WS GUIDES $4M MASS. HEALTH REFORM.

Weber Shandwick’s Cambridge, Mass., office beat four finalists for a $4M contract to provide PR and advertising support as Massachusetts tries to make its landmark universal healthcare legislation work.

An RFP released last November to 25 agencies sought help in reaching and educating uninsured individuals and small businesses affected by the state’s 2006 reform law, which requires all Bay Staters to sign up for an insurance plan by July 1 or face tax penalties.

WS was the only firm not to ask for a commission on media buys. The Interpublic unit, which has about 90 people in Cambridge, is set to bring in $760K in fees – billing at $190 hour for an estimated 4,000 hours, the firm agreed to a 5 percent cut – and $2M for media buys.

The year-long contract is with the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, an independent entity created by the state to act as a “bridge” between health plans and individuals and small businesses.

Tara Murphy, VP for WS in Cambridge, heads the account.

WS’ contract runs through Dec. 31. The CHICA’s board approved the pact at its late January meeting citing the firm’s experience in healthcare, community and government relations, and its ability to handle both advertising and PR, among other factors.

OGILVY’S WHITE TO BAXTER.

Kym White, a 16-year Ogilvy PR Worldwide veteran, joins Baxter International next month as VP-corporate communications. She reports to CEO Robert Parkinson.

White, who fills the post that Sally Benjamin Young vacated in Oct. `05, is in charge of PR, crisis communications, financial outreach, web and executive communications of the Deerfield, Ill.-based $10.4 billion giant.

White worked as managing director of Ogilvy’s New York office for the past four years. Previously, she headed its global healthcare practice, which counseled Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and Medtronic.

Korn/Ferry International’s Nels Olson and Jody Cooper placed White.

Omnicom posted a 10 percent increase in fourth-quarter `06 net to $277M on a nine percent rise in revenues to $3.2B.

The conglom’s collection of PR shops (Fleishman-Hillard, Porter Novelli and Ketchum) showed the fastest growth rate for the quarter, up 16.3 percent to $311M.

EDELMAN GETS $300K FOR THAKSIN WORK.

Edelman is receiving $50K a-month to rep ousted Thailand leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a military coup in September.

Thaksin has been traveling the world, making the case for a return to his homeland, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Those trips have annoyed Thailand’s ruling junta. The generals in charge of Thailand have ordered Thai media not to broadcast Thaksin’s comments.

Edelman’s contract is through Baker Botts, Thaksin’s law firm. The pact is for six months.

Thaksin ruled Thailand for nearly six years. He has been charged with corruption and abuse of power.

HAYSLETT STEERS GEORGIA’S 511 SERVICE.

Atlanta PR firm Hayslett Group has defeated seven competitors to handle marketing and communications for Georgia’s roadway information 511 telephone service.

There was no incumbent agency for the account and a budget has not yet been set by Georgia’s Dept. of Transportation.

Cookerly PR, Cohn Overstreet & Parrish, DFA Communications, Duffey Communications, Hope-Beckham, Ascential, and InterConnect Group pitched.

The account mainly includes a public information campaign using PR and PSAs. An RFP was issued in October.

The 511 system, which operates 24/7 and disseminates information on road, air and rail travel conditions, is expected to be rolled out in April.

MURRAY CRITIQUED IN STUDENT BLOGS.

Students who submitted questions to PRSA president Bill Murray Jan. 29 found the session to be "pretty tense" and even confrontational at times.

Several of the students, whose comments on their own blogs were collected by Prof. Robert French, were surprised that Murray was never a member of PRSA and had little knowledge of its history.

They also noted that Murray had no answers to many of the questions on a prepared list.

The students expressed disappointment that the ground rules for the 50-minute telephone interview were changed at the last minute. Links to all of the comments have been posted on French's blog.

As originally planned, Murray was supposed to chat with the students themselves.

But PRSA PR manager Cedric Bess then told the class that only Prof. French could pose the questions

(Continued on page 7)

DOWIE STEPS UP LEGAL ACTION.

Former Fleishman-Hillard Los Angeles chief Doug Dowie filed a suit against the Omnicom unit seeking $3M in legal fees owed to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher plus unspecified damages for “emotional pain and suffering.”

GD&C, according to the complaint, was recommended to the former Marine by F-H CFO Fred Rohlfing.

Dowie claims he could never have afforded to hire pricey GD&C, which billed at $665 and $545 hour rates, “but for the promise that F-H would pay their fees, inasmuch as he would otherwise be wholly unable to afford such representation.”

F-H picked up the first invoice in May `04.

The PR firm settled the civil suit brought by the City of Los Angeles in April `05, agreeing to pay $6M to cover the fraudulent billing charge.

It then “suddenly and without warning ceased” paying Dowie’s legal fees in June `05 after he was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Dowie charges that F-H stopped paying his legal tab because U.S. attorneys are required to “consider whether or not a corporation was paying for a criminal defense of its employees suspected of wrongdoing as a factor in deciding whether to indict the corporation.”

Dowie alleges that F-H acted with fraud and deceit when “Rohlfing, acting on behalf of the defendants, made the promises of indemnity for attorneys’ fees, and costs as hereinbefore alleged.”

The former F-H exec also is seeking damages for emotional pain and suffering. He has “suffered, and continues to suffer anxiety, worry, loss of appetite and loss of sleep, all to his detriment and damage in an amount unspecified at present, and which will be subject to proof at the time of the trial.”

He was convicted for bilking L.A. of $500K. Dowie says he is innocent.

5W GOES WILD.

5W PR is repping the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ video line, which features topless, naked co-eds, and its founder 35-year-old Joe Francis.

CEO Ronn Torossian, in his Valentine’s Day release announcing the win, called GGW an “iconic brand” and vowed to “get the media better exposed to the amazing business which exists behind Mr. Francis.”

The GGW infomercials run on late-night cable, and advertise videos of women exposing themselves.

Francis pled guilty to rules violating exploitation of minors and was fined $500K in January for a `02 video that included two 17-year-olds having sex during the “Ultimate Spring Break” video. He agreed to do more than 200 hours of community service.

Francis was busy last week. The New York Post’s Page Six reported that actress Tara Reid bolted from Francis at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy Awards party in Beverly Hills on Feb. 11. She was upset that Francis told Howard Stern that Reid was horrible in bed, according to the Post. Francis was in Las Vegas on Feb. 14 to unveil the GGW line of swimsuits, sandals and tops.

BISHOPS WANT MORE WEDDINGS.

The Catholic Communication Campaign, a unit of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has tapped Crosby Marketing Communications to develop a public service campaign to promote the benefits of marriage.

The move follows a January report from Rutgers University’s National Marriage Project that found the U.S. marriage rate is at an all-time low of 47.9 per 1,000 people. That’s down from 87 in 1960.

The report attributed the declining rate of nuptials to people marrying later in life and the rise in cohabitation. It found that nearly half of people from age 25-to-40 have lived together at some point with someone from the opposite sex.
The bishops want CMC to conduct research among marriage experts and run a series of consumer focus groups about marriage. The findings will be at the core of a TV and radio PSA campaign, as well as a website for info about preparing for and improving a marriage.

The CCC’s Pat Ryan Garcia is coordinating the effort with Annapolis, Md.-based CMC. She has not been reached.

Time, last week, carried an essay from John Cloud that says “being wed doesn’t necessarily make you happier or healthier.”

His point is based on Bella DePaulo’s `06 book, “Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After.”

QORVIS REPS DYNCORP.

Qorvis Communications has been tapped by DynCorp International for messaging and image work.

The Falls Church, Va.-based “supplier of specialized mission-critical technical services to civilian and military government agencies” was criticized on Jan. 30 by Stuart Bowen, the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, for accounting problems and unauthorized spending.

Bowen cited a $43.4M State Dept. expenditure for a police training camp that was never used. He has problems with an outlay of $36.4M for armored vehicles and equipment that can’t be found.

The New York Times in December took issue with DynCorp’s contract to train police officers in Afghanistan. The U.S. Government has defended DynCorp’s work there.

CJM LANDS VA. HEALTH PACT.

Campbell Johnson Marketing and PR has defeated three firms to develop and guide a $315K social marketing program warning Virginians about high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Virginia’s Dept. of Health is using funds from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control to back the project. It wants the Richmond-based firm to enlist faith-based groups, local health departments, and healthcare providers to educate the public about warning signs for heart attacks and stroke, and to boost the number of people who live with high blood pressure and high cholesterol under control. The six-month contract with CJM came after an RFP process.

WS FIGHTS N.O. ‘MISPERCEPTIONS.’

Weber Shandwick has been tapped by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau to run an international spring media tour to promote the Big Easy and correct "misperceptions" about the city in the national press.

"The point of this tour is really to combat some of the misperceptions about New Orleans that exist out there, because so much of the media coverage – mainstream press – is about things that are not working well in the city, a lack of recovery, and that sort of thing," Kelly Schultz, vice president of communications for the CVB, told O’Dwyer’s. "We need to get the message out that if you're a visitor to New Orleans for leisure or for a business trip, you can come here and have a great experience."

The effort will kick off in New York. Chicago, Washington, D.C., London, Paris and Los Angeles are among other locations, some of which will include New Orleans streetcars, food tasting and other events - all with the slogan "Forever New Orleans."

"New Orleans is part of our national soul and we are honored to contribute to such an important campaign," said Rene Mack, president of the firm's New York-based travel and lifestyle practice, in a statement.

The CVB, which has requested $115M to market the city, says tourism accounts for 35 percent of the Big Easy's annual operating budget - counting jobs, safety, transit and infrastructure - and is its largest employer.

TRIBUNE SELLS SPANISH PAPER.

Tribune Co. is selling Spanish-language newspaper Hoy New York to ImpreMedia. The company is keeping Hoy editions in Los Angeles and Chicago, plus weekly Spanish language papers in Orlando and South Florida.

The move enables Tribune to better align its Spanish language papers with its Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune publishes Newsday in metro New York, a paper that is current the subject of takeover speculation.

Scott Smith, president of Tribune publishing, said though Hoy New York has "made good progress over the past year, we did not see a path to profitability in this market." The Hispanic market, according to Smith, remains an important part of the company's growth strategy.

Hoy New York is the No. 1 Spanish newspaper in the city, topping El Diario/La Prensa, which is owned by ImpreMedia.

MTV CUTS 250 STAFFERS.

Viacom's MTV Networks is cutting 250 people from its 4,500 work force as the company shifts focus from TV to a more digital future.

Judy McGrath, CEO of MTV, told staffers via a memo that the company must refine its business and organization models to "keep winning in this revolutionary environment."

She did not estimate how much the job cuts will save MTV, which includes cable channels Nickelodeon, Spike, Country Music Television, VH1 and Logo.

WAL-MART’S DACH RIPS AD AGE.

Wal-Mart ripped Advertising Age for reporting Jan. 30 that its U.S. Stores division president Eduardo Castro-Wright is "expected to be replaced."

Leslie Dach, executive VP/corporate affairs and government relations, wrote in a Feb. 13 letter that is posted on the retailer's website that Castro-Wright's replacement has not been "considered or discussed in any way."

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, according to Dach's letter to AA editor Jonah Bloom, has made it "clear on numerous occasions that our company will continue to support and encourage Mr. Castro-Wright as he continues his work."

The former Edelman vice chairman faults AA for relying on "unreliable rumors by unnamed sources who by their own admission were speculating about management changes at Wal-Mart."

AA's actions "have not lived up to commonly accepted journalistic standards and that our ongoing professional relationship should be considered strained," wrote Dach.

Bloom sent an e-mail to this NL, responding to Dach's missive. His magazine takes Dach's letter "very seriously, as we do any such complaint."

The publication, noted Bloom, investigated the journalism on the story thoroughly and feels its reporters "operated entirely professionally, thoroughly and in good faith using multiple, knowledgeable sources and requesting comment on several occasions from the company."

Bloom wrote that the internal probe continues and "if we decide that any part of our reporting – such as our noting that there was speculation on Mr. Castro-Wright's next move – was inaccurate, we will obviously admit that and correct the story, as would any reputable publication." The Associated Press reported Jan 31 that Castro-Wright told a meeting of managers from almost 4,000 Wal-Mart stories that he isn't going anywhere.

FIRM GUIDES HOTEL THROUGH SMITH DEATH.

Fort Lauderdale PR firm Bitner Goodman is guiding the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino through the media firestorm that erupted with the death of Anna Nicole Smith there last week.

Gary Bitner, president of the firm, has represented the Seminole Tribe of Florida since it built the Hollywood, Fla., hotel in 2004 under a licensing deal with Hard Rock International. The Tribe is in the midst of closing a deal to acquire all of Hard Rock Int'l for $965M.

The three-year-old hotel is being featured in news reports from the "NBC Nightly News" to "Entertainment Tonight" as the $1,600-a-night backdrop for Smith's scrutinized demise.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel noted the hotel has gained "grisly notoriety," while McClatchy Newspapers said it has joined a macabre list of celebrity death sites.

The Associated Press penned a straightforward profile of the hotel and its luxury accommodations, noting it is "as gaudy and over-the-top as the pinup herself."

(Media news continued on next page)

IMN BECOMES ANTI-AMERICAN ORGAN.

U.S. taxpayers funded the Iraqi Media Network with the idea of creating a “BBC-like” news organization there, according to the March Vanity Fair.

The piece penned by VF investigative reporters Donald Barlett and James Steele tells how the IMN instead turned into the Pentagon’s mouthpiece, and its programming was then dismissed as American propaganda by Iraqis.

Worse, the IMN was turned over to Iraq's Shiite majority and now spews forth virulently anti-American messages all day and night.

Don North, a former NBC News staffer who joined IMN and initially went about quoting Edward R. Murrow, quit the operation because his managers were “manipulating and controlling a very undemocratic press.” To him, the IMN became “every bit as bad as what Saddam had established.”

North is dumbfounded with the current state of affairs at the IMN. He called the network the “only functioning weapon of mass destruction in today's Iraq.”
Science Applications International Corp., the “invisible hand behind a huge portion of America's national security state,” created the IMN.

Barlett and Steele wrote that the job of establishing IMN’s infrastructure of cables, transmitters and dishes “was rife with corruption and waste.”

North, who was a cameraman in Vietnam and NBC's Cairo bureau chief, said his colleagues at IMN had hoped to set the gold standard for “international broadcasting and news reporting.”

He soon became aware that the Pentagon and Coalition Provisional Authority had other ideas such as turning the IMN into a “little Voice of America.”

They viewed IMN as an “opportunity to push the U.S. agenda in Iraq in the most simplistic way.”

TIMES’ ‘PINCH’ IS PINCHED.

New York Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger set the record straight last week about an unfortunate remark that he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Sulzberger, according to Israel's Ha'aretz, expressed doubt about the short-term future of the printed version of the NYT. He said: “I really don’t know whether we’ll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don't care.”

The publisher fleshed out his thoughts during a speech to Times staffers.

Sulzberger told staffers the company plans to invest in newspapers and that he expected them to be “around for a very long time.” The NYT Co.’s “powerful and trusted print brands continue to draw educated and affluent audiences.”

Print commands “high levels of reader engagement,” according to Sulzberger, and accounts for the bulk of the NYTC's advertising and circulation revenues.
Though Sulzberger has the “heartfelt view that newspapers will be around – in print – for a long time,” he must be “prepared for that judgment to be wrong.”

BBC/AMERICA RECRUITS ANCIER.

Garth Ancier, who shut the WB Network, has been named president of BBC Worldwide America.

In a 27-year career, Ancier served as first programming chief for the then-fledgling Fox Network, handled AOL's venture with Time Warner sister company Warner TV and worked at General Electric's NBC unit.

In his new post, Ancier will oversee the BBC America cable channel, adapt British programming for U.S. audiences and bolster the broadcaster's Internet presence.

NAB RIPS SIRIUS/XM TIE-UP.

The National Assn. of Broadcasters says it would be "shocked" if the Federal Communications Commission okays the "$13B merger of equals" between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. The two companies posted a combined $1.5B loss in `05. The '06 loss is expected to exceed that deficit.

When authorizing satellite radio, the FCC, according to a statement from Dennis Wharton, executive VP at NAB, felt the public would "be served best by two competitive nationwide systems."

The satellite companies refute that point, saying that consumers enjoy a wide "continually expanding array of entertainment options" that didn't exist when the FCC granted them satellite licenses a decade ago. Those options include iPods, HD radio and music over cell phones.

Wharton, however, blistered the shotgun marriage between the two former competitors. "Now, with their stock prices at rock bottom and their business model in disarray because of profligate spending practices, they seek a government bailout to avoid competing in the marketplace."

The NAB, which represents 8,300 free TV and radio outlets, says it is up to policymakers to "weigh whether an industry that makes Howard Stern its poster child should be rewarded with a monopoly program for offensive programming."

The trade group is confident that the Sirius/XM merger, "an anti-consumer proposal," will be rejected just as the proposed merger of the two TV satellite companies (DirecTV and DISH Network) was rejected a few years ago.

FCC chairman Kevin Martin says the Sirius and XM hook-up faces a "high hurdle." The merger also would need the Justice Dept.'s blessing.

People ______________________

Sharon Begley, who wrote the “Science Journal” column at the Wall Street Journal for five years, has returned to Newsweek as a senior editor and contributor to Newsweek.com. Julia Baird, opinion editor and columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, has been named senior editor for science.

Peter Terzian, senior editor at Culture & Travel, has been named editor of the magazine. He was previously assistant editor at Newsday. Michael Boodro, editor through the launch of C&T, is stepping down.

The Worldcom PR Group has set up a much-needed worldwide 24-7 crisis PR hotwire (2/14 NL).

Clients can reach a coordinator of the service or any of 47 members by individual e-mails, or blast e-mail all 47 at once. One of our gripes about PR is that most PR people work 9-5, Mon.-Fri., and even then are hard to reach. Many give cell-phone numbers as alternatives but this mostly results in yet another voicemail. PR needs to match the 24-7 hours of media...some of those at the "Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy" Jan. 9-10 at the State Dept. (2/14 NL) said that instead of listening to what the PR people had to say, as was advertised, the State Dept. reps mainly plied the audience with messages that the Dept. wants PR people to spread. "It was a lot of listening by us," said one attendee. But emphasizing the U.S. abroad, another said, would be like putting the German flag on every Chrysler that is sold in the U.S. "It would be counterproductive." Other comments were that there were "no breakthrough ideas" and, "The problem is not PR, but policy." Everyone "danced around the real problem–Iraq," said an attendee. The U.S. is pitching "democracy" but this word has different meanings in other countries, it was also pointed out...although Johnson & Johnson has a much-touted ethical code, it has admitted that some foreign units may have made improper payments to help sell medical devices in two "small-market countries" (New York Times 2/13). The story notes that the SEC in 2003 told J&J it was under formal investigation for possible illegal payments to Polish government officials. J&J, commenting on these charges, said the worldwide head of its medical devices unit had retired (Michael Dormer, 55)...to live up to its ethical code, J&J should cooperate in a 25th anniversary revisit to the seven Tylenol murders of 1982 to clear up inaccuracies that have grown up around this tragedy (PR's No. 1 crisis story). The focus has been on the alleged speedy response of J&J but the real story is that drugs in easily-spiked gelatine capsules should never have been marketed. The FDA is the one that acted quickly, warning all Americans on Thursday, Sept. 1, 1982, the day the first murders were discovered, not to take Tylenol capsules. J&J did not recall the capsules until a week later and after another poisoning almost took place. This was long after stores had removed them. Initially, J&J focused attention on two lots of the capsules, ignoring the fatal flaw in all of them. It then rushed back onto the market two months later with the same capsules (in sealed bottles) but 3.5 years later there was another Tylenol murder. CEO Jim Burke regretted reintroducing the capsules...5W PR, the fastest-growing PR firm based on the documented O'Dwyer rankings, has added "Girls Gone Wild" to its client list, a celebration of lesbianism (page 2). GGW markets both soft and hardcore porn. 5W CEO Ronn Torossian notes that PR firms work for companies such as Time Warner (HBO broadcasts soft and hardcore porn) and Hilton Hotels (one-third of in-room videos are porn) and controversial products such as tobacco, fur and gambling. He feels it's not his place to judge a client's business. GGW has sales of $100M and employs 400...our objection to the porn on GGW and HBO is the “fun and games” atmosphere that surrounds it. Ignored are the diseases, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, prostitution, mob control and drug use that are often associated with this industry. Also, actors involved are dehumanized because they're reduced to their sexual organs...young women are already so sexually active that more than 60% of them leave college not only with a degree but a lifelong case of HPV, which can cause cancer. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control wants to innoculate females from 11-26 with a vaccine. Merck, which currently has the only drug (Gardasil), is pushing laws in at least 20 states (NYT 2/17). Cost is $400 per female or umpteen billions...the City of New York, seeing sex in terms of its cost in death and disease, is handing out 26 million condoms in subway stations, retail stores, barbershops, etc. AIDS is the third biggest killer in the city. The Catholic Church and other critics object to the $1.5M distribution and the design on the package ("NYC Condom"). New York believes that while some may be offended, "it will save lives"...2006 PRSA president Cheryl Procter-Rogers quit HBO last year after nine years, we believe, because there was a conflict between her view that PR pros must be the "ethical" leaders of their employers and the output of HBO...PR prof. Nancy Snow of Cal State Fullerton wrote in the Feb. 7 Los Angeles Times that she turned down a bid to write about propaganda for Hustler after examining the mag’s graphic sexual content. She felt writing for the mag would have meant "endorsement" of it...the "interview" of new PRSA president Bill Murray by an Auburn PR class (page one) was a disaster. Murray was unprepared, as the students quickly realized. The PR surrounding his arrival has been vacillating and amateurish. His appointment was announced between Christmas and New Year, giving the impression PRSA was trying to bury it. Then PR manager Cedric Bess said Murray would be available for interviews "early in January." Auburn Prof. Robert French announced that Murray had tentatively agreed to talk to his class Jan. 29. Bess then intervened to say there would be no interviews with French or the press until Murray had "settled in." This was then contradicted, apparently by Murray himself, and the French interview was set for Jan. 29. Murray and Bess met with this writer for lunch Feb. 1. Bess, setting new rules for the French interview, asked for written questions in advance and said students would not be allowed to ask questions. At the last minute, according to French's blog, Bess changed his mind and said students could indeed ask questions. But French said it was already set up for a single questioner. This ineptitude was in spite of a 59% boost in cost of media relations in 2005 to $360,860 from $226,379 in 2004. Salaries for this rose from $130,756 to $244,158 apparently due to the promotion of Janet Troy to VP-PR. Troy, who has been letting Bess handle media for Murray, was on vacation from Feb. 14-21 "with no access to e-mail."

--Jack O'Dwyer