GEORGIA EVALUATES HIV PR PITCHES.

Four firms are competing for a $500K assignment to develop and guide a statewide HIV education campaign in Georgia.

Edelman, GolinHarris, and Atlanta-based ad/PR firms Creaxion and Images USA are pitching for the account. Images USA handled a 2003 multicultural AIDS campaign for the state called PAUSE.

The Peach State’s Division of Public Health began an RFP process in March to find a firm to help counter a relatively high rate of AIDS cases in the state – 10th in population, Georgia had the eighth highest total of reported AIDS cases and seventh highest number of people living with AIDS.

WAGGED TAKES BMC SOFTWARE ACCOUNT.

Waggner Edstrom has replaced Porter Novelli on BMC Software’s North American PR account, following a review.

WaggEd took the reins July 1 and edged GlobalFluency and Weber Shandwick after an initial field of 15 was reduced. PN handled the work for the last six years.

Sarah Russ, VP and GM of the firm’s Austin office, heads the account.

Mark Stouse, director of worldwide corporate comms. for BMC, called the finalists the “best communications teams in the world,” but said WaggEd was consistent in delivering a “perspective and value proposition that was unique and compelling.”

Houston-based BMC develops enterprise management software for companies like Dow Corning and Home Depot.

Revenue for the fiscal year ended in March was nearly $1.5 billion.

HSN SHOPS FOR PR PRO.

The Home Shopping Network, which reaches more than 90M U.S. households, is looking to hire a VP-corporate communications.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., position requires an executive with at least a dozen years of experience with a mix of retail, fashion and entertainment experience.

The key responsibility is to establish internal and external strategies to drive visibility and credibility for HSN through consumer and trade media channels.

HSN is a unit of Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, which trades on the Nasdaq. A relocation package is available.

Arnold Huberman Assocs. is handling the search. 212/545-9033 or [email protected].

WIDMEYER LANDS D.C. DISASTER WORK.

Widmeyer Communications, partnered with the Center for Risk Communications, has picked up a $355K PR contract with the National Capital Region to develop “risk communications” in the event of a disaster like a terrorist attack.

The NCR encompasses the District of Columbia and surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia.
The new contract (there was no incumbent) runs through Jan. 31 and includes message development and media training for 14 scenarios – from detonation of an improvised nuclear device to a Category 5 hurricane. The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the effort.

Widmeyer and the New York-based Center for Risk Communication pitched together as the Consortium for Risk and Crisis Communication, although Widmeyer’s name solely appears on the contract.

Fleishman-Hillard won a $100K contract with NCR in May to develop a strategic communications plan to highlight the region’s preparedness for a disaster.

SHOSTECK DRIVES TO STRAT@COMM.

Strat@comm has added Eron Shosteck, who was press secretary to now-House Speaker Denny Hastert, to its roster. He joins from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which is a Strat@comm client.

Shosteck also has association experience gained from stints at the Distilled Spirits Council, Highway Users Federation (now known as American Highway Users Alliance), National Soft Drink Assn. (now American Beverage Assn.) and Health Insurance Assn. of America (now America’s Health Insurance Plans). He also was managing editor and media columnist for National Journal’s daily political briefing, The Hotline.

Strat@comm is Fleishman-Hillard’s transportation PR unit.

MINETA TO JOIN H&K.

Norman Mineta, a Democrat who served in the cabinets of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is slated to join Hill & Knowlton as vice chairman later this month.

Mineta stepped down July 7 as Secretary of Transportation under Bush, a post he held since 2001. He was Commerce Secretary under President Clinton.

Mineta plans to join H&K on July 24 and will be based in Washington, D.C., reporting to chairman/CEO Paul Taaffe. The California Democrat served in the House of Representatives for 20 years representing Silicon Valley and was vice president of Lockheed Martin.

PR PRO WANTS TO DISCARD SOX.

Mallory Factor, whose New York PR firm in his name has handled financial, entertainment and other clients in the past 30 years, has emerged as a major figure in the Republican Party.

As chairman of The Free Enterprise Fund, he told a Congressional hearing in June that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had a $1 trillion negative impact on the economy and should be repealed.

He supports a bill by Florida Republican Tom Feeney that would exempt most public companies from having their internal controls reviewed by auditors.

A lawsuit by the Enterprise Fund wants the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (created by SOX) declared unconstitutional.

Feeney’s proposal is that a few companies be chosen each year for audits.

Floyd Norris, New York Times columnist who reported Factor’s comments June 23, disputed the $1 trillion cost, saying the researcher who made this estimate, Ivy Zhang of the University of Minnesota, later said it was too large but would not give a new figure.

Norris said the U.S. economy has boomed in the wake of SOX.

Factor Raises GOP Funds

Factor, whose firm is also described as a “merchant bank,” helped found the “Monday Meetings” of businesspeople who discuss economic topics. Urging him to do so, according to the website whitehouseforsale.org, was “anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist.”

Factor helped President Bush in 2002 by hosting a $10,000-a-plate fundraiser in his home to support GOP candidates.

Factor, according to sourcewatch.org, is chairman of the New York Public Asset Fund and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Investment Advisory board. He is also on the board of governors of the New York State Banking Dept. Other activities include director and volunteer treasurer, Metropolitan College of New York; director, Brooklyn Academy of Music and American Theatre Wing; member, TONY Awards administration committee, and member, Federal Savings & Loan Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank (appointed by President Reagan).

FIRMS GUIDE TROLLTECH THROUGH IPO.

A trio of PR firms is handling global PR for Trolltech, a Norway-based Linux software developer which successfully went public this month.

Spark PR (U.S.), Six Degrees PR (U.K./Europe), and Ruder Finn (Asia) guide communications for the company, which is being hailed as a pioneer for “dual-license” operation because it develops both open-source and subscription software. Its software is primarily focused on mobile devices like phones and aims to challenge the entrenched leaders in the space, Symbian and Microsoft. Motorola has embraced Trolltech software and has developed some products with the company.
Trolltech debuted on the Oslo Stock Exchange July 5 and raised about $19M with the offering. Co-CEO Haavard Nord said feedback from national and international investors shows a high level of confidence in the company.

WPP BLOCKS SHAREHOLDER.

WPP Group blocked a shareholder who planned to “grill management” from its June 27 London annual meeting, according to a report in the New York Post.

John Fiorilla, who lives in New York and Milan, told the Post he wanted to ask WPP about its legal battles, the failed merger in China and a succession plan for CEO Martin Sorrell.

He also is concerned that the ad/PR conglom may be footing the bill for the squabble between Sorrell and Marco Benatti, the former country manager from Italy.

That tussle may be more about settling personal scores than a business matter, according to Fiorilla. “I wanted to ask if they believe the shareholders should bear the cost of these if they are personal lawsuits,” the investor told the Post.

WPP denies that it moved to silence Fiorilla. It says Fiorilla failed to show a valid proxy. He carried a proxy from Lehman Brothers. WPP says he needed one from Citibank.

NEBB HANDLES TAKE-TWO.

Veteran Wall Street pro Ed Nebb is spokesperson for Take-Two Interactive Software, which has revealed that it received grand jury subpoenas from Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau seeking documents from October `01 concerning hidden scenes in its Grand Theft Auto video franchise.

Nebb told O’Dwyer’s that he has had a four-year relationship with Take-Two, working in the financial and IR spaces. He handles the account through his Comm-Counsellors business.

Euro RSCG Magnet lists Nebb as practice leader for its financial PR unit, but he says he just consults with that Havas entity.

Take-Two has sold more than 50M copies of its Grand Theft Auto series, which has positioned the company as the “bad boy” of the gaming business, according to the New York Times. The game allow players to commit havoc in cyberworld.

Morgenthau wants to know what Take-Two executives knew about hidden sexually explicit scenes in its Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video. The images become visible by a program that was available on the `Net. Those scenes were not disclosed to the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Take-Two withdrew the game from the market and then re-released it minus the graphic material.

The company’s stock trades at $10.15. Shares traded as high as $28.16 during the past year.

MOORE HELPS FLORIDA REBUILD.

Moore Consulting Group, a Tallahassee-based PR firm, beat two Sunshine State competitors for a $500K PR contract to recruit workers to Florida’s booming construction sector.

MCG edged The Hester Group and White Hawk/McCormick for the account.

The firm is charged with evaluating and developing a marketing plan for the state’s “Florida reBuilds” campaign, a $6M effort to train Floridians in various building sector trades like roofing, plumbing, and heavy equipment.

SURVEY: 1/3 OF U.S. SKIPS SUNDAY PAPER.

One-third of Americans said they have not read a Sunday paper in the past six months, according to a Zogby International survey conducted for Parade magazine.

That group cited time constraints, lack of home delivery, a preference for TV news, and lack of interest as reasons for skipping the fattest paper of the week.

Sixty percent of the 1,016 Americans polled by Zogby International said they had read all four Sunday editions of their local newspapers in the last month. But only 34 percent of respondents in the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic said that reading the Sunday paper is a priority, and only 29 percent of that group have read all four Sunday papers in the past month.

Respondents (31 percent) cited Sunday more than any other day of the week as their favorite day.

RADAR MOVES BACK ONTO THE RADAR.

Radar, the pop culture glossy, re-launches in August as a website with at least a half dozen print issues planned for '07. This will be the third re-birth of Radar in as many years.

The magazine is financed by a group led by Yusef Jackson, son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a business associate of California billionaire Ron Burkle. The duo made an unsuccessful bid for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Radar editor Maer Roshan says Jackson has promised him complete editorial control and enough capital to keep the magazine financed for at least five years.

The last resurrection of Radar fizzled after New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report owner Mort Zuckerman pulled the plug on a promised $25M cash infusion.

TOWNHALL.COM REVAMPS.

Townhall.com re-launched on July 4, combining the Internet with conservative talk radio hosts.

The site podcasts the programs of Salem Communications' Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved and Dennis Prager. That group is heard on more than 300 stations nationwide.

Townhall, which attracts 1.4M viewers a month with its opinionated journalism and punditry, expects the radio hook-up will help activate the conservative base to political action.

Hewitt notes that Townhall is ramping up in anticipation of the '06 Congressional elections. He serves as executive editor of the site that split from the Heritage Foundation in '05.

HEARST READIES ‘TAB’ WARS.

Hearst Entertainment will air “Tabloid Wars” on July 24, a reality show about reporters from the New York Daily News and their battle to scoop the New York Post.

The one-hour series runs for six weeks on the Bravo cable channel.

Editor & Publisher previewed a pilot of the program. That magazine quotes DN gossip columnist George Rush describing the favorite part of his job.

Occasionally you can squeeze the genitalia of powerful people in New York and make them yell or threaten to sue you-and that's kind of a kick!"

SINGER PLAYS ROLE IN PRESS FLAP.

Veteran PA counselor Sam Singer is repping Wendy McCaw and her holding company, Ampersand Holdings, which is front and center in a newsroom revolt.

Six journalists bolted AH’s Santa Barbara News-Press last week, charging that the former wife of cellphone magnate Craig McCaw, with meddling in the paper’s coverage.

That group included Jerry Roberts, managing editor, George Foulsham, deputy ME, and Donald Murphy, metro editor. McCaw’s company purchased the 41K-circulation paper from the New York Times Co. in 2000.

Singer claims the resignations happened because of plans to increase local coverage.

Roberts told the NYT the group left because of “ethical concerns” about blurring the lines between opinion and news. He says tensions grew between management and the editorial side with the April departure of publisher Joseph Cole, who served as a buffer between the two factions.

Singer’s firm, Singer Assocs., has extensive media experience, gained from representing Hearst Corp. in its purchase of the San Francisco Chronicle and Anschutz Investment’s acquisition of the San Francisco Examiner. Singer told O’Dwyer’s his firm also worked with KPIX-TV and KNBR radio in S.F.

Singer is a former reporter who also ran GCI Group’s western region.

THC DENIES POLITICAL PRESSURE.

The History Channel says it did not pull “Ottoman Empire: The War Machine” from its schedule due to pressure from the Turkish Government.

Turkey denies that the killing of more than one million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1923 was an act of genocide.

A rep for THC, which was running promos for the program that was supposed to air June 22, told Broadcasting & Cable, the program was “incomplete and did not meet its standards.”
THC claims it will air the show in the fall.

PLACEMENT TIPS ___________________

ReelzChannel, a new network focused on entertainment and movies, is set to launch on Sept. 27 claiming an audience of more than 28M cable/satellite subscribers. This network will cover theatrical releases, DVD, video-on-demand, rentals, and pay channels like HBO and Showtime.

The network is requesting that it be added to electronic press kit and trailer distribution lists.

Laura Fagin, director, rights and clearances – 213/443-2417; [email protected] – is point of contact.

The New York Post has a new feature writer named Marina Vataj. She’s looking for lifestyle feature ideas and can be reached at [email protected].

(Media news continued on next page)

BRIEFS ___________________

Sirius Satellite Radio has aligned with Variety to set up a radio news bureau in the entertainment trade mag's Los Angeles offices this fall.

Branded as Variety Radio News, the bureau will air reports on Sirius' Los Angeles channel 150 with contributions from Variety reporters and editors.

United Business Media has bought trade data publisher Commonwealth Business Media for $152M.

CBM provides international trade and transportation data electronically on trains, boats and planes carrying goods in the international trade industry. Its products include The Journal of Commerce.

New York private equity firm The Wicks Group of Cos. has acquired urban music and lifestyle magazine Vibe from Quincy Jones, the legendary music producer who started the magazine in 1993.

Danyle Smith, music editor for Vibe and former editor-at-large for Time Inc., has been named editor-in-chief.

The magazine now extends to Vibe Vixen, a magazine for women, Vibe online, an on-demand network, and wireless service.

Joanne Colan, a former MTV Europe VJ, was named to replace Amanda Congdon as anchor of the popular video news weblog Rocketboom.com.

PEOPLE __________________

Suzanne Riss, special projects editor for Working Mother, has been named editor-in-chief of the New York-based magazine. Riss was formerly EIC at Ticker and oversaw special projects for Heart & Soul.

Ana Connery, senior editor for Cooking Light, to Florida Travel & Life, Winter Park, Fla., as editor. The Florida State graduate was a senior lifestyle editor at Latina magazine and senior editor for Fitness.

Farnoosh Torabi, a business producer and reporter for NY1, has joined TheStreet.com in New York as the portal's first full-time video correspondent.

She was previously a business columnist for AM New York and worked as a financial reporter and research assistant for Money Magazine.

Torabi will work on the company's "StreetWatch" video network.

Dan Berger, a veteran wine writer, has joined Wine.AppellationAmerica.com as editor-at-large for the Internet portal and publication.

His initial focus is the emergence of appellations and terroir in North America.

Berger was formerly wine columnist for the Los Angeles Times and was syndicated nationally since 1979.

Connie Bugbee has been promoted to managing editor for iMoneyNet, including Money Fund Report and its other money-market mutual fund newsletters and online reports.

LESS CAN MEAN MORE WHEN PITCHING.

Elaborate press kits and lengthy press releases can be a major turn-off to the media, said a June 28 panel of New York entertainment editors and producers.

“We get very beautiful, very expansive press kits filled with things we just don't need,” said Melissa Rabinovich, producer for NY 1. “A lot of times a simple email would have been better.”

The panel, hosted by the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society, said it’s the short, succinct pitches that often have a better chance of becoming a story. PR pros should think like journalists; condense pitches into a quick-selling lead and deliver its myriad details only after the press takes the bait.

“If you haven’t thought about how you can deliver your pitch to me, you're putting up roadblocks,” said Nick Veneziale, a segment producer for “Good Day New York.”

“Think it through. Have the story laid out for me so all I have to do is say yes.”

Shawn Thorgersen, features editor for the Resident magazine company, said a good pitch invariably wins over a press release when leading him to a story. That isn't to say the art of the press release is dead – Thorgersen simply advised baiting the hook first before supplying all the details.

“Once I bite on a story, I may refer to your press release,” he said. “I would not discount the power of the press release. Either you’re going to write it now or you're going to write it later … but we get a lot of fluff and I just don't want to have anything to do with it.”

Jessica Koslow, a freelance arts and entertainment reporter who has written for publications such as Time Out NY, Vibe, King, and Urban Latino, advised placing a short pitch at the top of a press release as a good way to get writers' attention. Email is a particularly beneficial forum for this tactic, she said, and advised using it whenever possible.

“Just let me know what the story is about and tell me how it fits into the publication I’m writing for,” she said.

When emailing the media, Thorgersen placed particular emphasis on the importance of informative subject lines. According to Thorgersen, a good subject line can make the difference between your pitch landing print or winding up in the trash can.

“Subject lines are key. Sometimes publicists will leave them blank. And I won’t read it because it could be spam,” he said. “Sometimes I'm looking for a story and a good subject line can make that happen.”

The panel also agreed that press releases placed in the body of an email is always preferred over attachments. Besides being memory-intensive and taxing on in-boxes, attachments sent from an unknown source can send red-flags for a virus, especially if the subject line isn't made clear.

Finally, the panel noted that relationships between the press and publicists are not made overnight. The panel advised publicists not to get discouraged and to continue chipping away until something gives.

WPP stockholder John Fiorilla fears that WWP funds are being used in a “personal” battle between WPP CEO Martin Sorrell and the former head of the firm’s Italian operations, Marco Benatti.

Fiorilla wanted to asked questions at the WPP annual meeting June 27 but was blocked on a technicality (his proxy came from Lehman Brothers rather than Citibank).

Ducking difficult questions is not good PR in the long run although it works in the short run. The truth is bound to come out sooner or later. Sorrell has set a bad example for WPP-owned PR units such as Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton.

WPP’s fight with Benatti has had scant coverage in the U.S. but not in Italy and the U.K. Fired on Jan. 9, he was sued by WPP on conflict-of-interest charges. He counter-sued and on June 20 asked a U.K. court to move the trial to Italy.

The “personal” part comes from the fact that Sorrell, who was divorced by his wife [Lady] Sandra Sorrell in 2005 after 33 years of marriage, allegedly had an affair starting in 1993 with Daniella Weber, former secretary of Benatti. She went to work for Benatti at 19 and later served as a translator for Sorrell. She is currently COO of WPP/Italy.

Sandra Sorrell learned of the affair in 1999, said her 472-page court filing. She banished Sorrell to the basement of their mansion at one point. The divorce settlement cost Sorrell $50 million+.

WPP charges that Benatti hid his interest in Media Club, a company that WPP bought, and wanted excessive commissions for helping in the purchase. Benatti, who denies the charges, says his reputation has suffered “enormous damage” and WPP is keeping personal items such as paintings, sculptures and a motorcycle. He says a “leadership struggle” broke out between him and Weber.

Italian newspapers have portrayed the dispute as a “personal battle between two powerful and combative figures in the ad business.” An article in the London Times was headlined, “Anger and hatred of ‘Benattigate.’” La Stampa, Italian paper, called it a tale of “sex, lies and break-ins that has shaken the ad world” (WPP’s Milan office reportedly was broken into in May).

WPP’s blockage of questions by Fiorilla is symptomatic of the harsh tactics being used by some institutions in their relations with the press and public. Such tactics were common in the early 1900s and led Ivy Lee to invent the industry of PR which would “cheerfully” provide truthful answers to reporters. A backlash had developed to the rampages of the “Robber Barons” that was resulting in tough anti-trust laws.

However, the “war” on the press (and public) continues today with some PR counselors boldly saying that is what they do. These include Mike Sitrick who told the July Los Angeles magazine that he is “tough-minded” and treats major media “as if they were bullies in need of a public thrashing..” His desire is not only to engage in battle with media “but to annihilate opponents.” The mag said Sitrick’s “clout” is “unrivaled in L.A.” The firm hires mostly ex-reporters and claims fees of $30 million and a staff of 50. Other “peers” in combativeness are said to be Kekst and Co., New York, and Eric Denzenhall of Washington, D.C., described as the “pit bull of PR” by Business Week (April 17).

The Internet is frightening Sorrell because it is loaded with “socialistic anarchists” (free websites, bloggers, etc.) and because firms like Google threaten to take away adland’s biggest source of income—the giant media buyers.

“The Internet is the most socialistic force you’ve ever seen,” Sorrell told a U.K. newspaper conference June 20.

Sorrell’s remarks were attacked by Edelman CEO Richard Edelman in his blog.

Sorrell’s speech “is absolutely stunning in its recidivism,” said Edelman, who feels that the era of “top down messaging” by institutions is over, replaced by consumers accessing and sharing information on the web. Edelman noted that Sorrell also expressed concern about Google “making life difficult for the ad industry.” Ad agencies are making their “real money” these days in media buying and planning, noted Edelman.

Sorrell, in an overview of advertising in the 2005 WPP annual report, (available at wpp.com), says Google has already made “wholesale purchases of print media, retailing the space in smaller amounts to clients.” This is just what the media buying units of advertising have been doing for many years, acquiring enormous power.

They might buy, for instance, 100 ad pages of a consumer magazine at one-third the rate, paying cash. Then the media buyers either sell the space at nearly full price or barter it at full price. The deals are complicated but a lot of profit winds up in the hands of barter companies, some of which are owned by the ad conglomerates. Omnicom owns Icon Int’l, Stamford, Conn., and Interpublic owns Western.

Sorrell says media buyers have become so powerful that they refuse to report to creative. The “tail,” in effect, is now wagging the “dog.”

Creatives are demanding re-integration but Sorrell says it’s too late—“the toothpaste is out of the tube.” The same thing happened to advertising. Financiers, who were supposed to work for adland, took it over and now make most of the important decisions.

The ad congloms have another worry, the increasing cost of debt. No longer can Omnicom float interest-free CoCo (contingent convertible) bonds. WPP has the biggest debt, $3.53 billion. It carries “goodwill” of $10.7B and has “net tangible assets” of -$4.8B. OMC’s debt is $3.37B; Publicis, $2.73B and Interpublic, $2.23B (total of $11.86B not including Havas which was not available on Finance.Yahoo).

--Jack O'Dwyer