GTI USES FOUR COMMS.
FOR FRAUD CRISIS.
Auditor Grant Thornton International, which is enmeshed in the corporate scandal at Italian dairy giant Parmalat, is relying on Nan Williams of U.K.-based Four Communications to help handle its PR response to the crisis.

More than $8 billion in funds at Parmalat are missing, making it Europe s biggest accounting fraud. The WorldCom scandal, in contrast, included funds of more than $12 billion. An Italian court declared Parmalat "insolvent" on Dec. 27. GTI was Parmalat s accountant during the scandal period from 1990-`99.

GTI, which maintains it was a victim of the fraud, issued a statement on Dec. 30 saying its Italian unit was cooperating with authorities. GTI CEO David McDonnell is leading an internal probe into the financial controls of its Italian unit. Lorenzo Penca, CEO of GTI/Italy, resigned his post on Dec. 31, and was arrested with other Parmalat officials by Italian police. Two GTI/Italy executives also were picked up.

Four Communications has been positioning GTI, which operates in 110 countries, as the "world's only major international accountancy practice to concentrate on the owner-managed business as its prime focus."

SPAIN TAPS JWI FOR IRAQI PACTS.
The Spanish Government is using Jefferson Waterman International to help land Iraqi reconstruction contracts financed by U.S. taxpayers.

Spain provided political support to the U.S., prior to the invasion, and has contributed troops.

The country made the grade when Deputy Defense Secy. Paul Wolfowitz released the names of "coalition partners" able to bid on contracts worth $18.6 billion.

JWI's contract is with Expansion Exterior, the Spanish government-controlled foreign trading entity. The firm is to contact Pentagon officials managing the capital construction projects, and to advise Spanish executives how to pitch their services.

JWI receives a monthly retainer of $12,000, and a two percent "success fee" based upon the total price of any contracts won by Spanish companies.

Michael O'Looney, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner of public information and chief spokesman, plans to step down Jan. 15 for a VP post heading media relations at Merrill Lynch.

He succeeds Tim Cobb, who is shifting to London for an international marketing post with ML.

O'DWYER WEBSITE IS NO. 1 IN PR.
Google, the leading compiler of "hits" received by websites, ranks O Dwyer's PR Daily as the No. 1 site for "public relations news."

Yahoo!, which uses input from Google in compiling its own rankings, also places the O Dwyer site in the first position for those seeking PR news.

Google says its rankings are automatically determined by more than 100 factors including its Page- Rank algorithm and that they cannot be purchased or adjusted by hand. "Important, high-quality sites receive a higher `PageRank, " says the company, which is planning a public offering of its stock.

Google says it goes "far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page s content (and the content of the pages linking to it)..."

The O'Dwyer website is five years old and is free to subscribers to this newsletter. All stories in the past three years are in a searchable database.

LEWTON TO H&K FROM F-H.
Kathleen Lewton, who has been at Fleishman- Hillard and Omnicom sister company Porter Novelli since 1993, resigned from F-H as of Dec. 31 and is reportedly headed for Hill & Knowlton/New York.

Reports are she will be the successor to Marilyn Castaldi, an F-H graduate and also a healthcare specialist like Lewton, who was named general manager of H&K s New York office in 2002. Castaldi joined Columbia University Medical Center (12/3/3 NL).

Lewton was national healthcare head of PN before coming to F-H in 1999. She headed the 2003 nominating committee of PRSA. The ethics board of PRSA has asked for an investigation of the nomcom because of reported "irregularities."

SOLUTIA SEEKS NOD FOR SITRICK.
Solutia, which filed for Chapter 11 on Dec. 17, is asking the New York bankruptcy court to approve the retention of its crisis management firm, Sitrick & Co.

The company hired S&C in June to plot corporate strategy, according to Brenda Adrian, who heads the account. The Los Angeles-based firm got a $60,000 initial retainer and has received overall $1.2 million from Solutia, Adrain told O Dwyer's.

Solutia declared bankruptcy because it claims it could not afford to service the $100M annual legacy liabilities (retirement, environmental and litigation costs) it inherited when it was spun off from Monsanto. continued on page 2

PR21 DRIVES KIA CAMPAIGN.
PR21 has begun rolling out its first major work for Kia Motors America, the low-cost Korea-based car brand eyeing a more upscale market in the U.S. with its late-December release of a large sedan.
Kia, known for its inexpensive autos like the Rio (under $10K), recently launched a national ad and PR push for the Amanti, a full-size sedan aimed at the "leading edge" of Baby Boomers – drivers from their mid-40s to late-50s. The $25K sticker-price car hits showrooms this month.

Lisa Robinson, managing director of PR21's Los Angeles office, told this NL part of the campaign involves changing the definition of "boomer" to reflect more of a mindset than actual age. The firm organized the "Forever Young" tour, which had a Los Angeles couple drive an Amanti on a cross-country tour, culminating with a petition drive at Merriam-Webster s headquarters in Massachusetts. The tour collected signatures urging the dictionary maker to change the definition of "boomer."

PR21, a Daniel J. Edelman Inc. unit, won the estimated $750K account last fall, in a review that included incumbent Pacific Communications, GCI Group, Publicis Dialog and Douglas Cohn & Wolfe. Weber Shandwick withdrew from the pitch in June.
Megan Jordan, senior VP in Los Angeles, heads the Kia work at PR21.

The push for the Amanti also includes grassroots and other PR work, and is bolstered by a second ad campaign which is breaking this month. Independent Los Angeles-based ad shop davidandgoliath is handling creative.

JACKSON SHAKES UP PR TEAM.
Michael Jackson has split with PR spokesperson, Stuart Backerman, who says he resigned over strategic differences with the King of Pop.

His split from the Jackson team follows Jacko's "60 Minutes" performance in which he once again said he enjoyed sleeping with children, but didn t have sex with them. He also charged police with brutality when they handcuffed him and claimed they locked the singer in a bathroom.

Backerman joined the Jackson camp in February after a documentary in which the singer admitted that he shared his bed with children that were not his own.

There are reports that Backerman left Jacko as officials from the Nation of Islam have moved into his Neverland Ranch and a Los Angeles house rented by Jackson and are making decisions regarding his legal and media strategy. Leonard Muhammad, chief of staff and son-in-law of Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan, works out of Jackson s lawyer Mark Geragos office in Los Angeles. They negotiated a deal with CBS giving Jackson an additional $1M for his interview, and Jan. 2 special on the network, according to the Dec. 31 New York Times.

First Call, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, denies the group has any official business or professional relationship with Jackson.

MARTIN PR FIRM CLOSING.
Peter Martin Assocs., which handled a number of tourist accounts in the past 30 years, is closing its doors following the loss of the Jamaica Tourist Board account to Ruder Finn last July.

The firm, based in Stamford, Conn., listed as accounts last year the Argentina Tourist Board, GE Capital, Government of Vietnam, Province of Neuguen and Volvo (besides Jamaica), among other accounts. Employee count was given as 15.

An attorney for the firm said that Martin will continue in PR as an individual consultant.

A 1953 graduate of Ripon College, Martin was PR director of Continental Can Co. from 1958-64 when he joined Clairol. He founded PMA in 1972.

MWW PUSHES PORT ISSUES
FOR GWSC.
The MWW Group's Washington, D.C., office is helping the Great Western Steamship Co. raise its profile in the port security sector while trying to recover a $1 million bond stolen by a Saudi businessman.

Jonathan Slade, head of MWW/D.C., is lobbying State Department officials and Congressmen for the company. He told this NL a Saudi national fled the kingdom for Egypt with a bond the company had put down on shipping work it completed on a military contract. A Saudi court has convicted the businessman.

MWW is also helping the Tequesta, Fla.-based company boost awareness of its efforts to secure shipping containers and ports from terror threats. The company mainly runs routes to the Far East.
Water cargo has been pegged as a potential vulnerability in the country s defense from terror attacks.

BITNER GOODMAN
DOES WANNADO.
Bitner Goodman is handling the opening of the $50 million Wannado City, the nation s first real-play park for children aged four-to-11, that will open next Spring at Florida's Sawgrass Mills.

WC is a city scaled to kid-size. Visitors can play out careers such as firefighter, reporter, doctor, pizza maker and pilot in WC s firehouse, TV studio, hospital, pizzeria and airport. They will be guided along by professional actors who explain the various professions. There are 60 different play venues representing more than 250 career possibilities in the 140,000-sq. ft indoor facility.

Sawgrass Mills is the state s largest mall, attracting more than 26 million visitors a year.

A second WC is to open at New Jersey s Xanadu complex slated for the Meadowlands in `05.

Wannado Entertainment, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, is scouting for a California site to build the third WC. WE is a unit of Mexico City's Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento.

Stanley E. Rubenstein, 73, who co-founded Rubenstein Wolfson & Co., a New York-based PR firm, died Dec. 24 of ALS (Lou Gehrig s disease).
Rubenstein, who was retired, sold the agency in 1988 to Shandwick.

AARP SEEKS SHOWS
FOR BOOMERS.
Dick Kurlander, formerly VP/programming for Petry TV, a New York-based ad rep firm, where he advised TV station clients on what shows to buy, has joined AARP as head of TV program development.

Kurlander, who will report to Mark Slimp, director of broadcast programs for AARP, will help create TV shows for products targeted to people between the ages of 46 and 64.

Initially, AARP will approach cable networks like Discovery Health, Home & Garden TV and Fine Living to see if they would be willing to carry, and even produce, shows.

"AARP has compiled masses of research overturning the conventional wisdom that, by the age of 40 or so, people become so habituated to the brands they like—everything from toothpaste to breakfast cereal to the automobile they drive—that even the best-produced ad spot for a competing product will not convince them to change," reports Variety.

FORMER NEWS ANCHORS
START MAGS.
Former Atlanta TV news anchors Andrea Coleman and Cynthia Tinsley have started magazines for African-Americans.

Coleman's Southwest Atlanta magazine made its debut in early December. The bimonthly publication spotlights people, places and events in Atlanta's African-American communities.

Tinsley's Living Space magazine, which will be published quarterly, will feature homes and lifestyles of upscale African-Americans around the U.S. The first issue was published in September.

Both publications target 25- to 54-year-olds. Living Space has a circulation base of 8,500, while Southwest Atlanta s circulation is 5,000.

PLACEMENT TIPS
"Radio Playbill," a weekly news and entertainment magazine show of theaterical interviews, features and music, will make its debut on Jan. 19 on Sirius Entertainment (Stream 131).

The program is the first radio project from the publisher of Broadway s theater programs, and Playbill On-Line.

A new 30-minute show debuts each Monday, with rebroadcasts throughout the following two weeks.

Playbill is also broadcasting throughout the day, seven days a week on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Broadway s Best," Stream 77, which links listeners directly to the music channel and the news.

Robert Viagas, who is the founding editor of Playbill On-Line and Theatre.com, will host both shows, which will originate from Sirius studios in New York overlooking Times Square.

Bassmaster Magazine, based in Montgomery, Ala., is expanding its coverage of hot fishing topics.

The new elements, which appear in the January issue, will include a column about health and safety that will cover topics including fishing injuries, hook removal, and hazard awareness, and a new "Bass Tech" feature that will highlight the latest technology and bass fishing devices.

—"Short Casts," a front-of-the-book section of brief, news items, will be expanded to include a larger variety of timely topics.

—"Bass Destinations," the where-to section, will be redesigned with sidebars on how to plan a trip, where to stay, travel tips, and information on stops along the way.

—The "Bass Boating" column will be a mix of how-to information, maintenance ideas, industry notes and new products.

—"Pro's Pointers" will share ideas from top ranked professional anglers.

—"Tournament Trail" coverage has been refocused to provide more infomration on how the winning pro managed to catch the most, and largest, bass.

—"The "Lunker Page" will continue, with larger photos and more detail about how BASS members caught their trophy fish.

The magazine is published 11 times a year.

James Hall, Bassmaster s editor, can be reached at 334/272-9530.

ASPEN INSTITUTE
STARTS MAGAZINE.
The Magazine Group, a Washington, D.C.-based custom publisher, will launch The Aspen Idea, a magazine to be published twice a year by the Aspen Institute. The first issue was the Winter 2003/04 issue.

The first issue has a cover story on Stephen Breyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; an interview with Queen Noor of Jordan, and another with Dennis Ross, Middle East expert, and an article on global warming by former EPA head Carol Browner.

The Aspen Institute is based in Washington, D.C.
Jamie Miller is editor of The Aspen Idea at 202/ 736-5800.

NEW PUBLICATION COVERS NANOTECH.
The Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report is a new monthly newsletter that will cover small cap companies engaged in nanotechnology.

Josh Wolfe, editor of the report, believes nanotechnology is the "next big thing. Bigger by far than the short-lived dot-com phenomena, and for real because it is founded on hard science that will yield real-world, practical benefits and cheaper/better, can t-live-without-em consumer products."

Wolfe said the newsletter will explore what s new in the nanotech revolution plus breakthrough stories in nanoscale science and "Guru Profiles" with leading researchers, executive and entrepreneurs working at the cutting edge of nanotechnology.

(Media news continued on next page)

FDNY MUZZLES FIREFIGHTERS.
New York firefighters have been instructed to discuss only good news with reporters and to refer other media inquiries to the FDNY s PR office.

The new PR rules, which have replaced guidelines that were issued in 1997, are spelled out in a new four-page regulation that was issued Nov. 12.

Frank Gibbon, who is the FDNY s deputy commissioner for public information, told the Chief-Leader, a weekly newspaper for civil employees, that the new policy is meant to help firefighters get publicity for their good deeds, while avoiding trouble with superiors.

The unions and the department both said they lost all control of media coverage after Sept. 11 as reporters thronged firehouses to report firefighters grief and anger over the loss of 343 firemen.

The Chief-Leader said media interest in the fire service has not abated and in recent months reporters have widely covered certain topics, such as staffing, equipment and budget cuts, on which rank and file is at sharp odds with Mayor Bloomberg.

"The reporters don t want to talk to anyone but firefighters anymore," said Rudy Sanfilippo, a union official. "Before 9/11, we were covered by the city beat and the police reporters. We were secondary. Now we ve become the headline."

A firefighter was arrested following a brawl with another firefighter in a Staten Island firehouse on Dec. 31.

Requirements Spelled Out

—Firefighters approached by a reporter while on duty must notify their immediate superior, who in turn is expected to defer to a department spokesman.

—Commanders at a fire scene can speak directly to the media about the event at hand.

—Firefighters can voice opinions on other topics, but they must do so outside the firehouse and while off-duty, according to the policy.

—Members who speak on their own time also must be clear with reporters that they are not speaking for the entire department. Firefighters are encouraged to seek the advice of the press office and FDNY attorneys before speaking in their personal capacity.

—On or off duty, firefighters are prohibited from divulging "confidential information," including the identity or health status of individuals.

—The policy expressly forbids firefighters "from making statements that are disruptive to the operations of the department."

DOLCE NAMED EDITOR
OF STAR MAGAZINE.
Joe Dolce was named editor-in-chief of Star Magazine. A former editor-in-chief of Details magazine (1995-98) and then a consulting editor to Playboy, Dolce started working for Star as an editorial consultant in May.

He replaces Bonnie Fuller, EVP/chief editorial director, who has been the de facto editor-in-chief of the tabloid since she joined American Media last July.

PEOPLE
Katie Van Luchene, a freelance writer, was named editor of Kansas City Home Design magazine.

Constance Gustke, a freelance writer, was named features editor at Robb Report Worth magazine.

Ann Sholet was promoted to executive editor of CosmoGirl!

Leesa Suzman is now health editor of Parenting.

Susie Quick was appointed food editor of Organic Style magazine, and Jennifer Braunschweiger was named health editor.

Carol Zepp, previously a reporter, has joined MediZine Inc. as PR director.

WIECK CREATES WEBSITE
FOR AUTO SHOW.
Wieck Media Services, Addison, Tex., is working with automotive manufacturers to load all their current information and images on autodeadline.com for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Jim Wieck, co-founder and chairman of Wieck, said autodeadline.com has been established as a "one-stop website for automotive journalists and will provide up-to-date photos, text and videos from major auto manufacturers."

MEDIA BRIEFS
National Geographic Adventure will increase its guaranteed rate base from 400,000 to 425,000 starting with the February issue.
John Rasmus is editor-in-chief of the magazine.

MSNBC will fill the 9 p.m. time slot with a new weekday talk show hosted by Deborah Norville.
Norville, 45, will continue to host the syndicated "Inside Edition."

Ziff Davis Media's event marketing group will launch a four-day consumer technology event at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.

DigitalLife, which will kick off on Oct. 13, is expected to attract more than 25,000 consumers and technology enthusiasts.

The event will coincide with Ziff Davis Media s new consumer lifestyle magazine, which is under development and scheduled to debut in early 2004.

JOURNALISTS TO GET
MATRIX AWARDS.
Three journalists will be awarded 2004 Matrix Awards by the New York Women in Communications at its April 19 awards luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria.

The winners are: Paula Zahn, anchor for "CNN-Paula Zahn Now"; Martha Nelson, managing editor of People magazine, and Alix Freedman, senior editor of The Wall Street Journal.

This year's awards luncheon will be followed by NYWICI s 75th anniversary conference.

Democracy (via e-mail) is at hand for many thousands of non-profit groups if they choose to take advantage of new technology and new laws (page 7 story on BoardSource "E-Vote").

However, we know of only one group that is actually doing this, the Visions Federal Credit Union of Endicott, N.Y., chartered in New York.

It lets its more than 100,000 members vote by e-mail on candidates for office.

BoardSource says nearly 60 groups are studying the new secure system, which can cost as low as $5,000.

We wonder if associations really want to hear what s on their members minds?

The last formal survey of PR Society of America s members was conducted in 1997 by 50th anniversary president Debra Miller.

Kerr & Downs Research did a random telephone poll of 618 of the 18,000 members. It found 84% of members were "satisfied" with services while 10% were "very satisfied."

But 70% said they were opposed to a $25-$50 dues hike in 1998. Despite this, a $50 dues increase, spread over three years, was passed by the board.

A surprising finding of the survey was that 90% of the respondents said they had been in PR six or more years. This contradicted PRSA claims that many of its members were ineligible for the APR exam because they were in PR less than five years.
The PRSA board thus far has been cool to the idea of allowing Assembly delegates or members to vote electronically.

Ivy Lee Jr., son of Ivy Lee, who promised to revolutionize the press relations of companies in the early 1900's, died in October in San Francisco at the age of 94. He worked in his father's firm from 1933 to 1951 when he joined Bechtel Corp.

The "Declaration of Principles" put out by the senior Ivy Lee said: "This is not a secret press bureau. All our work is done in the open...our matter is accurate. Further details on any subject will be supplied promptly, and any editor will be assisted most carefully in verifying any statement of fact."

Lee, according to the Dartnell PR Handbook, said he would deal frankly with the press and accept the bad with the good, "no matter how it might hurt."

That was Lee's initial vision, anyway. He and his firm got into hot water in the 1930 s when it worked for the Hitler government. Utmost secrecy was the basis of the relationship. Lee s other son, James, was stationed in Berlin and dealt personally with Hitler. The Lee firm insisted there be no written contract and that no releases use its name.

Payment of the $25,000 annual fee was to come from the German Dye Trust via a Swiss account and not the German Government. Lee s job was to help the Government with statements of policy. All of Lee s efforts at secrecy were blown spectacularly in Congressional hearings in 1934 that resulted in the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The Magazine Publishers of America, angered that spending on TV ads continues to climb while magazine ad pages declined 0.5% in the first 11 months of 2003, staged a contest among marketers and media buyers to give away the TiVo recording devices that let viewers bypass commercials (New York Times ad column 12/29).

The argument that the TV audience has shattered into hundreds of pieces and people are zapping commercials one way or another has not made ad agencies abandon their love affair with TV. Ad agencies are now moving to put commercial messages and plugs within the programming (WPP Group s deal with ABC-TV as described in the 12/10/03 NL)...high HMO costs in 2004 will continue to be a problem for PR firms. The married-with-children rate will approach $20,000 yearly in New York with this year's round of increases. A new wrinkle is "HSAs" (Health Savings Accounts) that let people put money away tax-free (IRA-style) that can be used to pay small medical bills and link this with an HMO with a deductible in the thousands of dollars. The Wall Street Journal , writing about this 12/23 and 12/26, said HSAs are widely popular in South Africa..."Tale of a Turnaround" is the title of an article by PRSA contract worker Debbie Girard in the December magazine of the Greater Washington, D.C., chapter of ASAE. The article says PRSA was beset with "money woes, eroded credibility with members, low employee morale and a less-than-desirable working relationship with its board" until COO Catherine Bolton arrived on the scene. What she accomplished, with the help of officers such as Reed Byrum and Kathy Lewton and the PRSA staff, "may help leaders of other associations going through similar reorganizations," writes Girard, who heads Girard PR in New York. Not mentioned is that PRSA s membership of about 19,600 has not grown for six years and that the 2002 audit showed it had a record $1,040,692 in payables. Its liabilities just about equaled its assets if PRSA booked its $4.5 million in dues income as earned across a year s time (as most associations do) instead of immediately...CEOs will probably continue to "lay low" in 2004 because of embarrassment about their high salaries. The average pay of CEOs at 200 of the largest U.S. companies was steady at $11.3 million in 2003, according to consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners. CEO pay almost doubled from 1996 to 2001 to $11.9M. CEO pay, once 20-30 times that of a firm s average worker, is now 400-600 times that average. The multiple is much lower in most foreign countries.

--Jack O'Dwyer