F-H TUNES INTO CIRCUIT CITY.
Fleishman-Hillard has picked up the $1 million Circuit City account, narrowing out Ogilvy PR, Stanton Crenshaw and hometown Richmond, Va.-based Carter Ryley Thomas. Weber Shandwick was the incumbent on the account, but decided not to pitch.
CC, which operates 600 electronic superstores, posted a two percent decline in fiscal `04 revenues to $9.7 billion. It lost $90 million following various writeoffs.

CEO Alan McCollough has promised to shutter non-performing stores as part of his revitalization program. Nineteen stores were closed in February.

Records Subpoenaed

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed F-H documents regarding its contracts with the city of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press (April 9) reported subpoenas were served at F-H's headquarters in St. Louis and are part of an ongoing pay-for-play investigation of Los Angeles airport, harbor and water/power agencies.

The city had begun an audit of F-H's $3 million-a-year contract with the Dept. of Water and Power this month following complaints about "wasteful" spending as the city agency seeks an 18 percent rate hike.

Western regional president for F-H, Richard Kline, has said the firm is confident it hasn't overbilled the city and is proud of its work.

DOKE, ALLEN GET
NEW DELL ROLES.
Tim Doke, who joined Dell Computer, Austin, Tex., as VP communications in March 2003, and Elizabeth Allen, VP-corporate communications, have been given new roles outside the company while remaining as Dell employees.

They will be in "advisory roles working on specific corporate communications initiatives," said a memo put out by Dell.

Both continue to report to Thomas Green, senior VP and legal counsel.

Dell in September 2002 halted an "exhaustive" external search for a global marketing and PR executive, saying it had faith in Allen to handle the work.

Doke was previously at American Airlines, which he rejoined in 1998 after two years at Brinker International. Previously he was a SVP at Hill & Knowlton. His job at Dell included supervising media relations, PA, the Dell Foundation, employee communications and executive visibility programs.

Dwayne Cox is acting head of communications for the company.

SHAW EXITS GATEWAY
FOR HOME DEPOT.
The Home Depot has lured Brad Shaw from Gateway, where he was senior VP of marketing, for a new post to head corporate communications and external affairs for the $58 billion Atlanta-based home improvement giant.

Shaw, who is a senior VP at Home Depot, previously held senior posts at PepsiCo, including director of worldwide communications and senior manager of communications for North America. He reports to HD chairman/CEO, Bob Nardelli.

Bob Sherbin, Gateway's director of corporate communications, said the computer maker has launched an internal/external search for Shaw's replacement.

Shaw began his career at Ketchum and Doremus PR in New York.

RF TO BRAND ROSES.
Ruder Finn has edged a handful of competitors to handle PR and other marketing tasks for All-America Rose Selections, a non-profit association for 90 percent of U.S. rose growers and introducers. Publicis Dialog was the incumbent.

Jessica Switzer, managing director of RF's San Francisco bay area operation, RF/Switzer, heads the account and led the pitch. She told this NL a key goal is to dispel a myth that roses are difficult to grow. "Through research and hybridization, roses have become very easy to cultivate," she said.

Switzer adds the title of executive secretary of AARS, which is backed by industry growers like Jackson & Perkins and runs 26 "test gardens" in the U.S.

TRECO-JONES RESIGNS
FROM PRSA BOARD.
Sherry Treco-Jones has resigned from PR Society of America's national board to devote more time to her Decatur, Ga.-based firm. Her term was to expire on Dec. 31. She has not returned a call.

Treco-Jones is replaced by Gary McCormick, program manager at URS Coleman, a chemical weapons disposal operation at the military's Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

The new director is vice chair of PRSA's board of ethics and professional standards, and was one of four candidates interviewed to replace Treco-Jones. McCormick ran as an at-large director candidate last year.

PRSA watchers can't remember the last time a board member resigned mid-term.

KLORES REPS AMEX GROUP.
Dan Klores Communications is representing dissident American Stock Exchange members and seat owners who are trying to thwart the National Association of Securities Dealers move to return ownership to the Amex members.

Stuart Alpert, a floor broker who retained DKC, feels the transaction that was approved by the Amex Membership Corp. on March 18 leaves the Exchange with a mountain of debt.

AMC believes the deal "eliminates the uncertainty surrounding ownership and better positions the Amex to address competitive challenges."

Joseph DePlasco, DKC's senior executive VP, said the Securities and Exchange Commission is set to rule on the NASD/Amex transaction in early May.
The Exchange, which was acquired by NASD in `98 to better compete with the New York Stock Exchange, lost $7.3 million last year, $4.3 million in '02 and $2.6 million in `01.

B-M ENLISTS CIMKO.
Burson-Marsteller has established a global defense group, and has named Dick Cheney's former spokesperson, Christine Cimko, to head the Washington, D.C.-based unit. She worked with Cheney when he headed the Defense Dept., handling weapons acquisition and base closure issues. Cimko also was director of communications for both the Senate Armed Services Committee (`93 to `97) and the "1993 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission."

Most recently, Cimko was senior VP at Edelman PR Worldwide, leading its image and international affairs. She counseled Raytheon, FujiFilm, Panama Canal Authority, Angola, Portugal, Jordan and Hong Kong. She is a commissioner on the Virginia Advisory Commission on Military Bases and board member of the Armed Services YMCA. Her title at B-M is managing director in the public affairs practice.

WEBER SHANDWICK
SUPPORTS SALVADOR.
Weber Shandwick is representing El Salvador's Investment Promotion Board in its bid to drum up U.S. corporate support for that country and push for Congressional support of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The Interpublic PR unit and its sister ad agency, McCann-Erickson, are involved in the project worth $250,000.

CAFTA, which also would cover Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Honduras, has become a political hot potato. President Bush believes CAFTA will boost the economies of the countries involved.

Sen. John Kerry opposes CAFTA if it does not protect workers rights both here and in Central America.

The Embassy of El Salvador, on its website, boasts of its "worldwide recognized hard working labor," and the fact that the country ranked No. 1 in South America (ahead of Chile) in The Wall Street Journal/Heritage Foundation's survey of "economic freedom."

NUSSBAUM SAVAGES BLYTH TOME.
Emily Nussbaum, who writes for liberal-leaning The Nation as well as Slate and Nerve, attacked Myrna Blyth and her new book, Spin Sisters, in the April 4 New York Times Book Review.

Blyth contends that women's magazines, all of them headquartered in New York, have gotten out of step with women in the rest of the U.S., who are far more conservative in such matters as sex outside marriage, abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools, death penalty, gun control, and other issues.

Nussbaum notes that Blyth "oversaw the Ladies Home Journal‘s stew of recipes and service pieces" for more than 20 years and "should be able to offer some perspective on her own industry."

But "instead of mounting a meaningful argument," Nussbaum says, Blyth "seems more interested in slams and stereotypes, precisely what she denounces among the magazines she criticizes."

Conservative-leaning publications such as the Wall Street Journal, National Review, New York Post and Washington Times gave Spin Sisters positive and even rave reviews.

Robert McCain, writing in the Washington Times March 10, said the book is "very entertaining. It's a fun read, as well as an informative read."

Catherine Seipp, Los Angeles writer and media critic, writing in the WSJ, said Blyth has "done her homework," reading two years of Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, Marie Claire, Redbook, Vogue and Women's Day.

She found that each issue had at least two "victim" stories, which often included calls for government action.

FENTON SAYS IT's NOT A PR FIRM.
"Public relations. Monty Python called it a modern useless profession. Too bad they were wrong." reads an ad from Fenton Communications. "PR has become the way crafty corporations and even the leader of the free world convince people that pollution is harmless, war is peace and greed is good. No wonder we at Fenton Communications don't like to be asked at parties what we do for a living," reads the spot running on Air America Radio, the liberal radio network that debuted this month.

The ad notes that FC is "proud that we help our clients make the world a better place." It names clients, such as MoveOn.org, What Would Jesus Drive, Harvard School of Public Health, and Air America – which it launched with Dan Klores Communication's– and Natural Resources Defense Council. Listeners are invited to visit Fenton's website. "Just don't call us flacks," concludes the ad.

Lisa Witter, an executive VP, told O Dwyer's that FC does not like to be called a PR firm. "We're generally described as a public interest communications firm," she said.

GOURMET ARTICLES EDITOR WANTS IDEAS.
Gourmet is retooling to make room for articles about food-related subjects that are not tied to travel, recipes and restaurants.

Jocelyn Zuckerman, a senior features editor, told 123 women and 12 men who attended the Publicity Club of New York's media luncheon on April 7 that the magazine is interested in doing more stories about kitchen design, and the political and social aspects of food production.

Without going into more detail, Zuckerman, who was one of four journalists to appear on the "Eat, Drink And Be Savvy" panel, asked the publicists to send her information about these specific areas in a brief letter, which makes the point in the first paragraph.

She said the letter should either be e-mailed to [email protected] or delivered to her by regular mail at 4 Times Sq., New York, NY 10036.

No Phone Calls

"I have no time for phone calls," said Zuckerman, whose business card listed her number as 212/ 286-4568; fax: 286-2672.

When making a pitch, try making "it something newsy," said Zuckerman.

As for exclusives, she said "We will drop the story if we find out it is running in another magazine."

Interested in Brooklyn

Erica Marcus, food reporter for Newsday, said the Long Island paper is "pushing its city (New York) edition." Her particular area of interest is food stories which would be of interest to Newsday's readers in Brooklyn.

Marcus also disclosed that Marjorie Robins, who is travel editor, has been named food editor.

Robins will succeed Kari Granville, who will become travel editor. Both women have been at Newsday for several years.

Marcus is interested in getting new product pitches to use on the "potluck" page that runs every Wednesday in the food section. She said pictures of the product and a sample of the product should be provided at least two months in advance.

The most important thing is to make sure the product is available to readers.

Marcus urged the publicists to stop sending "extravagant gifts" with their releases.

Praises Publicists

Phil Lempert—who writes a syndicated newspaper column about new food products, hosts a weekly food segment on NBC's "Today Show," and a two-hour syndicated radio program, based in Santa Monica, Calif., every Sunday—heaped praise on the publicists for their good work in providing him with a steady flow of information.

He pointed out the Today Show has begun a new weekly cooking segment in which top restaurant chefs show viewers how they can prepare expensive dishes at home.

Lempert said publicists who are not sure about pitching him something, should ask him `What are you working on? in an e-mail.

He never uses VNRs or B-roll when reporting.
Bob Lape, "Dining Diary" editor for WCBS-TV (Ch. 2) in New York, and Crain's New York Business restaurant editor, said the best way to grab his attention is to send him pitches that are "well-written and right on target."

PLACEMENT TIPS
The Paris-based Internatonal Herald Tribune, which is published six days a week by The New York Times, is featuring a new European ad column by Eric Pfanners.

Razor, a men's magazine, will unveil a "more targeted, stylistic approach" in its May issue, which goes on newsstands April 23.

Now in its fourth year, the publisher said the objective is to "focus tighter on the interests and aspirations of a more selective educated male magazine reader."

Craig Knight, editor-in-chief, said each issue will continue to feature coverage in the areas of business and finance, travel and entertainment, as well as the latest trends in fashion, politics, and technology.

High Times, the counter-cultural monthly, is back on newsstands with a new editorial direction that features articles on politics and culture, and no pot-centered ads.

Richard Stratton, who is the publisher of HT, has started a quarterly called Grow America, which is devoted to marijuana cultivation.

John Buffalo Mailer, son of novelist Norman Mailer, is executive editor of HT.

USA Today Live, a division of USA Today, is starting a weekly half-hour TV show titled "USA Today Sports Page" that will be offered to cable and broadcast networks.

Lauren Ashburn, managing editor of USAT Live, is overseeing the new show, which will be produced at USA Today Live studios in McLean, Va.

A search is underway for anchors, reporters and an executive producer.

Specialty Toys & Gifts, a New York-based trade magazine serving the independent toy and gift retailer, is looking for features on a variety of topics that effect the smalltown retailer.

Possible topics include: How to choose employee/health benefits for your store; How to design the inside/outside of a toy store; Who is the Gen-X mom? How can stores help her spend more? What is the Baby Boomer grandparent looking for when they shop for toys?

Information should be sent to Nancy Lombardi, who is editor-in-chief. Her address is 1107 Broadway, #1204, New York, NY 10010. 212/575-4510 ext. 3016; fax: 575-4521.

(Media news continued on next page)

INDICTED CEO TAKES CASE
TO AIRWAVES.
Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth Corp., who has been indicted on 85 counts of corporate fraud and for cooking the company books, is taking his case to the court of public opinion with his own local TV talk show.

Scrushy is co-hosting the show with his wife Leslie on WTTO-TV in Birmingham, Ala., where HealthSouth is headquartered and where the trial is scheduled to begin in August.

An arm of the Guiding Light Church, headed by Bishop Jim Lowe Jr., has purchased 12 months of air time for the show, which contains a mixture of scripture, law, and politics.

"Viewpoint with Richard & Leslie Scrushy" airs every weekday at 7:30 a.m.

Scrushy, who has made a promise to deliver the news without "mainstream media bias," plans to interview "leaders and visionaries" five days a week.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin has filed a motion for a gag order against the Scrushy team, alleging the efforts of Scrushy's lawyers to mold public opinion "are threatening to undermine the guarantee of a fair trial by an impartial jury pool in the community."

Like Martha Stewart, Scrushy launched his own website (Richardmscrushy.com) shortly after his indictment last year to rebut news reports and tell his side of the story. Trial consultants can't recall a client who started a TV show.

CNN ENACTS NEW VNR DISTRIBUTION POLICY.
CNN has enacted a new policy for transmission of video news releases on its Newsource service, which provides news footage to local TV stations.

The changes were made as a result of the controversy created by the Dept. of Health and Human Services so-called Karen Ryan VNR, which stations mistook as part of CNN's news feed.

Under the new policy, the producer of the VNR will be identified in addition to the labeling of the footage as a VNR, and news stations will now get VNR footage separately from genuine news footage.

The material coming in from CNN to the news stations appears under one of several headings—for instance, "breaking news" or "features." Clicking on the name of the heading allows a news producer to see all of the items in that specific category. "VNRs" will now appear under their own heading.

Finally, CNN will allow stations to opt out of receiving VNRs, but to continue getting the rest of the Newsource service—news stories produced by CNN or other affiliates, as well as B-roll material for use in creating their own stories, and other features.

BLACKMON NAMED
WSJ'S ATLANTA CHIEF.
Doug Blackmon was promoted to Atlanta bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal.

He was previously deputy bureau chief, and is replacing Bob Rose, who is leaving the paper to become assistant managing editor for business at The Philadelphia Inquirer. He takes over on April 15.

Blackmon, who joined the Journal in 1995 as a reporter, recently returned from a leave to write a book based on his 2001 page one story detailing the use of forced black prison labor in Southern mines owned by U.S. Steel Corp. early in the 20th century.

NORTHROP NAMED
EDITOR OF MORE.
Peggy Northrop, who has been editor-in-chief of Rodale's Organic Style magazine since March 2002, has replaced Susan Crandell as editor of Meredith's More magazine.

Northrop, who ran OS' first celebrity cover in April, is the third editor to leave OS since it was started in Sept. 2001.

Under Northrop, OS circulation rose from 400,000 to 750,000, and its bimonthly frequency was increased to 10-times a year.

More, which was started five years ago, has a circulation of 950,000.

PEOPLE
Michael Days, 50, has replaced Ellen Foley as managing editor of The Philadelphia Daily News. Days was assistant managing editor.

Susan Spungen, the founding food editor of Martha Stewart Living magazine who left the company in June 2003 but has continued to write a column on entertaining, was named a contributing food editor and entertainment editor at Lifetime, a year-old magazine aimed at women in their 30s. It covers topics such as fashion, beauty, health and decorating.

Jolene Edgar, previously style editor at Lifetime magazine, was named senior beauty editor at O, The Oprah Magazine.

Courtenay Smith, formerly senior health editor at More, has joined Time Inc.'s All You magazine as health editor.

Frances Largeman was named food and nutrition editor at Health magazine.

Kris Oser was named the interactive beat reporter at Advertising Age.

Ron Stodghill, 40, has joined Fortune Small Business in New York as senior editor. Stodghill had been editor-in-chief of Savoy, a monthly magazine for African-Americans, until it suspended publication for financial reasons late last year.

Kevin Fitzgerald, formerly editor of Purchasing and CPI Purchasing magazines, was named editor-in- chief of Solid State Technology and its weekly newsletter, WaferNews, succeeding Bob Haavind, who becomes editorial director of the Nashua, N.H.-based publications.

Linda O'Bryon, executive editor of the "Nightly Business Report," will receive the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Distinguished Achievement Award at its annual conference scheduled for May 204 in Fort Worth, Tex.

Charlotte Hall, who was VP for planning at Newsday, was named editor of The Orlando Sentinel.

Lee Copeland was named editor-in-chief of Fed Tech, a new quarterly magazine for IT decision makers that CDW Government Inc. in Vernon Hills, Ill., has started. She had previously covered business and., technology for The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times and was a senior editor at Computerworld.

Susannah Pask, formerly publisher of Fairchild Publications, was named publisher of Spa Finder Magazine in New York.

AUTO MAG TO COVER
`SPEED, SEX, STUFF.
MPH is the title of a new magazine for car enthusiasts that focuses on an automotive category called MPH (maximum performance horsepower).

MPH was described in a press release as "a broadly based lifestyle magazine that captures the spirit of the times for the new generation of car enthusiasts. Its graphics will have lots of energy while its content will have an irreverent tone and a no-holds-barred attitude. Its mantra will be the 4's s— speed, sex, service and stuff."

Eddie Alterman, previously senior editor of Automotive magazine, was named editor of the MPH, which American Media will start publishing 10 times a year this September.

Dan Pund, formerly a staff writer for Car and Driver and Auto Week, is executive editor, and Dave Merline, previously at Motorbody and Orbit magazine, is managing editor of the New York-based magazine. Mike Austin is road test editor.

RIOT TO PUBLISH MAG
FOR PRE-TEEN BOYS.
Riot Media, a new company headed by former TV Guide editorial executive Jay Gissen, has been established to develop, produce and market multi-platform entertainment programming and media products targeted at boys between the ages of 8 and 13.

Gissen, who was director of editorial operations and development at TV Guide, said the company is planning to publish a monthly magazine, comic books, books, games, licensed products and an interactive website with an e-commerce element.

"With 15 million boys ages 8-13 spending $18 billion annually on their own and influencing an additional $145 billion in spending, many companies have devoted considerable time and resources marketing individual products to them," said Gissen.

"Yet no one has been able to successfully create an integrated brand that delivers content for multiple platforms simultaneously. We will fill this market niche in a way that our target audience will embrace and make their own."

Rob Edelstein, formerly sports editor for TV guide, is editor in chief of Riot magazine and Riot online, which will be based in New York.

The attack of Emily Nussbaum on Myrna Blyth's Spin Sisters (page 2) highlights the liberal/ conservative divide between New York and the rest of the U.S. (excepting Hollywood).

Pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, pro-sex outside of marriage New York is at odds with Mid-America (all those Red states that voted for George W. Bush in 2000).

Conservatives also feel the entertainment industry based in Los Angeles and New York is unfairly using TV shows and movies to push liberal propaganda (New York Times April 2).

The celebrities, who are beloved of the women's magazines and who are often featured at the annual Matrix Awards lunch of New York Women in Communications, are mostly left-leaning and pro-Democratic party, says the article.

As examples, the NYT notes that Whoopi Goldberg, portraying a hotelier on the NBC show, "Whoopi," attacked a Bush lookalike for "what he's done to the economy."

The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was ridiculed by a character on NBC's "Law and Order."

The upcoming April 19 Matrix lunch, honoring women media figures and featuring celebrities, is seen by many as a joyous event that is not only fun and entertaining for all but raises funds for scholarships for women students.

But in Myrna Blyth's opinion, it's a place of rigid liberal conformity where divergent opinions are verboten and women "toe the party (liberal) line."

Many of those in the audience "are like the girls back in North Side High, desperate to belong to the in crowd," says Blyth. "They want to be friends with the cool girls, the popular ones...and are willing to do just about anything to make it happen. They want to sit on the dais too, someday...they understand the rules of the game: never get on the bad side of a Spin Sister...membership...goes only to those who stick to the party line and suck up..."

Blyth writes that "Not one woman who is well known for having a right-of-center viewpoint has received a Matrix" in its 33 years. Prominent New York conservative writers such as Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal and Andrea Peyser, New York Post, have somehow been missed. Dr. Laura Schlesinger, based on the West Coast but whose program continues to draw a radio audience of 18 million outside of New York (where it has been discontinued) might have been recognized, conservatives say, since she had a big New York audience. Blyth faults the "sisters" for never showing a picture of Schlesinger even though she is "attractive" in appearance.

Peyser in 1999 blasted the Matrix lunch as a "tedious, four-hour, self-congratulatory" affair while columnist Liz Smith said it had become "off the wall, out of bounds, overgrown, overfed, overpopulated and...sheer, incredible overkill."

The triumphalism that marks the Matrix event is something that should be reconsidered. The NYT on April 5 noted that there are a million African-American women in college but only 635,000 African-American men. Results are not enough "economically viable" black men to marry the women and a high out-of-wedlock birth rate. In local New York colleges, females make up 75% and more of the students. Even among whites, the U.S. college population is nearly 60% female. Women mature faster than men, making them better students, more focused on their futures, and more apt to gain college admission. In PR, most classes of 20 and more students usually have but one male.

The open hostility of PRSA to New York has its roots in the liberal/conservative split. In its latest manifestation, PRSA is moving downtown, far from the liberal-leaning New York media and far from the New York PR community, a double hit.

Key leaders in PRSA don't want New Yorkers to have any more access to h.q. than members in Des Moines. The "Red states" of PRSA have long been angry that sacred accreditation means virtually nothing in New York.

The anti-New York bias of PRSA was confirmed Oct. 25 when the all APR-Assembly booted Fellow Phil Ryan of New York off the board. The only other New Yorker on the 17-member board, secretary Art Stevens, didn't get nominated for treasurer and chose not to run.

On the subject of APR, only 17 PRSA members took the new multiple-choice APR exam in the second half of 2003 and 12 passed it. PRSA refuses to give out the results for the first quarter of 2004. The new exam, which has only 5% of its questions on "media relations," cost $250,000 and took three years to create...

A new PRSA mystery is the sudden resignation of Sherry Treco-Jones (page one) as the director from the Southeast. She is the only national director to resign during a term of office. She gave the flimsy reason that she wants to spend more time in her firm. PRSA, apparently also angry, did not even mention her in the initial release on new director Gary McCormick. Somehow, PRSA picked Easter weekend to announce this news. Reports are that the board refused to do something Treco-Jones wanted and she suspects she is being passed over for the secretary nomination in favor of Debbie Mason of Florida.

--Jack O'Dwyer