JERNSTEDT JOINS F-H.
Rich Jernstedt, the former CEO of Golin Harris International, has joined Fleishman-Hillard's Chicago office as executive VP/senior partner.

"It's a perfect time in my career to make a move," he told O Dwyer's . The F-H post provides "an opportunity to be challenged, to learn and to grow," he added. Jernstedt, who leaves GHI as its chairman, said he has a "tremendous respect for F-H's culture, and a high regard for its people." Fred Cook is CEO of GHI, an Interpublic entity.

The 57-year-old Jernstedt will handle new business development, special projects and provide consumer marketing counsel. He will work closely with Jack Modzelewski, F-H's president for client relations, t<%-3>o cement ties with the Omnicom unit's biggest clients. That group includes Visa, which has just shifted its account from GHI to F-H.

Jernstedt spent 26 years at GHI, following a five-year stint at Container Corp. of America and three years as a public affairs office in the U.S. Navy.
F-H CEO John Graham, 67, has just celebrated 30 years at the helm of the St. Louis-based firm.

BKSH ROLLS TOP GUNS
FOR YUKOS.
Yukos Oil, the embattled Russian energy giant that locked horns with President Vladimir Putin, has hired Burson-Marsteller's BKSH & Assocs. lobbying unit, to keep Washington abreast of political, legal and business developments.

CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who financed political opposition parties to Putin and had plans to run for the presidency, was arrested at gunpoint in October, charged with embezzlement. That arrest triggered the collapse of plans to merge Yukos, which is Russia's No. 1 energy giant, with No. 3, Sibneft.

BKSH has assigned an eight-member team of its top-drawer lobbyists to make the case for Yukos.

Charlie Black (advisor to both Presidents Bush) spearheads the team that includes president Scott Pastrick (former Democratic National Committee treasurer), vice chairman M.B. Oglesby (deputy chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan), managing director Gardner Peckham (staffer to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich) and directors Paul Brown (aide to ex- Majority Leader Tom Daschle), Katherine Friess (aide to former Sen. Larry Pressler) and Jeffrey Weiss (member of the Bush/Cheney transition team).

HHS USED ‘ILLEGAL' PR.
The Dept. of Health and Human Services controversial "Karen Ryan Reporting" VNRs promoting a new Medicare drug plan have been ruled illegal by Congress investigative arm.

The General Accounting Office, in a report on the issue, cited two federal laws which forbid public funds from being used for "publicity or propaganda purposes" and spending in excess of appropriations.

Ketchum was tapped to handle the campaign and subcontracted the VNR work to Washington, D.C.-based Home Front Comms. Ketchum referred a call about the report to HHS. The agency told O'Dwyer's in March the spots were properly sourced.

Nearly 50 local and mid-market stations aired the Medicare VNRs.

SLUTSKY SLIDES TO OGILVY.
Weber Shandwick's Eric Slutsky has joined Ogilvy PR Worldwide's consumer marketing group as an executive VP.

At WS, Slutsky handled Unilever brands (Skippy, Ragu, Carb Options and its laundry products line-up), Sirius Satellite Radio, General Motors and Lycos. Slutsky also spent seven years at Edelman PR Worldwide as a VP, working on Microsoft and Hasbro Toys.

The 2004 Edition of O Dwyer's Directory of PR Firms, which lists thousands of firms in the U.S. and abroad, is now at the printer. The Directory includes rankings of firms by size, specialty and location; articles on how to hire a PR firm, and a cross-client index, the only one of its kind, which allows you to quickly check which firm is working on an account. $175 from O'Dwyer's , 212/679-2471.

IPG EXECS RAPPED
BUT SAY `ON TARGET.'
Interpublic execs took it on the chin from a half dozen stockholders at the annual meeting May 18 in New York. Its stock has gone from $57 to $14. Management weathered the storm and insisted that the company is stabilized and on target to meet goals in the next 24-36 months. IPG owns Weber Shandwick, Golin/Harris and other PR units. (continued on seven)

DELTA SHUFFLES EXECS.
Struggling Atlanta-based carrier Delta Air Lines has shuffled its upper management ranks, including the announcement that senior VP of corporate communications Tom Slocum will retire June 1.

Dan Lewis, managing director/CC, takes over for Slocum and reports to Greg Riggs, senior VP and general counsel, who becomes chief corporate affairs officer overseeing lobbying and public affairs at the No. 3 U.S. airline.

Also, the company's chief marketing officer, Vicki Escarra, was named EVP and chief customer service officer, and Paul Matsen, senior VP, international and alliances, was named CMO.

The company has lost close to $3 billion over the last three years, according to reports, and has slashed 16,000 employees from its payroll. Delta warned in a recent SEC filing that it may have to file for Chapter 11 protection.

C&W ESCORTS IRAQ'S
NEXT AMBASSADOR.
Clark & Weinstock is showing the Iraqi Governing Council's U.S. Ambassador-designate the ropes in Washington, D.C.

Consultant Juleanna Glover is helping Rend Al-Rahim on "messaging" and planning overall strategy for meetings with Administration officials, Members of Congress and staffers, reporters and other persons of importance, according to C&W's federal filing.

She joined C&W in `02 after serving as Vice President Dick Cheney's press secretary. Glover handled media for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani during his aborted run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton. She also was a senior policy advisor to then-Senator now Attorney General John Ashcroft.

C&W is to advise Al-Rahim on how to communicate on issues, such as military affairs, foreign policy, trade and appropriations. Glover hosted a reception at the Park Hyatt Hotel last month to mark the one-year anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense and a key proponent of the Iraqi invasion, was among the guests.

C&W, an Omnicom unit, is working on a pro-bono basis for the IGC.

MWW DISCOVERS SILVER
IN SEATTLE.
Interpublic's MWW Group has acquired The Silver Co. in Seattle, and has changed the name of its MWW/Savitt office in the city to MWW Group. That move reflects the exit of Kathy Savitt, who had headed the office since '95 and left for Amazon.com in November.

Bob Silver is now general manager of MWW's Seattle branch. His firm counts American Seafoods Corp., Mercury Online Solutions and Mackay Restaurant Group as clients.

Silver was an editor and reporter for more than a dozen years, for such papers as The Seattle Times, and Niagara Gazette.

BANDAR SAYS NOT
ALL AMERICANS ARE BAD.
Prince Bandar cautioned the Saudi media not to generalize that all Americans are sadistic torturers like the U.S. prison guards that abused Iraqis.

The Kingdom's Ambassador to the U.S. urged reporters "not to make the same mistake of generalization that was made by the U.S. media and certain American politicians when it became clear that 15 out of the 19 criminals who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were Saudis," according to a statement distributed by Qorvis Communications.

"Accusations were leveled against all Saudis who were labeled as terrorists; accusations that are untrue and unacceptable. This is why we should condemn only those who committed these horrendous acts against Iraqi prisoners, and make clear that they do not represent the majority of the U.S. military, and certainly not the American people and their morality."

The Prince also condemned the killers who beheaded Nicolas Berg as deviants, and un-Muslim: "It is not out of character for them to commit acts that violate the teachings of Islam, a noble religion that deplores such acts."

OAK RIDGE NUKE PR PACT
REVEALED.
Laine Communications, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based PR firm, has amassed close to $800,000 in contracts since Nov. 2000 for various services at Oak Ridge's nuclear weapons plant, according to The Oak Ridger, which also obtained documents outlining various PR-related strategies, including offering specific journalists certain stories.

One federal official said LC has multiple tasks and contracts with BWXT Y-12, which manages the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

"These activities are paid for through NNSA programmatic resources," Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the NNSA's Oak Ridge office, was quoted by the paper as saying. "The value of the contracts from Nov. 2000 to date is $782,619.25. Of this amount, $525,785 has been costed [spent]."

According to Wyatt, the purpose of Laine's work is to help BWXT Y-12 deal with staffing shortages in the plant's public affairs department and to provide communications support as needed.

One PR report advised Dennis Ruddy, president of BWXT Y-12, not to take a "no comment" stance on controversial or negative stories—"a practice he continues to follow," the paper said.

SPERRY NAVIGATES PR
FOR ALASKA AIR.
Sam Sperry, a former Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor who has worked in public affairs for several years in that city, has moved to Alaska Airlines as director of corporate communications.

Sperry, 63, exits Seattle PR/PA firm Gogerty Stark Marriott, where he worked before and after serving as executive policy director for Gov. Gary Locke and VP of community affairs for the Seattle Mariners baseball franchise.

MEDIA THANKED
FOR HELPING CONVICT.
Martin Tankleff, who says he was wrongly imprisoned for murdering his parents, is getting his hearing thanks in part to the nationwide media coverage that Soury Communications in New York helped to generate on his behalf.

It was disclosed on May 12 by Suffolk County, N.Y., District Attorney Thomas Spota that he was formally dropping his opposition to a hearing for the prisoner after a new witness agreed to testify without immunity.

"It looks as if he's getting a hearing. I m very excited about it," said PR pro Lonnie Soury.
Soury thanked the media, especially The New York Times and CBS News, for giving the case so much publicity.

He had been recruited by a private detective to help win a new trial for Tankleff, who is serving a 50 years to life sentence for the 1988 murders.

Tankleff, who insists he is innocent, was convicted in 1990, based on a statement extracted from him by James McCready, a now-retired Suffolk County homicide detective, who admitted to tricking Tankleff into confessing.

Soury said Jay Salpeter, a retired NYPD homicide detective who runs his own private detective agency, contacted Soury last summer with a request to handle publicity for Tankleff's appeal, which is based on a new witness, whom Salpeter found. Soury agreed to handle Tankleff's PR on a pro bono basis.

One of the first pitches made by Soury was to Bruce Lambert, who is The New York Times Long Island bureau chief. Lambert wrote a long piece that ran last October in the paper's Long Island edition, followed up by a detailed piece that appeared in the April 4 edition, which also ran in the paper's national edition.

On April 7, CBS "48 Hours" aired an hour-long segment on Tankleff's case.

Both stories have spurred inquiries from other media outlets and reporters from around the country.

Tankleff must show newly discovered evidence would have resulted in a different verdict or that it establishes his actual innocence before the judge can set aside the conviction after the hearing.

NEW MAG PROMOTES
FAMILY WELLNESS.
Healthy Family, based in Portland, Me., is a new national magazine focused on promoting a healthy lifestyle for parents and children.

The magazine's premiere May/June issue went on newsstands around the country earlier this month, with about 220,000 copies being circulated.

Richard Bulman, who worked in sales at Spy and helped start 7 Days, a now-defunct paper about New York lifestyles, started HF, which is published by Navigator Publishing. Navigator also publishes Ocean Navigator, Professional Mariner and Smart Homeowner magazines. Bulman also helped create a video product called Kideo, which allows children to become characters in their favorite cartoon videos.

A news release said HF's target audience is "well-educated, married women who have children in their home and take a proactive interest in family, health and wellness issues." These target households have an average income of $78,000.

"We're responding to a social movement driven largely by families who embrace a healthier lifestyle and who hold a tremendous amount of economic power," Bulman said in the release. "To the consumer, we intend to become the gold standard of information for managing that lifestyle."

Christie Matheson, who is editor-in-chief, works out of Navigator Publishing, which is located at 58 Fore st. in Portland. 207/772-2466.

TWO REPORTERS HIRED
AT L.A. TIMES/D.C.
Walter Roche Jr. and Mark Mazzeti have joined the Washington, D.C., bureau of The Los Angeles Times.

Roche was a reporter at The Baltimore Sun for the past eight years, and Mazzeti, who will cover the Pentagon, was a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report, where he covered national security and defense.

PEOPLE
Karen Forster, previously with Duke Communications and editor-in-chief of both SQL Server Magazine and Windows NT/2000 Magazine (which became Windows & .Net Magazine), has joined Penton IT Media's Windows Group in Loveland, Colo., as group editorial director.

Eric Schurenberg, currently deputy editor of Business 2.0, was named managing editor of Money magazine, succeeding Bob Safian, who will become an executive editor of Time magazine.

Bill Barnard, 54, who covered five Olympics and the NBA for The Associated Press, died May 15 while playing tennis near his home in Waldwick, N.J.

Eldon Ball, who has been acting managing editor for Offshore magazine, was promoted to editor-in-chief of PennWell Corp.'s Houston-based publication.

Jack Holland, 56, senior editor of The Irish Echo, a weekly newspaper based in New York, died May 14. Holland, who lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., wrote several books on the conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

Jim Kimball, 69, a former publicist who wrote a weekly travel column for The Salt Lake City Deseret News, died May 16.

Patrick Honan, 43, executive editor of DM News, died May 3.

(Media news continued on next page)

BUS RIDERS TO GET
THEIR OWN MAGAZINE.
Passengers of a bus line that shuttles New Yorkers back and forth to the Hampton beaches during the summer will get a free weekly magazine called The Hampton Jitney.

Onboard Publishing, a company co-owned by Duke Thrush and Gary Demirjian, who is a friend of the co-owner of the bus company, will distribute 25,000 copies a week of THJ from Memorial Day to Labor Day and then go monthly until December.

The publishers believe the magazine will offer advertisers a chance to reach a captive audience of wealthy bus riders, who flock each Friday afternoon during the summer to the beach towns on the east end of Long Island. The trip usually takes more than two hours depending on traffic.

Topics that relate to the Hamptons lifestyle will be covered in the magazine. "Our mission is to deliver a superior publication offering entertaining articles related to the communities the Hampton Jitney serves," said Demirjian, who also is editor.
More than 30 contributors have been lined up to write for the magazine. The lead story for the first issue will feature Alec Baldwin interviewing Alan Alda.

Other Regular Features

Other regular features will include: Health Guide, Tee Tee for golf courses, sports and active lifestyles, arts and culture interviews, around town openings, home and landscape designs, chef's recipes, cinema and high finance.

Merry Clark, a former freelance writer and food critic, who has written for several publications including New York Magazine, and at one time ran her own editorial consulting service, is managing editor.

Demirjian said Clark will work out of the magazine's New York office, which is located at 1 University pl. 212/982-9685.

Thrush also has an office in his home in Eastport, N.Y., that staffers may use. 631/325-2330.
Publicists can also get more information on the magazine's website at gdtpublications.com.

MEDIA BRIEFS
Futbol Mundial, a New York-based sports magazine, is increasing its frequency to monthly starting with next month's issue.

Launched during World Cup 2002, the magazine is the only national Spanish-language sports title boasting an audited circulation that exceeds one million copies and 2.4 million readers.

It is distributed in the top 10 U.S. Hispanic markets through audited newspapers, subscriptions and in-stadium Major League soccer events during the season.

FM is published by Sensacion Marketing Creatives.

The New Cleveland Press made its debut as a free, 12-page broadsheet newspaper, printed in an oversized font to appeal to readers 50 and older.

Randy Nyerges, 43, who is publisher and editor, said the paper is "one man's dream, one man's dollar" in the lead editorial.

The Press will appear weekly, but Nyerges hopes to go daily at some point.

The original Cleveland Press, published by Scripps-Howard, folded in 1982.

Two former reporters for The Wall Street Journal, Kevin Salwen and Anita Sharpe, want to begin publishing a national business magazine called Worthwhile in September.

Salwen and Sharpe, who will be co-editors, are trying to raise $5 million to get their Atlanta-based magazine off the ground.

Their goal is to create a business magazine that attracts as many women as men.

Insider Advantage, an Atlanta-based government affairs firm, plans to start a magazine called James, named after Georgia's founder James Ogelthorpe.

The magazine, which will be sent to politicians and business leaders in the state, will offer an insider's view of state politics plus edgy business stories, according to Matt Towery, who is chairman of IA.

Towery, a former state legislator and candidate for lieutenant governor, will use funds generated from IA's recent sale of its government bids business.
Larry Walker, a retired state legislator, and former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr will write columns.

'MARTHA STEWART LIVING
GOES DOWN.
"Martha Stewart Living," a syndicated TV show hosted by Stewart, will go on hiatus at the end of September.

Stewart, who resigned as chairman/CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia last June, was convicted of lying about why she sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems stock in 2001. She is expected to be sentenced June 17, and faces 10 months to 16 months in prison.

Martha Stewart Living will continue production of "Petkeeping With Marc Morrone" and step up development of special and new programming such as "Everyday Food."

ABSOLUT PUBLISHES
GAY WEDDING GUIDE.
Absolut Vodka has created and published a wedding guide to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples celebrate their commitment ceremonies.

The 12-page, four-color planner features advice from various experts, including Michael Killingsworth, managing editor of Weddingsbells magazine, and Joan Garry, executive director of GLAAD, whose website lists the names of local papers that run LGBT announcements in the commitment sections.

The guide is being distributed in Out Magazine's June issue, which hit newsstands on May 18, and in select weeklies in Massachusetts and California.

PLACEMENT TIP
Julia Hyde, an independent PR writing consultant, said a press release with a headline that summarizes a story in 10 words or less is one of the best ways for publicists to impress reporters, and increase their chances of publication.

Her "15 ways to make a press release stand out from the crowd" were recently published on webpronews.com.

REPORTER TAKES HELM
AT MEDIA TRAINING CENTER.
Eileen O'Connor, a former CNN and ABC News correspondent, producer and bureau chief, will become president of the International Center for Journalists on June 28.

She succeeds David Anable, who is retiring from the Washington, D.C.-based media training center.

Since leaving CNN in 2001, she has worked as a media trainer and consultant in Washington while completing a law degree at Georgetown Univ.

James Hoge, editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, is board chairman of ICJ Foundation, which conducts hundreds of training programs for some 15,000 journalists in more than 170 countries.

MORE TRAVELERS USE
ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES.
Online travel agencies have replaced brick-and-mortar travel agencies as travelers top source for getting travel planning information.

USA Today said 27% of the 661 respondents in a survey conducted in April by comScore listed online travel agency when asked where do you begin planning travel?

The second most popular place were search engines (19%), followed by offline travel agencies (14%); newspaper travel sections (12%); airline, hotel or car rental sites (11%), and destination/travel information site (8%).

WASHINGTON POST BUYS
EL TIEMPO LATINO.
The Washington Post Co. is acquiring El Tiempo Latino, an Arlington, Va.-based newsweekly, from Farragut Media Group.

The Spanish-language paper, which has a circulation of 34,000, is distributed free at shops in Washington's Hispanic community, at Metro stations and in selected Giant Food and 7-Eleven stories in the metropolitan area.

El Tiempo is one of about 24 weekly Spanish-language newspapers in the Washington area, whose Hispanic population currently numbers about 447,000, according to 2000 census figures. One daily paper, three TV statiions, eight AM and FM radio stations, a cable network and various websites also serve the Spanish-speaking community.

Editorial operation will remain unchanged at El Tiempo, which was named the Best Hispanic Weekly in the U.S. by the National Assn. of Hispanic Publications.

The removal of SBC titles from Fleishman-Hillard staffers (page one) is a good development.

But the fact that there was such a practice tells a lot about the current state of agency PR.

PR firms in recent years have moved closer to an ad agency type of relationship with clients.

Client/ad agency goals are about as identical as things can get. Unbridled enthusiasm for client goals coupled with strict confidentiality define the ad agency business.

The business is tight-lipped and insular. The Big Five ad conglomerates (WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic, Havas, Publicis) virtually never hold press conferences. There is no one at any of these units who will sit down with a reporter to discuss their finances.

Purchase of about 50 PR operations, including almost all of the major ones, by the Big Five has accelerated the trend for PR firms to behave like ad agencies.

PR counselors once saw themselves as the "bridge" between client and press, representing both interests.

This became even more important to reporters as the term "PR" all but disappeared from corporations and along with it the corporate press relations function.

PR people at many companies decided it was too dangerous to deal with the press and off-loaded this function to the PR firms.

The breezy corporate PR type who would chat with reporters almost without limit disappeared.

In place of this type came the corporate VP with a title such as VP of Global Strategic Communications and Marketing Strategy. Getting through to this personage was like running the gauntlet that faces air travelers these days. Reporters who lost their "friend at court" at companies are now experiencing the same thing with PR firms.

PR's retreat from dealing with its one natural audience, the press, has been costly in terms of PR jobs. Many corporate PR depts. (now almost universally called "communications") are a small fraction of what they used to be if they exist at all.
Job loss has also been heavy in the counseling industry.

While the 50 PR units of the ad congloms no longer reveal any statistics, the 2004 Blue Book of members of PRSA gives some indication.

Weber Shandwick, which claimed the No. 1 spot with nearly 3,000 employees in 2001, had 110 members of PRSA that year but only has 39 now.
Parent Interpublic has said that overall employment plunged to 43,000 from 62,000.

Burson-Marsteller had 27 employees who were PRSA members in 2001 and 20 in 2004: Fleishman-Hillard, 70/47; Ketchum, 79/22; Porter Novelli, 64/32; Brodeur, 7/1; Hill & Knowlton, 52/33; Manning, Selvage & Lee, 28/22; GCI, 21/7, and Ogilvy, 22/20.

We don't think Sarbanes-Oxley forbids firms from giving out headcounts.

The four OMC units (F-H, Ketchum, PN and Brodeur) had 220 PRSA members in 2001 and 102 members in 2004. OMC is carrying $5.88 billion in goodwill on its books, up from $4.85B a year earlier, and says in its 2003 annual report that there has been "no impairment" in its investments.

How OMC's goodwill went up about $1B when it only spent $472M for acquisitions is a mystery. Its total debt rose to $2.59B. Longterm debt rose 33% to $2.33B. OMC's revenues for 2003 were $8.6B. The company's annual meeting seems to have left New York for good. It was in Los Angeles last year and will be in Atlanta this year on Tuesday, May 25.

An indication that PR has distaste for its own name is the recent release from Public Relations Society of America in which "communications" is favored as the term for what Los Angeles city departments need (vs. "public relations").

PRSA president Del Galloway, commenting after L.A. Mayor James Hahn put a stop to all outside PR contracts, says that ending "communications programs that help educate, inform and assist citizens is no more sensible than ending all city contracts with advertising, law or accounting firms."

Most companies and thousands of government bodies and nonprofit groups work with "PR agencies" to create "communications programs," he further said. "Communications programs" and "communications efforts" are mentioned six times in the release where "PR" would do just as well were it not for PR's apparent bad reputation.

Retreating from the term causes lots of problems.

PRSA should be leading the fight to restore luster to it. The first step would be starting a PR department at PRSA itself staffed by five or more PR veterans, setting an example for others.

The inability of PR organizations to get involved in judging a specific ethical situation was apparent in the question about F-H employees having titles at client SBC. Refusing to address the rightness or wrongness of this were the Council of PR Firms, PRSA and its ethics board and Counselors Academy, and the Arthur Page Society. The only unequivocal statement came out of the North American Assn. of Independent PR Agencies... PRSA is again not deferring enough dues income (page 7). Its only out is that it will not under any circumstances return any funds paid as dues. Otherwise it meets all the requirements for deferring about half its dues income.

-- Jack O'Dwyer