issues useful; 46% prefer presentations of opposing viewpoints, and 39% go online to get archived position papers.

MEDIA BRIEFS

Crain Communications' BtoB will begin publishing a new offshoot called Media Business on June 9.

The publication, which will be sent to BtoB's 5,000 subscribers, will cover ad trends and online initiatives/events.

Media Business will move to a monthly schedule starting in September.

Bizjournals, the new media division of American City Business Journals, a publisher of metropolitan business newspapers, has redesigned its 43 websites. The sites will increase their coverage of local business and community news and add new advertiser-friendly features.

Vegas, a monthly magazine featuring upscale products, will make its debut in Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Detroit next month.

Greenspun Media Group, which publishes The Las Vegas Sun, and SoBeNews, publisher of Ocean Drive magazine, in Miami, are co-owners of Vegas.

The New Frontier is the title of a new political magazine that Helen O'Donnell will publish as a successor to George magazine.

O'Donnell, who is based in Boston, plans to have a prototype edition on the streets this summer.

EX-TIME REPORTER MAY HAVE BEEN KILLED

Authorities in Chicago are investigating the death of Julie Grace, 41, a former reporter for Time magazine, who was found dead in her apartment on May 20.

Grace had been a fixture in Chicago journalism and the Illinois political scene since the mid-1980s. After working on several political campaigns, she took a job as a reporter in Time's Chicago bureau in 1991.

She had a drinking problem which led her to leaving Time in 2001, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. Her father told the paper she went through a rehabilitation program in Chicago.

She had been working on writing assignments for Serafin & Assocs., a Chicago-based PR firm run by Thom Serafin, who was a friend of hers.

PEOPLE

Keith Dawson was promoted to editorial director of Call Center Magazine and callcentermagazine.com, published in New York by CMP Media.

Rick Bragg has resigned as a national correspondent for The New York Times. The New Orleans-based reporter was recently suspended by the Times over a story that carried his byline but was written largely by a freelancer.

Peter Sikowitz, who ran Men's Fitness magazine for five years in the 1990s, was renamed editor to replace Jerry Kindela, who resigned. American Media is moving the Los Angeles-based magazine, which it acquired early this year, to New York.

PR EXEC'S NOVEL HEADS TO THEATERS

Martin Scorsese will direct "St. Agnes' Stand," a movie based upon the Western novel written by Tom Eidson, who is EVP and director of corporate affairs at Fidelity Investments. He penned the novel while president/CEO at Hill & Knowlton.

What is the main contribution a PR pro can make, the "net nut" of his or her value?

It's good writing-the ability to describe a complex situation in succinct and dramatic terms, says New York lawyer and PR pro James F. Haggerty.

Failure of lawyers and others to do this "is a problem throughout the business world," says Haggerty, who has written "In the Court of Public Opinion" (Wiley), subtitled, "Winning Your Case with Public Relations."

He has been in the midst of some bone-crunching legal and PR blowups involving cadres of lawyers, corporate executives, investment bankers and other "movers and shakers." They're powerful people but mostly fail when it comes down to describing their positions and trying to get them across to others, he says.

The PR pro, he says, must be able to absorb a complex situation and convey it to a target audience "in the four or five seconds you have on TV or in the sentence or two you have in the print media...or in the 10-15 seconds you have before you lose an influential party's interest."

Lawyers, he says, are often too immersed in the details of a case and can't see the forest for the trees.

Businesspeople are not used to operating at the speed of media nor playing by the media's rules. The book gives much advice that is useful not only in court cases but in any PR situation.

Another book for PR pros, which captures the traditional give-and-take between PR people and reporters, is "Thank You for Smoking" (Random House) by Christopher Buckley, son of columnist Bill Buckley.

It was written in 1994 but this laugh-a-minute book has more PR wisdom than many a textbook. In it, reporters and PR pros trade insults and try out their arguments on each other.

Illogical or fatuous thoughts are blasted in the "vigorous debate" that the Constitution says is the essence of democracy.

The plot concerns PR pros in Washington, D.C., who work for tobacco, liquor and gun interests and who call themselves the MOD Squad, meaning "Merchants of Death."

They score as many points against their reporter friends as the reporters do against them. In a typical exchange, one group member points out that "Guns don't kill people," while another retorts, "Bullets do."

Helping Buckley was Leslie Dach of the D.C. office of Edelman PR Worldwide. "Buckley has the language of D.C. press/PR down pat," says Dach (whose name is used for one of the characters in the book).

The annual PRSA election hi-jinks have started in which a tiny circle of APRs will gather to divvy up the highest posts. Only a few candidates will show up. Two might run for secretary, maybe only one. New board members will be hard to find (which is why directors now serve three years).

It's time to end this undemocratic charade that disenfranchises 80% of the members.

This clique of PR pros (who have mostly not achieved leadership in the outside world) must give up its chokehold on PRSA and invite a major figure to head PRSA such as Karen Hughes, Ari Fleischer or one (or a group) of retired top PR execs who attained PR Seminar or Arthur Page.

Then, instead of this backroom process, the candidates can face the membership and media and state whether they agree with the following reforms:

1. Decouple APR from office-holding now, letting any full member run for office this summer.

2. Stop spending any more on APR than its income (APR loss since 1986 is $2.9 million).

3. Allow local-chapter only membership (like Amer. Soc. of Assn. Execs. and many other groups).

4. If h.q. is moved, bring it back to midtown where public can use a reopened "library" for a slight fee.

5. Again house PRSA/NY at h.q., saving the chapter $98K in fees and ending petty jealousy of N.Y.

6. Cap salaries of h.q. administrators at $150K. They shouldn't earn more than 98% of members.

7. Install as employees or volunteers in h.q. at least ten senior PR pros (copying ABA, AMA, 4A's).

8. Abolish districts, as urged by $32K KPMG study in 1991, saving $40K annually. The districts give 50 meaningless, expensive titles to PRSA insiders.

9. Merge 51 tiny chapters (under 100 members) with bigger chapters, ending Assembly gerrymandering.

10. Cut board to ten, choose members by quality, not geography. (Assn. staffs love big, weak boards.)

11. Reform Silver Anvils. Something is wrong when Ketchum and Fleishman-Hillard win 99 in 9 years.

12. PDF at least Strategist and maybe Tactics, speeding delivery and saving up to $500K yearly.

13. Give back control of its money to Counselors Academy, which has been decimated by this raid on its treasury. Big and small members deserted.

14. Clean up past. Pardon Summer Harrison who criticized PRSA officers in Contragate; settle with authors whose works it copied and sold, etc.

15. Let students from any college join PRSA (they can't at 3,600 of the 4,000 colleges).

16. Put fulltime CPA on staff.

17. Publicize expenses of top staff, officers.

18. Publicize printing and other RFPs.

19. Set up ongoing web bulletin board; post the Fellows' study on what recruiters think of APR and $150K study on credibility of public figures.

20. Add two or more outside directors (like ASAE).

21.Replace $100K New York weekend June love-in for chapter officers with spring Assembly.

--Jack O'Dwyer