WTC FOUNDATION EYES PR FOR ROAD SHOW.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has issued an RFP for a national road show designed to engage the national public and raise funds for a memorial to honor the victims of the 9/11 and the 2/26/93 terror attacks.

The Foundation wants to create a “mass, national participatory campaign” to build broad-based support for the memorial and museum that is expected to attract more than five million visitors a year. It has already raised $253M of its targeted $300M.

The tour is to reach 15-20 local markets, and will feature steel beams that will be used in the construction of the WTC tribute.

People will have a chance to sign the beams or offer a message to be archived at the memorial and museum.

The PR firm also is expected to identify and rope in sponsorships of the interactive traveling show.

There is a mandatory pre-proposal conference set for Feb. 12 at the Foundation’s headquarters at One Liberty Plaza.

RSVPs go to [email protected].

Proposals (with projected fees) are due Feb. 28. Oral presentations are slated for March 2 and the winner is to be announced on March 15.

Lynn Rasic, VP-PA/communications at the Foundation, has more info about the RFP. She can be reached at 212/227-7722.

MOTOROLA PLUGS INTO JFWBK.

Motorola is using Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher to buttress its media staff to deal with news that activist investor Carl Icahn plans to run for a seat on the board of the communications gear giant.

Icahn told the press on Jan. 30 that he bought Motorola’s stock because it was “cheap.” He wants the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company to use its $10.5B cash stockpile to purchase stock.

Motorola CEO Ed Zander has been under pressure for the company’s spotty financial performance. He announced in January a plan to slice 4,500 jobs.

Motorola’s shares jumped seven percent to $19.58 on news of Icahn’s investment. That’s off from the $26.30 52-week high.

Matthew Sherman, who heads the account at JFWBK, referred this call to Motorola’s PR dept.

Paul Alfieri, Motorola’s spokesperson, said JFWBK was not specifically brought in to counter the Icahn threat.

The firm is working on a range of projects, he said.

DOWIE GETS 42 MONTHS.

Former Fleishman-Hillard Los Angeles head Doug Dowie received a 42-month sentence for his role in bilking the city’s Dept. of Water and Power of more than $500K. Dowie’s deputy, John Stodder, who admitted wrongdoing in a letter to court, got 15 months of jail time that is to begin March 30.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feess said ex-Marine Dowie would intimidate and bully his subordinates in order for the office to make its numbers. He then “insulated himself by not looking at the bills they fraudulently inflated,” according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Dowie, 58, told O’Dwyer’s that he is innocent and plans to appeal. The former FH exec noted that David Wiggs, who headed DWP when Dowie was convicted of ripping it off, does not believe that he is guilty.

Wiggs attended the sentencing hearing and wrote a letter to Feess attesting to Dowie’s honesty. Any overbilling, according to Wiggs, was a mistake rather than a crime.

Dowie believes the trial should “send shudders down the spine” of anyone running a large PR office. He says only a handful of office heads review every worksheet and bill, and that he was singled out by the Judge as a “way of insulating myself from wrongdoing.”

Dowie doubts “few general managers could withstand this level of intense scrutiny.”

FERRARO RETURNS TO WASHINGTON.

Geraldine Ferraro, the former Vice Presidential nominee who has led Global Consulting Group’s public affairs unit in New York, is returning to Washington for a post with Blank Rome Government Relations.

The move reunites her with Blank Rome senior principal Peter Peyser, who was a House aide for Ferraro when she was a Democratic Representative for New York on the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation.

Ferraro joined Huntsworth-owned GCG in New York in 2003 from GolinHarris. She will serve as principal with Blank Rome, a Republican-heavy shop in D.C. , while retaining a senior consulting role with GCG..

Home Shopping Network is looking to hire a VP-partner relations. A focus is to develop smooth communications between HSN and its vendor network.
HSN, which is a part of Barry Diller's IAB/Interactive, wants a person with more than seven years of experience. Marketing communications experience is a big plus. The job is in St. Petersburg. Arnold Huberman Assocs. (212-545-9033) is handling the search.

CALIF. SEEKS PR FOR ANTI-METH PUSH.

California has begun an RFP process to award a three-year, $28.5M advertising and PR contract to combat methamphetamine use in the state.

“Meth” passed alcohol as the state’s primary drug of abuse in 2001. An estimated 34.3 percent of California’s treatment population has a meth problem and California counts 40 percent of all admissions nationwide for treatment for the drug.

The hefty pact could be split between an advertising and PR firm or be awarded to a single agency.

Pitches for the statewide effort will target two “priority” audiences - white and Latino gay men between 18 and 49 years old, and white, Latina and “Asian Pacific Islander” women of child bearing years (12-25).

The RFP is available on the state’s Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs website.
Firms must submit letter of intent to pitch by Feb. 12. PR firms must have at least $4M in annual billings over the last three years to handle the account.

APCO PREPS PROBED.

APCO Worldwide has established a government oversight, regulation and compliance unit as the Democratic Congress launches a series of investigations into the Iraq invasion, global warming, healthcare and other “hot button” issues.

Don Riegle, chairman of APCO’s government relations unit, is co-head of the new practice. He was the Democratic Senator from Michigan (`76-`94) and a Congressman before that.

Kent Jarrell, a CBS News veteran who covered Three Mile Island, Persian Gulf War, and the crash of TWA Flight 800, is the other co-head. He will handle media training duties.

Riegle and Jarrell also will draw upon APCO’s deep bench of Washington insiders.

That includes former Reps. Don Bonker (D-WA) and Richard Swett (D-NH); B. Jay Cooper, ex-deputy White House press secretary and deputy assistant to Presidents Reagan and Bush; Myron Marlin, ex-PA director at the Justice Dept, and Jennifer Millerwise Dyck, ex-Central Intelligence Agency PA head and former deputy communications director for Bush-Cheney `04.

MOCA LOOKS FOR PR CHIEF.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is looking to hire a communications director, a new position, to oversee PR, media relations, marketing and development of collateral materials for internal and external consumption.

The successful candidate has a minimum of five years of experience (visual arts background is a plus) and contacts with national and local reporters.

The job requires close ties with MOCA’s chief curator to plot promotional activities and outreach to sponsors and staffers at other art institutions.

Resumes and cover letters with salary requirements go to Nancy Duggan at [email protected]. Her phone is 213/621-1758.

TURNER, MARKETING FIRM TO PAY $2M.

Turner Broadcasting and guerrilla marketing firm Interference Inc. have agreed to pay $2M to compensate Boston and area communities for the terror scare sparked by a Cartoon Network marketing campaign.

The Massachusetts Attorney General announced the deal Feb. 5, noting the campaign, which featured small electronic devices blinking from bridge girders and other sites around the city, crippled public transportation, and caused traffic snarls at a cost of thousands of dollars.

The deal includes $1M for state and local agencies to cover expenses incurred from discovering the 30 devices last week. Turner has also thrown in $1M in "goodwill funds" for homeland security operations.

In a three-paragraph, unsigned statement that was part of the deal, the two entities apologized and took responsibility for the "unconventional marketing tactic that we authorized."

The campaign to plant blinking electronic signs in Boston and nine other cities was aimed to promote "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a TV show on Cartoon Network, which is owned by Turner.

DUBAI CALLS ON LEVICK.

Levick Strategic Communications has been retained by the Executive Office of Dubai to assist with an array of legal and other issues for the emirate.

Washington, D.C.-based Levick joins a Dubai PR roster that includes Hill & Knowlton and Sitrick & Co. H&K is working with the Executive Office to promote “understanding of Dubai” globally, while Sitrick provides PR services for Dubai’s new ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Steve Ellis, senior VP for Levick, said the firm’s work is not as broad as the mandate H&K has with the Executive Office. “We plan to be working with TEO as long as we are needed, and officials there will determine that,” he noted.

Earlier this month, Levick handled media for a fire at a large construction site that killed four and injured more than 50 workers.

Richard Levick, who lectures widely on PR and legal issues, spoke in Dubai in February 2006 on dealing with an “increasingly Western media globally.”

TITAN DRIVES INDIA’S AUTO ASSAULT.

The Titan Agency outlasted 10 firms in a competitive pitch to brand and launch Mahindra cars and SUVs in the U.S. Mahindra will be the first line of India-made cars and SUVs distributed here.

Titan CEO Tony DeMartino expects Mahindra billings of $400K this year. That is expected to rise to more than $3M annually by `11.

Global Vehicles, Alpharetta, GA, is the exclusive distributor for Mahindra. It expects to add another 100 dealers to its 300 dealer network to handle the debut of the diesel powered vehicles.

Mahindra Group, which is based in Mumbai, has sold tractors in the U.S. for more than a decade.

Titan has advised General Motors, BMW, Saab and Dollar Thrifty Automotive, and is based in Atlanta.

TRIMEL PITCHES FOR AMNESTY/US.

Suzanne Trimel, a former journalist who served in top PR posts at Columbia University and its sister school Barnard College, has been named media relations director for Amnesty International USA.

Trimel told O’Dwyer’s that the post, while not necessarily a new position, represents a shift in focus to the New York media market from AI's traditional Washington, D.C., base. She will work to raise interest among national U.S. reporters about human rights in the Sudan, across Africa, and the Americas. She will also highlight rights abuses related to corporate practices, Amnesty said.

Trimel departs the VP of public affairs post at Barnard after four years. She was previously media and communications director for Columbia in a 10-year career at the New York school.

Trimel was a supervising editor for United Press International in New York and Washington during the 1980s.

Karen Schneider, who is married to Fortune senior writer Marc Gunther, is deputy executive director of communications at AIUSA.

YOUTUBE TO SHARE REVENUE.

YouTube announced last week that it will now give some of its ad revenue to members who use the site.

The video-sharing website would place short advertising clips at the beginning of popular videos uploaded by its users. The company would then give a portion of the ad sales to the user chosen to host the clip.

Company founder Chad Hurley said the idea was meant to “reward creativity” among its users.

The new ad program should begin in the next several months. Hurley said the ad-sharing program would be restricted only to videos showing original content.

YouTube, which was founded in February 2005, was bought by Google in November for $1.65 billion in company stock. YouTube receives more than 70 million users each month.

BAQUET REJOINS NYT.

Dean Baquet, who was fired as editor of the Los Angeles Times for resisting the demand of its Chicago-based Tribune Co. parent for more editorial cutbacks, has returned to the New York Times as its Washington bureau chief.

He will replace Philip Taubman on March 5. Taubman becomes associate editor and will write investigative reports on national security issues.

Baquet, 50, joined the NYT in '90 as metropolitan editor. He left his national editor post for the west coast in 2000. Baquet also reported for the Times Picayune and Chicago Tribune.

‘MONEY HONEY’ DRAWS SCRUTINY.

CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo’s decision to trademark her long-time nickname “Money Honey” is the latest in a “story that shows no signs of dying,” according to USA Today (Jan. 30). The 39-year-old filed an application to use the MH name for 16 products including piggy banks, mouse pads and backpacks.

Bartiromo moved into the spotlight following reports that former Citigroup executive Todd Thomson approved a $5M outlay to sponsor a program hosted by the MH and flew her back on a corporate jet from Asia. The program has been killed, and CNBC reimbursed Citigroup for the travel outlay.

Bruce Weinstein, “The Ethics Guy,” told USAT that Bartiromo violated the cardinal rule of getting too close to the subject that you cover.

AIR AMERICA ACQUIRED BY NYC DEVELOPER.

Air America Radio is being acquired by New York City real estate developer Stephen Green, the brother of the city's former public advocate.

SLGreen Realty has a market capitalization of $12B, which ought to provide a decent financial shot-in-the-arm to the hard-pressed liberal broadcaster.

AAR CEO Scott Elberg says the deal puts his operation in the "best hands to sustain our powerful radio voice, expand our reach and broaden the audience."

He looks forward to working more closely with Mark Green, who has been a frequent guest and host of the network. Green also ran for NYC mayor and attorney general of the state.

The survival plan calls for AAR to broaden the network's reach beyond radio by crafting AAR 2.0. That effort won't include AAR’s star host, Al Franken. His last program will be on Feb. 14. Franken, who will run for Minnesota's Senate seat, is being replaced by Thom Hartmann.

People _________________________

Nora McAniff, 47, is resigning as co-COO at Time Inc. on March 1 to take some time off following a nearly 25-year career at the publisher. She served with John Squires.

Kathleen Delaney, who was director of business marketing at Factiva, is now senior director of marketing for Dow Jones Indexes.

Jennifer White, a veteran of Fleishman-Hillard and Missouri Chamber of Commerce, has moved to CustomScoop, a media monitoring company that counts PR and IR firms as clients.

Barbara Goode, editor-in-chief of Sensors magazine, has been named EIC of Small Times magazine, basd in Nashua, N.H. ST covers nanotechnology and microsystems.

Stephen Giannetti has been promoted to senior VP and group publisher of National Geographic’s magazine group. NG noted its four main titles, National Geographic, N.G. Traveler, N.G. Adventure, and N.G. Kids, all posted page and revenue gaines under Giannetti last year.

The Radio Television News Assn. presented "lifetime achievement" awards during a Jan. 27 ceremony in Universal City. Honored were Los Angeles newsman Ed Arnold and Vince Scully, the voice of the L.A. Dodgers.

(Media news continued on next page)

PANEL: WILL AD REVENUES FOLLOW ONLINE?

“I didn’t come to the Times to blog,” said New York Times columnist Richard Siklos. “But watch, next year I'll probably have five of them.”

It was an off-the-cuff remark, but its point was well taken. In fact, one might say it set the stage as a reoccurring theme during the January 29 Publicity Club of New York panel, featuring key columnists from some of the city’s biggest media outlets.

“I don't think it's a conversation anymore of whether blogs can succeed,” said Jon Fine, media columnist for BusinessWeek. “These guys are driving the conversation. They are leading it. There’s a reason why they're getting traffic. It’s not a question of whether this is real anymore – it is.”

Jon Friedman, columnist for Marketwatch, said people are attracted to online news sources for three reasons: It’s convenient, it's immediate and it's interactive.

“Those who will survive are the ones who can adapt to that model,” he said.
Fine, who writes about the intermingling worlds of media and business, said he still follows a traditional “go for scoops” approach in his print columns, but warns that all news sources should accommodate the web if they want to maintain relevance.

“I feel the need to throw myself into the digital world. I honestly don't see BusinessWeek disappearing, but a lot of things are going online and there's a lot you can do with it. I don't want to be obsolete tomorrow – you should have a knowledge of blogs, video, and RSS feeds. We’re all going to be doing all this stuff sooner or later. If there's a new group not doing breaking news online, they're screwing themselves up.”

Print media's uncertain fate in the information age has been a hot topic lately. Easier access to information has resulted in an increased need for immediacy in the news, leaving print media at a disadvantage to alternative sources like blogs, which can churn out breaking news stories literally minutes after getting the scoop.

Some news veterans maintain, however, that the fledgling world of web-based news still can't offer the same stamp of journalistic integrity as their ink-stained counterparts. As a result, consumers remain skeptical when browsing through the cyber malaise, and ultimately, stay hungry for traditional news outlets such as print.

“The Internet world is still very much the wild west. You can’t tell if something's real once it's out of the gate,” said Keith Kelly, media columnist for the New York Post.

“Sure, there's competition on that front simply because of the speed needed to deliver the news, but we don't take blogs as gospel truth. We have to check them out as a tip.”

“Sometimes,” Kelly continued, “I think the scoop gets undervalued. Wire services have been around a long time and they essentially do the same thing. And I still get the story,” he said.

And while print media may be able to hang onto its laurels a little longer, many believe the only way for print publications to survive in the future is to go online.
Siklos, who still describes himself as somewhat of a “skeptic” regarding blogs, said it's in the best interest of the print media world and its readers to start offering web-based versions of its content.

“Where publishing is going all depends on the quality of the information. The world of media is huge. The most important part of my job is prioritizing. As long as (print media) is focusing on information that isn't easily disseminated they will survive. They just need to raise their game,” Siklos said.

“If you look at the top celebrity sites, TMZ ranked very high but so did people.com. It's not as though People has failed. So how digital do you need to be? It's really a point of focus internally. You have to focus on your bread and butter – we have to know what our readers want.”

But this transition begs another question: if more news is moving online, what happens to the advertising that supports it? Will the web hold up as a money-making enterprise for news organizations or did the dot.com bust prove it to be an ineffective business model?

“I don't see it as a black and white issue – it all depends if it's a good business,” said Dylan Stableford, writer for Mediabistro's Fishbowl NY.

Fine noted that the business world has yet to develop an effective criterion for measuring a web site's potential worth to advertisers.

Many web sites boast the number of hits they receive every day or month, for example, but fail to mention how long the average consumer spends on their site. This is just one of many online hurdles that online media must surpass if it wants to become a viable business model in the future.

Siklos agreed. “It’s not so much about blogging as much as: if you create these brands, how long will they last? I tip my hat to those who do it well and succeed.”

TIME INC. SHEDS 18 MAGS.

Time Inc. is selling 18 magazines with a combined annual circulation of more than 45 million to Stockholm-based Bonnier, which publishes magazines in 20+ countries.

The Time group includes Field & Stream, Popular Science, Outdoor Life, Babytalk, Quad, TransWorld Motorcross and Skateboarding.

Bonnier already has a U.S. footprint via its partnership with World Publications (Spa, Saveur and Islands.)

Jonas Bonnier says the acquisition elevates his firm “to the highest echelon of consumer publishers nationwide.”

Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore calls the deal an opportunity to “focus on our biggest and most profitable brands.”

Viacom's Nickelodeon cable TV for kids operation has launched Nicktropolis.com to cash-in on the growth of online gaming sites for children.
The interactive site, which carries ads, lets viewers create their own avatars to interact with others and explore areas based on Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob Square Pants.

We give new PRSA president Bill Murray an “A” for effort last week in listening to 50 minutes of suggestions and complaints by a PR professor and his class at Auburn University and two hours of the same from this writer and odwyerpr.com editor Kevin McCauley.

No one at PRSA has listened to us like this for many years.

Prof. Robert French, expressing the hope that Murray “could be the best thing that has happened to PRSA in a long time,” said PRSA needs interaction with members and the press.

The students sent almost four pages of questions to Murray after PRSA PR manager Cedric Bess said questions had to be in writing in advance.

The questions are on auburnmedia.com/wordpress.

Students want to know why the PRSA bylaws are in the password-protected area of the website, saying this is unhelpful to prospects and does not look good for a profession that “touts transparency.”

Also raised was whether PRSA will continue to book dues as cash or whether it will provide “real-time flow of revenues”; whether Murray will address PRSA’s 19-year practice of copying and selling authors’ works without their permission; whether he will push for PRSA student members in all 3,800 colleges (and not just the 280 where there are PRSSA chapters); whether he feels “president” is the appropriate title for him since the dictionary says presidents are “elected”; will he be “visionary,” “charismatic” and “an accomplished speaker” as suggested by the search committee; how he feels about PRSA dropping the paper version of the members’ directory [without asking the members], and whether he will encourage staff members and board members “to actively participate in conversations with the press...(PRSA is) the largest advocacy for media relations practice, yet frequently criticized for not practicing it well.”

We covered the above topics in our lunch with Murray and added a few more.

On the subject of listening to members, the last published poll of members’ opinions was taken in 1997 by Debra Miller, 50th anniversary president.
One big failure of PRSA is not connecting with the million or more college students majoring in PR, communications, and journalism. Several million other liberal arts majors also need to know about such jobs but after 40 years, PRSSA only has 9,000 members. This situation springs from the strong anti-competitive streak in PRSA which sees itself as a “guild” that gives its members an edge in the marketplace rather than as serving the entire PR community. The 30 years of a code with anti-competition elements in it is evidence of this as are the APR and Fellows programs. Leaders block competition for national posts by not allowing 80% of members (who are non-APR) to run for office.

Prof. Vincent Tocci of the American University School of Communications, Washington, D.C., said in 1992 that this limiting of contenders for national office, resulting in “only a few members guiding the organization,” has resulted in a “stifling of leadership that has caused PRSA to lose its vitality and vision.” Only a small fraction of the 20% actually vie for office.

On a personal front, Murray said he was not a member of PRSA but did belong to the American Society of Assn. Executives. He has spoken to dozens of trade groups and fielded questions during 20 years at the Motion Picture Assn. but staffers dealt directly with the press. Most of his time was spent enforcing copyright worldwide. MPA has “hundreds” of lawsuits against accused violators at any one time.

After almost choking when we saw Ad Age hoist John Wren as the “Agency Executive of the Year” (1/24 NL), citing OMC’s rise above $100 (still below its high of seven years ago), we picked up the January Editor & Publisher and found articles of such effusive praise of publishing figures that we gagged again. Earl Maucker of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel not only gets the front cover as “Editor of the Year 2007” but eight pictures inside and another one in a full page ad that accompanies the article. A TV commercial has Maucker staring into the camera and saying, “I’m Editor Earl Maucker. I AM the Sun-Sentinel.”

Staffers quoted in the article agree. There is just no limit to his talents. He even “personally” designed the newsroom so it would be “open.” No South American dictator ever got more praise. Same idolizing treatment is given to GateHouse Media CEO Michael Reed, whose nearly endless achievements in “barely a year” are catalogued.

E&P does have plenty of investigative articles including one in the November 2006 issue recalling that the New York Daily News caved in 2001 when reporter Robert Port tried to write that retailers such as Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Ave., etc., got clothes from local “sweatshops.” Port said editor Ed Kosner told Port he feared the retailers would pull their ads and he heavily edited the story. Kosner, reached by phone, told E&P he had “no recollection whatever of that series.”

A good study for the academic community would be what has happened to the ad/publishing/PR trade press in recent years that put many publications out of business and reduced others to purveyors of praise, showering advertisers with upbeat articles and corporate and personal awards.

Conglomerate-owned ad agencies and PR firms cancelled almost all of their subscriptions to newsletters (which take no ads) and pumped millions into publications that depend on ads.

The awards and honors that the publications heap on the big agencies are used in their new business pitches and highlighted in the annual reports of the holding companies. Losers include the public, prospective clients who need the facts about the ad/PR industries, the academic community itself, and rank-and-file workers in these industries.

--Jack O'Dwyer