GF KNOWS THE WAY TO SAN JOSE.

San Jose’s City Council voted 7-2 to ink a $200K, one-year PR pact with GlobalFluency to raise the profile of the Silicon Valley hub.

Officials for San Jose, the No. 10 U.S. city in size, want to capitalize on a renewed tech industry and growing economy to foster tourism, special events and economic growth. The PR efforts will span across the U.S. and internationally.

Forty firms were sent an RFQ by the city. Seven firms responded and that field was narrowed to three by a five-member review panel. San Jose's population is approaching the one million mark and the city estimates more than 6,600 tech companies are located there.

THOMPSON TO HEALTH NET.

Margita Thompson, who was press secretary for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is joining Health Net as VP-corporate communications.

She had “one of the most taxing jobs in Schwarzenegger’s administration,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Her office was “a magnet for inquiries from the foreign press, entertainment shows, national TV news correspondents and California newspapers that bolstered their statehouse bureaus after Schwarzenegger won the `03 recall election,” it noted.

Thompson joined the governor's office from "Larry King Live." She also worked for California governor Pete Wilson and Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan.

Thompson is re-uniting with Patricia Clarey, Schwarzenegger's former chief of staff, at Health Net. Clarey became COO there in March.

Korn/Ferry International's Nels Olson (Washington, D.C.) and Asheley Galloway (San Francisco) placed Thompson.

DOE EXTENDS RFP DEADLINE.

The Dept. of Energy has extended by two months an RFP to handle PR for its alternative energy and conservation unit.

The federal agency moved the proposal deadline from Nov. 18 to Jan. 8 last week. It is conducting the proposal review process online via its IIPS system.

DoE's Office of Technology Advancement and Outreach plans to award a five-year contract to multiple firms or a single contractor for marketing and media support, multimedia work, collateral materials and stakeholder development. Budget is $5M per year.

Several firms are considering a run at the account, including Dittus Comms., JDG Comms. and Osborn & Barr Comms.

JOELE FRANK GUIDES US AIR.

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is helping US Airways with its blockbuster proposal to acquire Delta Airlines for $8 billion.

US Airways is positioning the move as an alternative to Delta working to emerge from Chapter 11 by itself. Delta filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2005 and planned to emerge in 2007.

US Airways simultaneously sent a letter from CEO Doug Parker to Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein and publicly released the correspondence, noting Grinstein’s failure to meet or discuss US Airways’ offers earlier this year.

A merged entity would operate under the Delta name and become one of the world’s largest airlines. US Airways said Delta did not reply to overtures earlier in the year and in September.

Partner Joele Frank leads the US Airways work for the firm.

Kekst & Co. has advised Delta through its reorganization.

Michele Szynal, a veteran PR exec for Procter & Gamble, has joined Callaway Golf Company as VP of PR. She is charged with the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company's overall strategic communications efforts and brand publicity.

Callaway, which markets golf clubs and accessories under the Callaway, Top-Flite, Odyssey and Ben Hogan brands, is eyeing a comeback.

The company posted a Q3 loss of $11.9M as sales slipped from 2005.

STOP THE SPINNING,’ SAYS SMILEY.

Tavis Smiley, host of the late night TV talk show on PBS and who also has a show on Public Radio, said PR has been “demonized as a profession” and urged PR people to “stop the spinning.”

“The American people are sick and tired of being spun,” he told nearly 2,000 PRSA members and students at the opening session of the annual PRSA conference in Salt Lake City Nov. 12.

People “crave the truth so much,” he said, that they are making “sophomoric” reality shows like “American Idol” the rage because "”they’re honest."

“Either you can sing or you can”t,” said Smiley. “People want to know if what they are seeing is real.”

Smiley, the author of eight books and the editor of one that reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list, urged PR pros to be "”truthtellers” and “avoid mendacity.”

(continued on page 7)

WAL-MART HITS EDWARDS.

Wal-Mart extended a warm welcome to former senator and current Wal-Mart critic John Edwards last week after an Edwards staffer reached out to a North Carolina Wal-Mart to buy a Sony PlayStation3 gaming console for Edwards' family.

Wal-Mart issued a press release on Nov. 16 noting an Edwards staffer sought one of the coveted gaming consoles by contacting an electronics manager for a Wal-Mart store in Raleigh, N.C.

The retailer helpfully pointed out that Edwards on the same day had reportedly re-told a "homespun story" on a union conference call about how his son chided a fellow student for buying shoes at Wal-Mart.

Edwards, who has criticized the retailer's business and labor practices, acknowledged a volunteer contacted Wal-Mart on his behalf and said the staffer "feels terrible."

Wal-Mart invited Edwards to visit his local Wal-Mart to shop for electronics and apparel. It also tweaked the presidential hopeful for wanting to "cut in front" of America's working families who are "waiting patiently in line" for a PlayStation3.

MILBURN TRADES WHITE HOUSE FOR APCO.

Scott Milburn, White House Office of Management and Budget press secretary, has joined APCO Worldwide as VP. He reports to Washington managing director Robert Schooling.

Besides pitching the press on President Bush's budgets, Milburn helped devise communications strategies for the response to Hurricane Katrina, ongoing "war on terrorism" and initiatives such as the Line Item Veto.

Milburn, before joining the White House, was communications director for Ohio Senator George Voinovich and press secretary to the Buckeye State's Governor Bob Taft and Rep. Dave Hopson.

KEKST HANDLES EDDIE BAUER DEAL.

Kekst & Co is handling the takeover of venerable outdoor clothing marketer Eddie Bauer to private equity firms, Sun Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital, in a deal worth $286M.

The investors also will assume $328M in debt of EB that emerged from Chapter 11 last year following the reorganization of then-parent Spiegel, the upscale catalog marketer.

EB CEO Fabian Mansson says the deal will provide EB with new resources and the "time necessary to execute our turnaround strategy."

Founded 86 years ago in Seattle, EB suffered a $275M nine-month `06 net loss on revenues of $631M.

The company blames its woeful financial performance on an effort to attract more fashion-forward consumers, a marketing drive that moved EB from its core customer base. According to Reuters, it has lost ground to competitors L.L. Bean and Sears Holdings' Land's End. EB's products are marketed through 380 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Kekst & Co. is also representing Ripplewood Holdings in its acquisition of the Readers Digest Association (see story on page 3).

EX-MOTOROLA COMMS. CHIEF TO UPMC.

Janilee Johnson, former chief communications officer for Motorola, has taken a new top post at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Johnson, as UPMC's first chief communications officer, oversees internal and external comms., advertising and PR. UPMC encompasses 19 hospitals and 400 related sites while staffing 43,000 employees.

Johnson was with Motorola for five years, serving in a handful of VP roles before being named CCO in 2003. She joined Motorola in 2002 from Telecordia, where she was a VP of PA, PR and advertising. Previously, she was director in the executive communications and information division of Nynex in New York.

Johnson was a special assistant and chief speechwriter for Ronald Reagan's Education Secretary, T.H. Bell.

Jennifer Erickson took over as VP of comms. for Motorola after the exit of Valerie DiMaria in July.

EMMANUEL OPENS FOR BUSINESS.

Victor Emmanuel, co-founder of Emmanuel Kerr Kilsby PR, has opened VJE Consultants in New York's Westchester County.

The 35-year PR veteran is targeting corporate and crisis communications clients and is available on a daily, weekly or project basis. That flexibility stems from Emmanuel's belief that many clients simply don't require the support from a full-service firm. Some just need an outsider's "dose of common sense" to tackle a PR problem. Emmanuel told O'Dwyer's that he will reach to out to his "good friends" Christopher Franke and Rory McCaffrey if clients need help with compliance risk management issues or graphics.

Franke served as managing director of compliance/The Americas for J.P. Morgan and McCaffrey is a principal at Hypergraphics Inc.

Emmanuel, who has counseled UBS, Saudi Basic Industries and Greenwich Orthopedics, was senior VP at Burson-Marsteller before helping to set up EKK in `90. That firm was sold to Creative Partners LLC in `04. Emmanuel exited CP as managing director in August.

He can be reached at (914) 305-5198.

DALBEC TO APCO.

Bill Dalbec, VP and team leader in the PA and association research practices at Harris Interactive, has moved to APCO Worldwide as senior VP.

He becomes part of APCO Insight, which deals with opinion research and message development. Dalbec has nearly 20 years of research experience gleaned in the U.S. and 25 other countries.

Mark Benson heads AI. In a statement, he praised Dalbec's "commitment to understanding the connection between the rational and emotional components of decision making and its application."

Rohini Pragasam has joined UBS as executive director and media relations head at UBS Investment Bank in the Americas. She reports to Mark Arena, corporate communications chief.

She joins from Deutsche Bank.

DISCOVERY DISCOVERS ZASLAV.

Discovery Communications has hired David Zaslav, president of NBC Universal cable and TV president, as CEO.

Zaslav joined NBC in '89, and helped launch CNBC. He had been responsible for NBCU's ten cable channels including Bravo, USA Networks and MSNBC.

DC runs more than 100 cable brands worldwide, reaching 1.4B subscribers. Those channels include Discovery, Animal Planet and TLC. The company is owned by Cox Communications, Advance/Newhouse Communications, media mogul John Malone and DC chairman John Hendricks.

Zaslav had worked with Hendricks during the `80s when he was setting up DC. At NBCU, Zaslav reported to Randy Falco, who has exited to Time Warner to succeed Jonathan Miller as AOL CEO.

HEARST, MCGRAW-HILL GATHER.

Hearst Corp. and McGraw-Hill have purchased a stake in gather.com, a social network site for grown-ups.

Gather founder Tom Gerace says he will use the $10M investment to expand the overseas reach of the Boston-based site.

Its board members include William Kling, CEO of American Public Media Group; Bill Bradley, former New Jersey Senator, and Jim Manzi, CEO of Lotus Development Group, until it was sold to IBM.

Kel & Partners handles PR for Gather.

READER’S DIGEST ASSN. ACQUIRED

Reader’s Digest Assn. announced that it is being acquired by private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings in a deal worth $2.4B.

Reader's Digest, founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922, is the largest selling magazine in the world. It is sold in more than 60 countries; Romania, Croatia and Slovenia are the latest additions.

The Pleasantville, N.Y.-based company also publishes consumer magazines such as Every Day with Rachael Ray and Taste of Home. It went public in 1990.

Ripplewood's $17 dollar per share offer represents a 25 percent premium over the average price of RDA's stock during the past 60 trading days.

RDA is Ripplewood's biggest investment.

Kekst & Co. represents Ripplewood Holdings for the deal.

NBCU's FALCO TO AOL.

Randy Falco, president of NBC Universal Television Group, has taken the helm of Time Warner's AOL unit. The 30-year plus veteran of the General Electric unit succeeds Jonathan Miller, who had just completed a revamping of the online operation.

TW CEO Dick Parsons said Miller's strategy is "already bearing fruit" as he wished him well on the "next phase of his career." At NBCU, Falco was in charge of network/cable sales, affiliate relations, business development, information technology and studio operations.

Miller joined AOL in ’02, and signed a three-year contract last year.

TIERNEY GOES FROM ‘HERO TO KNAVE.’

Brian Tierney is “a former PR dynamo [who] has gone from hero to knave in journalism circles faster than just anybody in recent memory,” wrote Devin Leonard in the Nov. 27 issue of Fortune.

The man who fronted the group that bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News for $515M five months ago is not getting the concessions that he had targeted from the Newspaper Guild. That combined with a steep drop in ad revenues has put pressure on Tierney's ownership group.

Tierney is mulling a plan to cut the combined staff from 535 to 385. That has some columnists saying the Inky and News were better off under Knight-Ridder ownership, according to Leonard.

He notes that K-R could accept sub-par profits in Philadelphia because it "had money flowing in from 30 other papers."

Tierney, the "seasoned-enough PR guy," maintains that his group will tough it out in Philadelphia.

NEWS CORP. SWITCHES LEVINSOHNS.

News Corp. has named Peter Levinsohn head of its digital media operation, replacing Ross Levinsohn, who engineered the company's $650M acquisition of Intermix, which brought MySpace under the media combine's corporate umbrella.

Peter Levinsohn is a veteran of Fox TV. He brings strong operational skills to the quickly growing Fox Interactive Media group. MySpace has more than 70M registered users and is now expanding overseas.

Peter Chernin, News Corp. president, said Peter Levinsohn's "adept leadership" and "ability to work skillfully across multiple business lines makes him the ideal person for the job."

Peter and Ross Levinsohn are distant cousins.

ENGLISH AL-JAZEERA NETWORK DEBUTS.

The English language version of the Arab TV network debuted in the U.S. on Nov. 15 with virtually no cable pick-up. The network is available via satellite and on the ’Net at english.aljazeera.net.

David Marash, the former ABC Nightline correspondent who co-anchors a daily newscast on Al-Jazeera, blames the lack of cable support on the black eye that it received from the Bush Administration for airing tapes of Bin Laden and live coverage from the U.S. attack on Fallujah, Iraq.

He told USA Today Al-Jazeera ran valid news stories in both cases, and that it shares the same journalistic standards with every other responsible mainstream news outlet. He expects criticism of Al-Jazeera to melt away if Americans get the chance to view the network.

In Style magazine, a unit of Time Inc., has launched a parties section on its website to keep publicists updated on the action in Hollywood. There will be news of celebrities partying, an events calendar and a party scene blog.

Clinique and J C Penney are charter advertisers.

(Media news continued on next page)

POST IMPLEMENTS CHANGES.

Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie last week announced several moves at the paper including plans to rein in story length and “shrink” its newsroom via cost cutting.

Downie says the moves are necessary to maximize the paper’s print audience and transform it for a “new era” of modern journalism.

In a memo, Downie said the paper is moving a number of reporters from general assignment posts to more specific assignments and beats. He said newsroom staff will continue to be pruned as low-priority posts fall vacant.

The paper has consolidated its financial market tables and plans to relaunch its Food, Health and Home sections early next year.

Downie said that stories will have to “earn” their length and that length guidelines were forthcoming.

Downie noted the current environment is “challenging,” but is also a time of “great opportunity.”

FIRMS REP CLEAR CHANNEL DEAL PLAYERS.

Three PR firms are involved in the $26.7 billion buyout of radio titan Clear Channel Communications by a private equity group. The deal includes $18.7B in cash and $8B in debt repayment and would take the publicly traded company private.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners lead the takeover group. Citigate Sard Verbinnen is handling media for Lee, while Bain is represented by Stanton Crenshaw Communications.

Clear Channel is relying on its AOR, Brainerd Communications, which released a statement from Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays that said he was "pleased to announce this transaction which provides substantial value to our shareholders."

CC can listen to other offers through Dec. 7 but would have to pay a break-up fee if it accepted another bid.

The No. 1 radio station owner is separately looking to unload its TV broadcasting unit and nearly 450 radio stations in small markets.

NHL SCORES WITH YOUTUBE.

The National Hockey League has inked a content and advertising partnership deal with YouTube. Viewers will have access to highlights of regular season games within 24 hours after they were played. The deal also includes "off-the-ice" video.

The NHL is the first U.S. professional sports league to hook-up with YouTube.

Meanwhile, Google, which acquired YouTube in a $1.65B billion deal, has set aside more than $200M to settle lawsuits and copyright matters for material that has aired on the video site.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company is eager to hammer out content deals with as many media companies as possible.

The firm, he said, wants to help content owners to monetize their properties.

SITE SEEKS TO INVIGORATE JEWISH MEDIA.

Jewish entertainment and media company Jewcy has created an online magazine to expand its apparel and live events brand with a forum for Jewish “ideas and culture.”

Tahl Raz, a former senior editor at Fortune Small Business, edits the site. Its aim is to “reinvigorate Jewish media – a loamy literary tradition that has gone largely unchanged for 100 years.” Subjects include pop culture, politics, self-help, marketplace and public affairs.

The company is currently producing an off-Broadway show, “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother” as a follow-up to “Modern Orthodox.”

Briefs __________________

Bird Talk magazine has put together a social networking site for pet bird enthusiasts at birdchannel.com.

Users can build a web page for a bird and chat with other members. The site features news, care information, and advice from avaian experts.

Sony Computer Entertainment America and Ziff Davis Game Group have pulled the plug on PlayStation Magazine.

Sony said it is focused on delivering content via the PlayStation Network and PlayStation.com, rather than via the playable disc package with each issue of its magazine.

January 2007 is the last issue of the print magazine. Sony said it will continue to work with Ziff in developing content for the PSN.

Firesky Media, Irvine, Calif., formerly Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc., said it plans to launch an entertainment trade publication during the first quarter of 2007.

Focus will be on independent film, TV and new media segments of the entertainment sector, along with the growing network of festivals and markets where content is debuted.

FireSky said it expects to close an acquisition with an unnamed existing entertainment trade pub during Q1. It said the decision to start a new title stems from those negotiations.

Motto Magazine launched this month to be the “voice of capitalism with a soul.”

Founded by two Wall Street Journal vets, the title was formerly published as Worthwhile.

Topics for the inaugural issue include “How Much Money is Enough?”, how to take an environmentally friendly ski trip, and profiles of Monster.com creator Jeff Taylor and Starbuck’s Ethos Water venture.

People _____________________

Sam Grawe has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Dwell, a magazine covering modern home design.

Grawe, 29, joined the magazine at its outset in 2000 as an editorial assistant and was named executive editor in August.

Dwell plans to increase from nine to ten issues in 2007 with a rate base boost to 300K as of Feburary ‘07.

Tavis Smiley spoke forcefully to the PRSA conference as the keynote speaker (page one).

No less than a half dozen times he fairly screamed at the audience to “stop the spinning.” Towards the end, he started to sound like a Bible-belt preacher on a Sunday morning. He promised to stop speaking in five minutes but spoke another 15.

Despite his pleas to “stop the spinning...the mendacity” (he never used the word “lie”), his speech was almost immediately spun in the PRSA daily conference blog as: “What a way to open the conference! Tavis Smiley brought everyone to their feet with his message of love and service.”

We sent e-mails to 2006 PRSA president Cheryl Procter-Rogers, 2007 president Rhoda Weiss, and staffers Janet Troy and Cedric Bess asking what PRSA proposes to do about Smiley’s charge that PR is “sullied, demonized and devalued.”

This reputation is discouraging clients from using “PR,” is a factor in the paltry turnout of APR candidates (see page 7), makes PR an unappealing area of study, is a factor in the lack of growth of PRSA itself, and makes the press want to avoid PR. What PRSA should do is practice “symmetrical, two-way” PR as described by Prof. James Grunig to the Institute for PR Nov. 9. An organization can’t communicate unless it does something. Words are not enough. For instance, PRSA could orchestrate “Answer the Press Day” in which PR pros drop everything, including meetings, and talk to any reporter who calls. Concrete action is needed to make PR stand for helpfulness and transparency.

The press and PR are demonizing each other about as hard as they can.

Frank Rich’s excoriation of the Bush Administration’s use of “PR” in the July 13 New York Times (PR is press avoidance, marketing, sloganeering, spinning, sales strategy, stunts, lacking in substance, etc.) is now in book length form under the title The Greatest Story Ever Sold. There are hundreds of references to PR, all of them negative. “Intimidation” of the press by institutions “has made mainstream journalists unusually defensive,” said the review in the NYT 9/17. The press is seen as a “biased, untrustworthy and unpatriotic filter.” Rich admits that mistakes in the media, including Judith Miller’s flawed reporting on Iraq for the NYT and the lies of Jayson Blair gave critics plenty of ammo.

Apropos of intimidation, reporter Paul Beebe of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote a 750-word article on the Central Michigan bylaw proposal 11/10, quoting CM president Andy Corner as saying the Assembly is used as a “rubber stamp” by the board and PRSA needs “more democracy.” The board is “out of touch with what the members want,” Corner told Beebe. But when the Assembly rejected CM by a vote of 261-19 with only a couple of minutes of discussion, living up to its “rubber stamp” reputation, Beebe did no follow-up story. We wonder if someone from PRSA called the editor or publisher. As noted by reporters and editors of The Oklahoman to PRSA/Oklahoma City (10/4 NL) one of their biggest problems is “daily” pressure on the “front office” by PR people and others to block, change or run stories.

The evolution of PRSA’s attitude to the press was only too visible at the conference.

Some years ago, the press room at the conference was a beehive of activity, located near the registration desk and open to PRSA leaders and attendees who might want to talk with reporters. A place for interviewing was set up with two chairs and a table in between. A large bulletin board displayed clips from local media about the conference as PRSA’s PR staff showed its ability to “get ink.” A daily newspaper was published by staff summarizing speeches and giving conference facts and figures. Coffee, pastries, fruit and fruit juices were staples of the press room. PR staffers helped reporters with their questions. Reporters sat among Assembly delegates where they could see, hear and take pictures.

Click to this year. The press room was at the end of a hallway two floors away from registration. There was no bulletin board of clips; no texts; mostly no PRSA PR staffer present; no visits by PRSA leaders; no interview setup; virtually no help with stories or background facts, and sparse food. On Saturday there were peanuts and potato chips to go with coffee, but on Sunday, no food at all.

Meanwhile, down the hall, the PRSA staff (30 were at the meeting) had the works. We sent a student assigned to the press room to get some food for the reporters but she returned saying the staff would not allow it. So we called the “hospitality committee” of the local chapter and PR manager Cedric Bess later walked in with a small plate of fruit and pastries just for us as though no other reporters would want a snack. We offered to let Bess see our Assembly story to check for facts but he walked out of the room saying he had to attend a meeting. Asked for a tape of the Saturday morning Assembly (which we missed because of a flight delay), he said he would try to get it. He never did.

Others who were asked for this tape, including president Cheryl Procter-Rogers, COO Catherine Bolton and conference chair Keith Burton, just shrugged their shoulders when asked for help. Most suspicious is that three other PR trade reporters were at the meeting but we were the only reporter who covered the Assembly (occupying one of the press seats at the rear of the room).

An attempt to take some close-up pictures of the board was impeded by Troy, who quickly escorted us out of the “sacred” Assembly area. Why didn’t the other reporters cover this historic Assembly? Is intimidation or laziness at work here? The Assembly does not like reporters. Our attendance at the afternoon session had the effect of killing debate. There was no discussion of the switch from president to chair for the top elected officer and only two brief speeches about the CM proposal.

--Jack O'Dwyer