MEDIALINK SELLS
DELAHAYE FOR $8M.
Medialink has sold its Delahaye research unit, which it acquired in `99, to Sweden's Observer AB for $8 million.

CEO Larry Moskowitz plans to earmark the pretax $5 million gain to fuel growth of Medialink's TeletraxT (television tracking and asset media management service) and its core marketing services. TeletraxT has contracts with ABC, BBC, and Buena Vista TV.

Delahaye's $9 million in sales accounts for 20 percent of Medialink's overall revenues. The research operation broke even in `04.

The Norwalk, Conn.-based unit has offices in Portsmouth, N.H.; Washington, D.C., and London.

It employs 100 staffers who track news media coverage and measure the value of PR programs.

Observer is the parent company of Bacon's Information Inc.

DILENSCHNEIDER REPS
ARAB BANK AMID ALLEGATIONS
The Dilenschneider Group is representing Arab Bank, the $24 billion Jordan-based entity that was sued in December in Brooklyn federal court for allegedly bankrolling Palestinian suicide bombers.

The suit charges that AB served as "paymaster" to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It alleges that AB's New York office was central to the fundraising activity. The civil action was filed under The Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Antiterrorism Act of 1990.

Reid Gearhart, of TDG, is heading the account, and has posted a release on PR Newswire in which AB's law firm, Winston & Strawn, calls the allegations "entirely false."

Gearhart told O'Dwyer's that "I can t have that conversation right now," when asked how TDG got involved with AB.

Anthony Zehnder, head of global communications for Lehman Bros., has taken an executive VP post at Conseco to head corporate communications for the $1.5 billion insurance giant, which caters to low-income customers and seniors.

Carmel, Ind.-based Conseco emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, the third largest filing in U.S. history. Sitrick and Co. helped the company with PR through bankruptcy.

ALASKA WANTS PR
TO FIGHT CHILD ABUSE.
Alaska is looking for PR help to continue a recent decline in cases of child abuse and neglect in the state, which has one of the country's worst rates of such abuse. The state's Dept. of Health and Social Services wants to contract with a firm for two years to run a $600K social marketing campaign to fight various types of abuse.

The DHSS says it wants a firm to channel social marketing pushes like Florida's "Truth" anti-smoking campaign or North Carolina's "Click It or Ticket" work promoting seat belt use.

The DHSS Office of Children's Services will oversee the account and wants to award a contract by the end of January. Proposals are due Jan. 7.

Elizabeth Clement (elizabeth_clement@health. state.ak.us) is contracting officer.

ARMY RECRUITS
PR FIRMS FOR MUSEUM.
The U.S. Army is seeking a "small business" class PR firm to create a "community engagement plan" for the National Museum of the Army in Virginia, scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.

Up to $6M could be spent, according to an RFP by the Defense Contracting Command (Harry Lloyd Harting at [email protected]). A one-year contract with four option years will be awarded.

Robert McEwen, former president/CEO, Burson-Marsteller/Midwest, and former head of the Detroit office of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, joined The Dilenschneider Group as principal and managing director, Chicago.

Howard Penn Hudson, 93, publisher of PR Quarterly, now in its 50th year, and Hudson's Washington News Media Contacts Directory, died in his home in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Jan. 1. He founded the Newsletter Assn. of New York (now Newsletter & Electronic Publishers Assn.) in 1969.

PR HELPS WITH DISASTER RELIEF.
The massive natural disaster and human tragedy in South Asia last week has put many relief groups and companies into crisis mode.

As the death toll soared past 137,000 people, one group, the Center for International Disaster Information, relied on Hill & Knowlton to get the message out that monetary donations were the best way for people to help with relief efforts.

H&K/D.C. is coordinating PR and contacting media for CIDI, a U.S.-backed agency, in the wake of the Bay of Bengal earthquake and tsunamis.

H&K VP Kristina Boehk told O'Dwyer's the firm actually began PR work for CIDI a few months ago.

Meanwhile, companies like Pfizer and Kaiser Permanente put word out that they were offering drugs, doctors and much-needed cash to the relief effort.

Some firms used the opportunity to get clients in the media, offering up water purification experts, policy wonks, business execs to talk about the economic impact, and even retired military brass, among others.

Ruder Finn has been working on behalf of Odorscreen, a gel compound designed to offset the stench of dead bodies. The company has donated thousands of its products.

B-M GUIDES WESTERN MEDIA
FOR YUKOS OIL.
Burson-Marsteller is advising and fielding global media inquiries for Russia's Yukos oil company as the country auctioned the company's largest unit in a controversial move on Dec. 19.

Mike Lake, managing director for B-M in Dallas, has served as Yukos spokesman in the U.S. through bankruptcy hearings in Houston and the auction in Moscow. Lake told O'Dwyer's the firm's primary job over the last year has been to maintain Yukos relationships and provide information to Western media.

B-M was venting the ire of Yukos management toward the auction of its Yoganskneftegas unit to an unknown Russian entity viewed suspiciously by some analysts and media. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston issued an injunction against participants in the auction leading to the withdrawal of the favored bidder, Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom.

B-M's BKSH unit represents Yukos in D.C.

PENTAGON BEAMS NEWS
TO TROOPS.
Troops in the U.S., Iraq and around the world are getting their news from the Pentagon as the Defense Department has gone live with its own 24-hour network, The Pentagon Channel.

The venture, initially only for troops abroad and within the Pentagon, was expanded in a drive to boost the military's internal communications apparatus with $6M appropriated by Congress this year.

One-minute news updates, half-hour programs on issues that affect troops like health, education and money, PSA-type spots, and dispatches from the military's installations around the globe are featured on the new network.

The Pentagon has said news networks often don't air information that can be important to the troops, like specifics on rotations and health issues, and the network is billed as part of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's overhaul and expansion of the military's public affairs unit. Pentagon press briefings are aired in their entirety on the network.

QORVIS AFFIRMS PB INVESTMENT.
Qorvis Communications has affirmed D.C. lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggs will remain an investor in the PR firm, despite reports of internal strife at PB over the two firms work for Saudi Arabia.

"Patton Boggs is a minority investor in Qorvis and there are no plans to change or divest its relationship," Qorvis director Scott Warner told O'Dwyer's.

Patton Boggs managing partner Stuart Pape declined to comment on whether PB is considering pulling out its stake in Qorvis, but confirmed to this NL the relationship continues to exist.

The firm's stake in Qorvis – which sources place at 10-15 percent – has been the subject of some ire at the lobbying firm triggered by the Saudi account.

Qorvis offices were raided by FBI agents last month armed with a search warrant and grand-jury subpoenas, part of an investigation of possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and a radio ad campaign apparently run by the Saudis and Qorvis.

TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
TRUSTS RF.
The Trust for Public Land has tapped Ruder Finn/Switzer as PR firm for media relations, speakers bureau duties and "thought leadership" responsibilities. Jessica Switzer heads the account with Lisa Duszak, senior A/S.

TPL, which was established in `72, specializes in conservation real estate to protect land as parks, greenways, community gardens and wilderness. The group has protected 1.9 million acres across the U.S.

Will Rogers, TPL president, says land conservation is a high priority for Americans as evidenced by the $3.3 billion in ballot measures approved during the elections to create parks and open space.

GREY SHAREHOLDER
PRESSES SUIT.
A Grey Global Group shareholder has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the $1.5 billion merger of his company into WPP Group.

David Shaev charges the deal is unfair because Grey CEO Ed Meyer would receive an $86.9 million payout if the acquisition closed in 2004, or a $54.5 million windfall if the sale closes in `05. Those fees reduce the monies that other public shareholders would receive, according to the suit.

EU regulators have delayed the Grey/WPP deal.

Susan Walton, who was director of corporate communications at Boise-Cascade, has taken the same title at Harley-Davidson. She reports to Kathleen Lawler, VP-comms. at the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker. Heyman Assocs. did the search.

INTERIOR DESIGN
MAGAZINES GROW.
Interior design and decoration magazines increased 202% from 47 titles in 1994 to 142 titles in 2004, making it the fastest growing magazine category, according to the new edition of the Standard Periodical Directory, published by Oxbridge Communications in New York.

Magazines about lifestyle, weddings and dogs were also on the rise over the last 10 years.

Specifically, the magazine categories that showed major growth from 1994 to 2004, were:

—Lifestyle: 169% growth, from 80 titles in 1994, to 215 titles in 2004.

—Weddings: 143% growth, from 37 titles to 90.

—Dogs: up 136%, from 36 titles to 85.

—Family: 110% growth, from 78 titles to 164.

—Golf: up 102%, from 63 titles in 1994, to 127 titles in 2004.

Magazines with a declining number of publications included house organs, general interest titles, TV & video titles, and environment and ecology titles.

The categories with the largest number of magazines for 2004 are: Religion & Theology (583); Travel (541); Regional Interest (528); College Student (478); Automotive (365); Music & Music Trades (306), and Sports & Sporting Goods (296).

Deborah Striplin is editorial director of the directory, which lists 4,207 new titles and almost 40,000 updated listings.

MARKETING/MEDIA TRENDS
Mediamark Research's new study of the readership of 230 magazines ranks The Atlantic Monthly as the top publication for reaching "influentials," with about 60% of its audience made up of these activists and trendsetters.

Other publications that did well were The New Yorker, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, and the Smithsonian.

The Saturday Evening Post also has a strong appeal to influentials.

TV news coverage of Hispanics was more favorable in 2003, but America's largest and fastest-growing minority remains mostly ignored, according to an annual report prepared for the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists.

More than 16,000 stories that were on the nightly newscasts of ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN were examined.

A total of 131 stories, or 0.82%, were about Hispanics, compared with 120, or 0.65%, in 2002. Of 639 hours of news, four hours, or 0.63%, were for Hispanic stories, the study found.

Hispanics make up nearly 14% of the U.S. population.

CNN had the most Hispanic coverage with 47 stories that added up to nearly 90 minutes, followed by CBS with 30 stories or slightly more than 48 minutes in Hispanic coverage.

PEOPLE
Pamela Fisher, previously managing editor of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine, has joined The Cincinnati Enquirer as arts and entertainment editor.

Alison Brower, previously Glamour's deputy editor, was named executive editor at Redbook.

Nina Willdorf, previously a senior associate editor at Child magazine, is a new senior editor at Budget Travel magazine.

Laurel Touby, who founded mediabistro.com, and Jon Fine, media reporter for Advertising Age, were married Dec. 5.

PLACEMENT TIPS
Newsweek.com is starting a new regular section called "Entertainment Extra," which will feature web-exclusive content devoted to the arts and entertainment worlds, reports senior editor Deidre Depke.

One of the highlights of the section will be "David Ansen's Movie Club," which will pick a film every month. Ansen will write about the reasons for his selection and then moderate a live, on-line discussion about it.

Other regular features will include lists of the top grossing movies, top-rated TV shows, best selling books, music CDs and DVDs.

Town & Country magazine's beauty section has been expanded and moved closer to the front of the book. The publisher hopes the expanded section will attract more ad dollars from beauty companies.

Art & Antiques has unveiled several new editorial sections in its January issue.

Publisher Jay Perkins said the magazine's editorial team is focused on "infusing the publication with a new passion for delivering insider market information, the hot sales at auctions that influence trends and intriguing, insightful city guides for the collector on the go, presented in the most artful and entertaining way."

The editorial team has been expanded with new posts and full-time writers in the New York office.

Among the new people are Brook Mason, who was appointed chief correspondent; David Masello, who was named New York editor, and Edward Gomez, the former Time magazine cultural correspondent and former series editor for Metropolitan Home.

Barbara Tapp is editor-in-chief and Patti Verbanas is managing editor of the monthly magazine. Tapp is at 9 E. 40th st., New York, NY 10016; 212/686-2102.

DeWayne Wickham, a columnist for USA Today, is joining the faculty at North Carolina A&T State Univ. to establish the Institute of Advanced Journalism Studies, which is being created to stem the loss of black journalists.

More magazine and CBS News "The Early Show" are starting a new series of on-air segments called "Reaching for More."

The monthly segments will feature More editor-in-chief Peggy Northrop and The Early Show anchor Rene Syler. They will discuss lifestyle issues facing women over 40, which is the More's target audience.

Also included in the segments will be features from the current issue of the magazine such as reader profiles and articles on health, fashion, parenting and relationshiops.

Michael Bass and Victor Neufeld are senior executive producer and senior producer, respectively, for The Early Show.

American Banker has expanded and enhanced its Retail Delivery Special Report — increasing its frequency to 10 times a year and adding magazine-style features.

The new RDSP will be inserted in selected issue of the daily American Banker. The first issue will bear a January cover date; subsequent issues will follow in March, April, May, June, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov and Dec.

The reports will focus on such topics as branch innovation, small business marketing, and other topics pertaining to retail financial services.

David Longobardi, editor in chief of AB, will oversee the reports.

(Media news continued on next page)

EDITORS PICK TOP FOOD STORIES.
The death of Julia Child, the award-winning cook who started the TV chef trend back in the ‘60s, topped the list of food-related news stories in 2004, according to a survey of 1,300 food editors by Hunter PR in New York.

Obesity, which was ranked No. 1 in last year's survey, slipped to No. 3 behind the low carb trend, which held the No. 2 spot for a second year in a row.

The PR firm pointed out that obesity issues this year focused around who is most to blame for burgeoning waistlines, can the trend be reversed, and how can consumers prevent children from becoming the next generation of fat Americans.
Closely related, the buzz surrounding the documentary film, "Super Size Me," took the No. 4 spot.

Morgan Spulock's movie showcased his experience of eating only McDonald's food for one month and the damage that high fat diets can do to the body.
In doing so, he turned the spotlight on food marketing practices, in general, the agency said.
Revisiting the famed food pyramid claimed the No. 5 spot. The forthcoming new guidelines (which may no longer be in the shape of a pyramid) will most likely advise consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and non-fat or low-fat milk products, while limiting carbohydrates and salt, Hunter said.

Mad Cow Disease, which reared its head in the U.S. for the first time, captured the No. 6 spot.

The No. 7 spot was occupied by the debate over whether obesity will become the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. In March, the Journal of American Medical Assn . published a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that claimed more Americans will soon be dying from obesity than from smoking.

The widely publicized finding was contradicted on Nov. 23 by The Wall Street Journal, which reported major statistical errors in the CDC's report.

Produce Shortage Is No. 8

The produce shortage, caused by Florida's hurricane season, was No. 8 on the list of top stories.

As contrast to the survey's No. 2 result, the No. 9 story of the year is the decline in popularity of the Atkins diet during the second half of the year.

While most experts say Atkins will be a force to reckon with for years to come, they believe the craze has reached its zenith and will decline slowly over time, according to Hunter PR.

"Cheeseburger Bill" rounded out the list at No. 10.
Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in March, the bill prohibits obesity lawsuits against the food industry, protecting producers and sellers of food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Nearly two-thirds of the food editors believe individual consumers are most responsible for the nation's obesity problems, not the food manufacturers or providers.

ELSEN REJOINS N.Y. TIMES.
Jon Elsen, the business editor at The New York Post, has rejoined The New York Times as media and marketing editor, overseeing media, advertising, retailing and consumer products coverage for the business section.

Elsen joined the Post as its media and telecommunications reporter in 1997, became deputy business editor in May 1999 and business editor in Jan. 2000.

Before that he was editor of Merger & Acquisitions Report, a newsletter of Investment Dealer's Digest.

He also was a project editor for TimesFax, a condensed version of The New York Times faxed overseas, and a copy editor at various Times departments from Jan. 1991 to Jan. 1995.

Elsen succeeds Jacques Steinberg, who earlier was assigned to cover the entertainment beat for the Times.

MEDIA BRIEFS
Over 266,000 articles dating back to Time's first issue in March 1923 are now available free to subscribers of the magazine's website (www.timearchive.com).

USA Today has expanded its book coverage from one to two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) under book editor Carol Memmott, who was given this year's "AAP Honors" award by the Association of American Publishers.

Memmott's strategy is to keep reviews short, in favor of trend stories and publishing stories, and to be newsy.

Sporting WomanQuarterly, based in Wellington, Fla., will make its newsstand debut this Spring with an initial rate base of 400,000.

The quarterly will target the well-heeled sports socialite or enthusiast 25-49+ years old, who goes to sporting events and related charity functions.

The magazine will feature seasonal highlights of women's luxury sporting events, including polo and equestrian events, golf, tennis, and premium international sports.

It will also have athlete interviews, information on sporting trends, fashion, sporting goods, travel information, and upcoming events. [email protected].

Thomson Media in New York will publish a new quarterly business intelligence magazine, Business Intelligence Review, in April.

The magazine will be designed as a single source of information for non-technical managers engaged in business intelligence, focusing on the use of technology to make organizations more effective and responsive.

Jim Ericson, previously an editorial director and senior news editor at Line56 Media and managing editor at MSNBC, was hired as editor-in-chief of BIR.

Brian Cronin is handling PR inquiries about BIR at 212/803-8358.

Forbes.com plans to increase significantly its editorial capabilities in 2005, including an expansion of its video output and the start of several new content areas and services.

Dan Bigman, 34, previously with the NYTimes. com, where he spent six years, most recently as associate editor, and previously as business editor and producer, was hired as managing editor to oversee the day-to-day editorial operations of the site.

Miami Herald publisher Alberto Ibarguen believes daily newspapers will eventually come in two formats.

One edition will consist of in-depth articles for for older, more sophisticated readers, and costing about $2.00.

The other will be a tabloid-size free paper for those who want news in a lighter vein.

"My absolute belief is that the future of communicating information will get done electronically," said Ibarguen, who spokes at a recent media conference in New York.

Herald Media in Boston, which publishes The Boston Herald, has acquired Women's Business Boston from Vicki Donlan, who founded the 25,000 controlled circulation monthly paper, which is devoted to professional women in the business world, in 1998. She will remain as publisher.

New magazine tracker Samir Husni will list about 950 new mags launched in 2004, an indication of the voracious appetite of Americans for information (and entertainment).

The same number of mags were introduced the year before.

The meaning for PR pros is that there are hundreds of new outlets for their materials. Some of these mags are sex-related and may not be suitable for many products.

Husni, journalism prof at the University of Mississippi, told MIN (Media Industry Newsletter) that the new mags are aiming at "mass" markets now that the TV audience has been fractured into hundreds of parts.

Major publishers dominate the new mag arena.
"Mass," however, now means circulation of about 500,000 rather than millions.

Time Inc. spawned six new mags–All of You (women's service monthly partnered with Wal-Mart), Cottage Living, Find, Life (in its third reincarnation a newspaper supplement like Parade), Your Diet, and Suede (with Essence).

All of You is placed at the top of 34 notable mag launches in 2004 followed by Best of Life, men's health monthly from Rodale; Boost, auto-related annual from Hachette Filipacchi; Breathe, yoga bimonthly from HF; Cargo, ten issues a year from Conde Nast; Chow, bimonthly from Instant Comma; Conceive, quarterly about pregnancy from IC, and For Me, women's service monthly from HF.

Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines will be published in February.

Healthcare, shopping and self-improvement are hot topics with the public, based on the above.
Media are doing a good job covering these subjects.

But they re falling down in the public affairs arena, according to some critics.

New Yorker Danny Schechter, who is marketing a film called "WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception)," feels major media have sold out to many of the very institutions they re supposed to be criticizing.

According to his count, only six of the 800 so-called experts appearing on cable TV news shows were against the invasion of Iraq. Some shows openly supported the war under slogans such as "Operation Iraqi Freedom."

"Timidity" characterizes the "dwindling outlets that still attempt to practice journalism," he told New York Times reporter Christopher Hedges Dec. 29. Said Schechter: "American media are doing more to undermine democracy than support it."

Schechter, whose film has aired in nine cities but not New York, was a producer at ABC's "20/20" for eight years. He quit in 1988 when he said "news was replaced by infotainment."

More criticism of the media came from the Dec. 2 New England Medical Journal which bemoans the fact that "the media have become the primary source of health education and medical information."

It likes this in a way since media "certainly can get a message out quickly" about a new vaccine or problem with a drug.

But it thinks that health-obsessed media (such as Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times Mag, that depend heavily on drug ads) sometimes "oversell, overscare and oversimplify" matters.

Patients come to doctors offices "with news articles and internet printouts in hand," says the Journal. It would like to see the media do more follow-up stories instead of focusing on what's new.

The Journal is conscious that its articles get wide play. Some 450 original articles are generated each month based on Journal stories and more than 1,000 "secondary" reports are based on releases from wire services.

Other media-oriented issues that demand the attention of PR groups in 2005 include the murders and detention of journalists in numerous countries (e.g., Philippines); the threatened jailing of NYT reporter Judith Miller and Time mag's Matthew Cooper in the case involving the revelation of a CIA agent's name, and the use of the media by the U.S. Government to spread lies that may help the military. Disinformation was used in advance of the recent attack on Fallujah.

A new "medium" that is getting a lot of attention are "blogs," interactive websites created by individuals. Technorati says there are five million blogs and 15,000 are added daily. Favorite topic for online journals is sex. Subject was covered in the Dec. 19, 2004 NYT mag. Business groups are now setting up seminars to explore the impact of blogs and their use for commercial purposes.

The 26,000-member Assn. of Fundraising Professionals is ratcheting up its ethical code, barring members as of Jan. 1 from taking commissions on revenue–producing activities.

Under pressure from fundraisers who felt they would work harder if they got a cut of funds raised from selling sponsorships and ads (vs. soliciting charitable gifts), the group had been allowing payment of commissions on ad and sponsorship sales. But IEG Sponsorship Report Dec. 13 said it became hard to distinguish one type of income from the other and the AFP closed this loophole after seven years.

It quoted one fundraiser as saying all funds raised should go only to the organization.

– Jack O'Dwyer