B-M NAMES PENN CEO.
Burson-Marsteller has named pollster Mark Penn, 51, CEO. Penn, who is known as President Clinton’s pollster, is founder of Penn Schoen & Berland in New York. It was purchased by B-M’s parent company, WPP Group, in ’01.

Penn will remain president of PS&B, which will become a stand-alone division of B-M. PS&B has repped Microsoft, American Express, BP and Coca-Cola.

As Penn takes the helm, Howard Paster, executive VP at WPP, becomes chairman of B-M’s executive board.

B-M, in July, announced that CEO Tom Nides was leaving the firm. Nides decided to rejoin mentor, John Mack, at Morgan Stanley.

ILLINOIS SEEKS FIRM FOR HEALTHCARE.
Illinois, which just passed the country’s first law to insure every child with healthcare coverage, has issued an RFP for a firm or firms to guide marketing communications to promote its state-run healthcare programs.

The state anticipates a one-year contract with two one-year renewal options.

The effort will particularly focus on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “All Kids” initiative, a Medicaid-backed program signed into law in November touted as the first push to insure all children in a state and being closely watched by the rest of the country.

A second component of the marcom campaign is to promote the state’s prescription drug assistance efforts for seniors. Firms pitching both components must submit separate proposals for each.

Michele Piel [(217) 782-2570] is contracting officer for the Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services. Turnaround for selection of a firm is short. The RFP was issued on Dec. 1. Responses are due Dec. 15 with a vendor expected to be chosen Dec. 28.

CHARLTON HEADS QWEST PR AFTER EXITS.
Following the departure of two top PR executives, Qwest Communications has named Robert Charlton as VP of corporate communications.

Tyler Gronbach, who held the VP post at Qwest, left in November for a similar role at R.H. Donnelly Corp. Joan Walker, executive VP for marketing and communications for Qwest, left last month to become senior VP/corporate relations for Allstate Insurance.

Charlton, 53, spent 25 years at The Dow Chemical Co., most recently as global VP of public affairs.

Qwest, based in Denver, is the No. 4 local phone company in the U.S. and had sales of $13.8B in 2004.

DART, FREUD PITCH ‘SYRIANA.’
The Dart Group and Freud Communications have been brought in by Warner Bros. to bolster PR for the film “Syriana,” a Mid-East/CIA political thriller that debuted on Dec. 9.

Leslee Dart’s firm brought in Freud for the work to handle PR beyond traditional film publicity.

“We are working on some of the positioning of the film outside of the entertainment pages,” said Matthew Hiltzik, president of FC and former senior VP of corporate comms. and government relations for Miramax.

Syriana is being pitched as a “political thriller that unfolds against the intrigues and corruption of the global oil industry,” according to the Warner Bros. website. Hiltzik, former press secretary for the New York State Democratic Committee who has worked for Sen. Chuck Schumer and Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, said a goal is to tamp down moviegoers’ preconceived political leanings. “This is a dramatic thriller that people should see for its entertainment value,” he said.

Publicis Groupe acquired a majority stake in London-based FC this year.

MONFRIED STEPS DOWN AT METLIFE.
David Monfried, senior VP-corporate communications for MetLife since 2002, is retiring from the company at the end of the year. There was no immediate word of a successor or search for a successor.

Monfried, 60, was previously VP-CC for The St. Paul Companies. He was at Dun & Bradstreet from 1993-98 in a similar post and was involved with comms. for the restructuring of D&B into three publicly traded companies.

O’DWYER AWARDS TO START IN FEBRUARY.
PR, public affairs and client organizations that show unusual creativity in educating and informing the public or segments of the public about products, services or public issues will be honored by the O'Dwyer Co. starting with the February 2006 issue of O'Dwyer's PR Services Report.

The issue, which focuses on PA and environmental programs, will inaugurate a monthly O'Dwyer awards program that will recognize outstanding campaigns for specialized areas of PR.

Entry deadline for the February magazine is Dec. 21. Winning entries will be described in detail and illustrated with pictures on odwyerpr.com as well as in the magazine. Winners will receive a plaque or award certificate.

(continued on page 7)

COKE LOSES FIZZ AT NYU.
New York University, the nation’s largest private college with more than 50,000 students and 16,000 workers, announced Dec. 8 that it kicked Coca-Cola off its campus to protest labor conditions at its bottling plants in Colombia.

A Coke spokesperson, Kari Bjorhus, told the Washington Square News on Nov. 28 that a boycott would “greatly harm our image” because NYU is a “trendsetting university.” WSN is NYU’s newspaper.

NYU’s All University Senate, which reps students, faculty and administrators, debated the issue for six months, and heard testimony from Coca-Cola officials. The school will welcome Coke back if the Atlanta-based beverage market allows independent auditors to evaluate human rights conditions at the Columbia plants.

Coca-Cola, on cokefacts.com, disputes any notion of labor abuse. “The Coca-Cola Company and our bottling partners have maintained operations and worked to provide safe, stable economic opportunities for the people of Colombia,” it says.

There was a press conference on Dec. 12 at NYU to highlight the Coke action. The Greenwich Village-based university is the 12th college to drop Coke, an effort promoted by Ray Rogers’ Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. Rogers is supported by labor unions.

Rogers says the NYU move against Coke is especially sweet because Barry Diller, a Coke director, is a trustee of the school.

BKSH REPS HAITI.
Burson-Marsteller’s BKSH & Assocs. lobbying wing is working on a five-month $100K contract with Haiti, which is trying to hold a presidential election.

The tally, which was scheduled for Dec. 22, has now been set for Jan. 8. That marks the fourth time the election has been postponed due to continued violence and lack of voting equipment.

More than 7,000 United Nations troops have been trying to maintain order in the country. Haiti’s last-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in `04.

BKSH’s contract runs through Jan. 31.

HILL SETS UP SHOP.
Frederick W. Hill, an eight-year veteran of JPMorgan Chase & Co., New York, heading corporate marketing and communications worldwide, is leaving the company Dec. 31 to start his own firm in the Tribeca area of New York.

Hill, who has the title of executive VP, will open “FW,” specializing in planning and executing merger and acquisition announcements and crisis communications.

He noted his background at JPMorgan Chase as well as previous posts at McDonnell Douglas and Westinghouse Electric Corp. have provided him with substantial experience in these areas.

He is a member of the JPMorgan Chase executive committee, its senior policy making group.

Black Enterprise Magazine this year named Hill as one of the 75 most powerful African-Americans in corporate America.

E-mail of the firm is [email protected]. Phone will be 917/848-1418.

XENOPHON GUIDES VA LAUNCH.
Xenophon Strategies is guiding Richard Branson’s bid to get Virgin America off the ground, and become the first U.S. carrier funded by a foreign airline, U.K.’s Virgin Atlantic.

VA filed an application with the Department of Transportation on Dec. 8, which must determine whether it is a “U.S. citizen and fit, willing and able to operate as a U.S. airline.”

Branson, who is British, contends that a U.S. investment group, VAI Partners, provided the bulk of the carrier’s initial $177M funding and will have control.

VA is to operate as a discount carrier with 17 Airbus planes from its San Francisco International Airport base. It plans to have more than 2,000 workers.
XS was founded by David Fusco, who was VP-communications at the Air Transport Assn. and aide to former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

Holly Arthur, ex-aviation news director at the American Assn. of Airport Executives heads the VA account.

GIBBS & SOELL WINS SPA RFP.
The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals has tapped Gibbs & Soell for a year-long, six-figure campaign to play up the benefits of hot tubs. New York-based G&S edged two other finalists for the work for the Association’s Hot Tub Council, according to the firm.

The PR budget is believed to be in the $200K range for the push.

G&S, as agency of record, is charged with developing a consumer and trade awareness effort to show benefits like warm water therapy’s positive impact on health.

Lauren Stack, manager of marketing communications for the Hot Tub Council, said in a statement that “a lot of talented agencies threw their hats in the ring.”

She said G&S’ preparation and approach stood “at a time when the Hot Tub Council looks to reinvigorate its consumer communications.”

Cos Mallozzi, president and CEO of G&S, said: “There is a tremendous market opportunity in the category and they have a great story to tell.”

D.C.-based APSP is the top trade group for the swimming, pool, spa and recreational water industries.

Suzanne Barrows, senior director of communications and marketing, told O’Dwyer’s that the group does not have an outside PR firm.

She said the Hot Tub Council’s members allocated separate funds for that sector’s PR push.

IOWA TAPS INTEGER FOR REFORM PUSH.
Omnicom’s Integer Group has emerged from a field of five firms to handle marketing and PR support for Iowa’s push to improve its high schools.

The initial pact runs through June 30, 2006 with a potential one-year option. A budget has not yet been set for the work, according to the state.

Lakewood, Colo.-based Integer has an office in Des Moines and has worked with Iowa’s Dept. of Economic Development and the state lottery.

In addition to Integer, State Public Policy Group, Essman & Associates, Art a La Cart, and Strategic America replied to the RFP.

ABC NAMES ANCHOR TEAM.
ABC News has announced a duo will replace Peter Jennings for its flagship “World News Tonight” program.

Elizabeth Vargas, co-anchor of “20/20,” and Bob Woodruff, weekend anchor for “World News Tonight,” will serve as co-anchors of the weekday show, starting Jan. 3.

The announcement was made by ABC News President David Westin.

Vargas and Woodruff are no strangers to WNT, as both have served as fill-in anchors for the past several years, especially since the departure of Jennings, who died this year from lung cancer.

Vargas will continue her role at “20/20” as well.

ABC News also announced that the program will be broadcast live to the West Coast each night and content will be included in a daily webcast anchored by Vargas and Woodruff. Live broadcasts are slated for 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Content on ABC.com will also be expanded as part of the re-vamp.

STERN PROVIDES BIG PR RETURN.
Sirius Satellite Radio CFO David Frear says the company received an “extraordinary PR return” from the hiring of shock jock Howard Stern, who officially joins the pay radio station in January. The company will pay Stern $500M for his services over the next five years.

Stern talked with “60 Minutes” correspondent Ed Bradley on Dec. 4 and “Today” anchor Katie Couric on Dec. 6. He graces the cover of the Dec. 12 New York Magazine.

XM Satellite Radio, the market leader, has acknowledged the competitive buzz. It is offering a $50 rebate on equipment to counter Stern’s media attention, Gary Parsons, CEO, told the UBS Media Conference in New York on Dec. 6.

XM expects to wind up the year with six million subscribers. Sirius predicts three million subs by the end of the month.

NYT ROLLS OUT ‘RED CARPET.’
The New York Times has launched a website dedicated to Hollywood’s “movers and shakers.”
The Times’ “Red Carpet” site (www.nytimes.com/redcarpet) provides news, reviews, celebrity antics and buzz about Oscar and Golden Globe contenders.

David Carr will blog daily about the Hollywood scene. He will do a weekly video feature that highlights what moviegoers in Times Square think about stars and flicks.

Len Apcar, editor-in-chief of nytimes.com, promises “thoughtful coverage” of Hollywood as a “major cultural and business phenomenon.”

The site will have a “movie meter,” a feature that measures the films that have attracted the most reader interests.

There will be news about the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Writers Guild Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and Director Guild of America Awards.

Diane McNulty at (212/556-5244 and [email protected]) has details.

COOKE RETURNS TO CHICAGO.
Michael Cooke, editor of the New York Daily News, is returning to Chicago on Jan. 2 as VP-editorial for the Sun-Times Group. He will be responsible for the Chicago-Sun Times, Pioneer Press, Naperville Sun and papers in Joliet, Elgin and Waukegan.

Cooke had been editor-in-chief of the S-T before moving to the Big Apple in ’05.

Earlier, he was managing editor at both the Edmonton Journal and Montreal Gazette.

Hollinger International owns the Sun-Times Group.

PENTAGON PROBES BAGHDAD PRESS CLUB.
The U.S. military established the Baghdad Press Club in ’04 for Iraqi journalists, and paid members $25 for each story they wrote, according to USA Today. The goal was to promote progress amid the chaos of Iraq.

The military arranged tours for BPC reporters to U.S.-financed reconstruction projects and invited them to write about the developments.

The BPC denies that it paid for “favorable” stories. Club members “are not required nor asked to write favorably,” Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone told the paper. “They are simply invited to report on events.”

Reporters receive $45 if a story runs with a photo. TV reporters get $50. The monthly salary of a typical Iraqi journalist is about $300.

Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk is leading an investigation into whether the BPC planted positive stories in the Iraqi press without identifying the U.S. military as the source.

The Lincoln Group, the Pentagon’s news promoter, has denied any link to the BPC.

MOVEON PROTESTS TRIBUNE CUTS.
MoveOn.org has organized a petition drive against Chicago-based Tribune Co. to protest job cuts it has made at papers throughout the U.S.

The activist group counts more than 550 staff cuts at eight Tribune papers including Long Island’s Newsday (171), Chicago Tribune (100), Los Angles Times (85) and Baltimore Sun (75).

Those cutbacks, it contends, mean “watered down coverage of local news” at a time when “politicians and companies need to be held accountable by vigilant watchdog journalism.”

MoveOn charges Tribune Co. is more interested in its stock price than good journalism. The Newsday petition, for instance, includes a note from Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garrett, who resigned in March. She wrote about Tribune Co., “They serve their stockholders first, Wall Street second and somewhere far down the list comes service to newspaper readership.”

Tribune Co. earned $24M during the third-quarter, down 82 percent from the $120M netted Q3 of ’04.

NASCAR announced an eight-year, $4.48-billion television deal, a 40 percent hike from its current pact.

Fox, ABC, ESPN and TNT will broadcast the annual 36-race season. NASCAR ranks as the fourth largest sport in revenue, behind the NFL, NBA and MLB.

(Media news continued on next page)

BW SHIFTS EUROPE, ASIA EDITIONS TO WEB.
BusinessWeek will stop publishing European and Asian editions on Dec. 30 and shift overseas news online.

The move is to “harness the growing power of the web globally,” according to Stephen Adler, editor-in-chief.

Overseas readers currently account for 25 percent of BW's online readership. He believes BW can deliver news to foreign readers more timely via the ’Net. Adler thinks BW can better target web readers for advertisers online.

The magazine says it will maintain its international bureaus, while developing more local language content for the website.

BW is a McGraw-Hill unit.

VNU REVAMPS FILM GROUP.
Tony Uphoff, VP and GM of the Hollywood Reporter, was named president of VNU Business Media’s Film and Performing Arts Group, which includes the Reporter, Back Stage East, Back Stage West, Hollywood Creative Directory and Amusement Business.

The move is effective January 1.

Uphoff will also serve as publisher of the Hollywood Reporter as current publisher Robert Dowling departs after 17 years to open his own consulting firm.

VNU also said Matthew King has expanded his role as group VP, editorial development, to cover all of its Film and Performing Arts Group titles. He had recently managed the THR.com editorial team. Howard Burns, editor of the Hollywood Reporter and group VP/editorial director, continues in that role.

People_________

Kate Phillips, the No. 2 editor of the New York Times’ Washington bureau, has left. The move is the latest blow to bureau chief Phil Taubman, who recently congratulated top reporter Todd Purdum on his move to Vanity Fair for the national editor slot. Purdum was with the Times for 23 years.

Phillips got the job to succeed Rick Berke in ’04.

Canon Communications has named two staffers as editors-in-chief of flagship publication Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry.

Sherrie Conroy, editor of Canon’s Compliance Engineering and Medical Electronics Manufacturing, and Erik Swain, an MD&DI staffer, take on the EIC title.

Conroy is a 10-year veteran of Canon pubs. Swain joined the company as senior editor of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News in 1998.

MD&DI has covered the medical device industry for 26 years.

Ted Lund, managing editor of Sport Fishing, and Jessica Chapman, editor of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters, have swapped roles at the World Publication titles.

Lund was formerly a writer for the Associated Press and the Miami Herald.

Fly Fishing in Salt Waters is published six times a year, while SF is published 10 times annually.

John Burnham, editor of WP’s Sailing World, adds duties as editor of Cruising World. He takes over for Herb McCormick, who becomes editor-at-large and will travel and write for the magazine. Burnham has been with Sailing World since 1979, when he joined as an intern. McCormick joined CW 26 years ago.

Jonathan Chernes, director of retail operations at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has joined House Beautiful as managing editor. Barbara de Wilde, former design director of MSLO, also joins HB in that same title.

Stephen Drucker, former editor-in-chief at MSLO, is EIC of House Beautiful.

Briefs_________

Purchasing Magazine will be redesigned with more editorial content for its January 12, 2006, issue. The 90-year-old publication targets purchasing and supply-chain-management professionals.

New columns include “Scale Up,” covering buying trends and initiatives at medium-sized companies; “CPO,” featuring commentary by the magazine’s editorial advisory board and other executives on industry topics, and profiles of industry players.

Reader’s Digest has announced plans for a monthly digital subscription version through a deal with Zinio Systems, a digital publishing company.

RD’s January issue is at Zinio.com and RD.com.

The digital version mirrors the print edition, with the addition of a hyperlinked table of contents, search functions, and an archive library. Full-year subscription is $13.98 or $2.99 for a single issue.

Real Simple magazine, a five-year-old publication targeting women, has aligned with XM Satellite Radio for a short-form program called “Real Simple Solutions.” The new show will air on XM’s women’s channel, “Take Five.”

Two to four original “Real Simple Solutions” covering content from the magazine will air each weekday and be re-broadcast throughout the day on “Take Five” and other XM channels.

Real Simple editors will be frequent guests on XM-produced programs under the deal.

Journal Communications, a Milwaukee-based media conglomerate, has completed its purchase of three Emmis Communications Corp. stations: Fox affiliate WFTX-TV, FOX4 Fort Myers/Naples (Fla.) and ABC affiliate KGUN-TV, Channel 9, (Tucson, Ariz.). Journal has also acquired certain assets of CBS affiliate KMTV, Channel 3 (Omaha, Neb.).

Purchase price for all three was $235M. WFTX is the 68th largest TV market in the U.S. , according to Nielsen Media Research, while KGUN is 72nd and KMTV is 76th.

Emmis Communications is in the midst or has completed the sale of 16 stations of late.

The opening of a PA and lobbying office in Brussels by Waggener Edstrom, the biggest tech PR firm by far ($75M in 2004 fees and 540 employees), focuses attention on the explosion of lobbying, a function in some ways is supplanting what PR pros used to do (page 5).

PR veteran Byron Reimus (ex-New England Life, Ruder Finn) notes in his latest FYI report that there are nearly 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels according to Corporate Europe Observatory.

Microsoft, Wagged’s biggest client, and other big companies are there such as Intel, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, General Motors, etc.

The European Commission blocked the merger of General Electric and Honeywell in 2001, showing its independence and power. The Financial Times (Oct. 3, 2005) believes Brussels is “shaping global regulatory standards” more than any other city.

Christina Kaul, who heads the Wagged office, was a member of the cabinet for the European Commissioner on Agriculture and Food. She then set up her own firm specializing in food, healthcare and biotechnology. Her team will provide “strategic counsel and lobbying in EU institutions and member state governments, implementing reputation-building and stakeholder outreach programs, and providing media support for policy and PA initiatives.”

Kaul’s path from a government post to PA and lobbying is a common one.

Reimus ([email protected]) notes that 43% of U.S. congressmen who left office since 1998 registered to do lobbying (lobbyinginfo.org).

D.C. lobbyists have more than doubled to nearly 35,000 since 2000; fees have risen as much as 100%, and starting pay for Capitol Hill or White House veterans has gone from $200K to $300K (Washington Post). State lobbying is also booming. Reimus says law firms are making big inroads on tasks once performed by PR firms.

Why are lobbyists becoming so important these days? For openers, they help bring campaign contributions to elected officials and the groups supporting them.

But they must be careful they don’t overstep the bounds of legality. One of the biggest D.C. stories today is an alleged “web of corruption” surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist/businessman Jack Abramoff. A lot of heat will be on lobbyists.

What makes a good lobbyist? Fraser Seitel, O’Dwyer columnist, says lobbyists must have “comprehensive knowledge” of pending laws including positions of supporters and detractors.
“A good lobbyist must be an eager supplicant to the distinguished legislator ... available whenever the legislator needs to talk ... delivering requested information immediately and in a form readily understandable,” he says. A lobbyist must do as much as possible for the lawmaker including influencing local opinion leaders, says Seitel.

A large percentage of corporate PR pros once had a similar proactive stance with reporters, chasing them down, finding out their needs, helping them with stories and providing current “buzz” on a subject. Lately, corporate PR has seen its mission as internally-oriented (speech by Johnson & Johnson’s Bill Neilsen to Institute for PR in 11/16 NL). PR pros are seen as keepers of corporate values.

New York PR counselor Mike Paul, a “devout evangelical Christian,” has been doing radio interviews across the country saying retailers who “take Christ out of Christmas” are making a mistake since about 80% of Americans have a Christian background. He says it “flies in the face of affinity marketing” and that calling Christmas a holiday “allows all faiths to be watered down to nothing.”

Most people are not offended by expressions of others’ religions, he says ... be that as it may, President Bush this year sent out 1.4 million “holiday cards” to supporters, avoiding any sectarian/religious clash. Bill Donahue of the Catholic League thought Bush “suffered a loss of will.” Walmart, meanwhile, greets its customers with “Merry Christmas”... some think the flap over “Christmas” is meant to divert attention from Iraq.

Helen Ostrowski of Porter Novelli and Peter Landers of the Wall Street Journal are right in saying the bombardment of drug ads is becoming a turn-off (page 7). Some magazines have become grisly medical journals and radio is stuffed with “scare” ads.

One says, after a few seconds of silence, “Hear that? You can’t hear it. That’s your heart getting ready to shut down. It does this in silence.” Then the ad advises seeing a doctor and taking preventative medicine.

The O’Dwyer Awards (page one) will recognize PR campaigns that provide public discussion of issues and products. We’re looking for public debates, “hotlines” for reporters, principals being interviewed by reporters, etc. Too much discussion and wheeling-dealing is going on behind the scenes by lobbyists and legislators, as noted in the first item in this column. It’s time to put the “public” back in PR ... Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter on Dec. 12 blasted the Pentagon for giving three “shadowy” contractors $300 million over five years to cultivate favorable press in Iraq. Among them are the Lincoln Group, headed by Christian Bailey, 30-year-old Oxford graduate, and the Rendon Group, headed by John Rendon. Alter, who couldn’t get Bailey to return a phone call, says use of this type of propaganda “feeds the perception of Americans as inept and hypocritical puppetmasters”.

PR Society of America, after years of supplying an audiotape of its Assembly to reporters and promising to do so again this year, now says the Assembly is “private” and the tape will not be distributed.

– Jack O'Dwyer