FORT LAUDERDALE ISSUES RFP.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau is reviewing its $500K/year PR account and is inviting agencies to pitch.

New York-based M. Silver Associates has handled the account for more than 20 years.

The Bureau wants a firm to generate national and international publicity for the area to boost leisure and convention business to Broward County.

Services to be covered include news bureau/media relations, pitching, release writing and distribution, and press trips.

It is requesting that firms submit a letter of intent by May 23. The form can be downloaded at http://www.broward.org/purchasing/bids/20070212.pdf.

INSURANCE PRO MONFRIED TO SAFECO.

David Monfried, who retired as senior VP of corporate comms. for MetLife in 2005, has been named to head comms. for Seattle insurer Safeco as a senior VP. He has been a consultant for the company over the last year.

Monfried takes over for Laurie Johnson, who headed marketing and communications and was named VP of online strategy for the company as it looks to bolster its Safeco.com portal.

Monfried, a member of PR Seminar, had the top PR slot at MetLife for three years up to December 2005 overseeing a reorganization of its global comms. Earlier, he was VP-CC for insurer The St. Paul Companies (now Travelers).

Safeco handles property and casualty insurance via a network of sales agents. First quarter revenues were $1.51 billion.

PADGITT MOVES TO GUITAR MAKER FENDER.

Jason Padgitt, a VP for Rogers & Cowan in Los Angeles, has been named VP of PR and corporate communications for guitar maker Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

Padgitt handled Fender rival Gibson Guitar at R&C, along with the Grammy Awards and entertainers like Hilary Duff.

Marshall Consultants placed Padgitt in the post.

The hire is Fender’s initial effort to establish a proactive corporate communications function as it looks to increase its core business and establish a beachhead in the high-end and custom guitar sector.

The 55-year-old company, which markets the legendary Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars, is based in Scottsdale Ariz.

SCC POSITIONS MONTESSORI SOCIETY.

Stanton Crenshaw Communications is doing “positioning and messaging” for the American Montessori Society. The task includes a “brand perception audit.”

SCC announced the assignment two days before the April 19 conviction of the former headmistress of Manhattan’s Montessori School for sodomizing a former student when he was 13 and again three years later. The victim is now a 24-year-old New York City police officer.

Forty-year-old Lina Sinha, dubbed “Lusty Lina” by India’s press, was sentenced to a maximum 14 years in prison. In handing down the sentence, Judge Carol Berkman branded Sinha a sexual “predator.”

The “Sex Teach” (New York Post) is free on $3.5M bail that was posted by her parents, owners of the Manhattan school and two others in Queens and Brooklyn.

SCC president Dorothy Crenshaw could not be reached for comment about work for AMS.

GEORGIA PLANS EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN.

The Peach State’s emergency management agency is searching for a PR firm to support a campaign urging self-reliance among Georgians for 72 hours following a disaster or emergency.

Georgia, which notes it is susceptible to all forms of natural and man-made emergencies from chemical spills to tornadoes, has issued an RFP and is counting on federal funds to back the hire of a PR firm for a potential five-year public education assignment.

It wants a firm with experience (at least two similar projects) on large statewide campaigns. Proposals are due on June 25. A one-year contract is planned with four year-long options. A copy of the RFP has been posted on GA’s purchasing website, statepurchasing.doas.ga.gov.

PRSA STANDS FOR ETHICS, SAYS MURRAY.

“The message of PRSA is very simple–as members we stand for the ethical practice of PR,” president Bill Murray told the National Capital chapter May 4 at the Capital Hilton. Attendance was 60.

NCC is PRSA’s biggest chapter with 1,100 members and 1,300 PRSA members in its area which includes D.C., part of Virginia and part of Maryland.

Murray spoke for about 25 minutes starting shortly after noon while lunch was being served. There was no Q&A period. The program began at 11:30 and was over before the allotted deadline of 1:30.

Each member of PRSA has the duty to perform ethi-

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IMUS MOUNTS COMEBACK.

Ousted radio jock Don Imus has a good shot in prevailing in a lawsuit against CBS, which fired him in the aftermath of remarks directed at the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, according to media reports.

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s legal correspondent, said Imus’ contract with CBS requires him to be “controversial.”

CNN obtained a copy of the contract that states: “Company (CBS Radio) acknowledges that Artist’s (Imus’) services to be rendered hereunder are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character.”

In Toobin’s view, CBS must show that Imus’ “nappy-headed hos” crack is “outside the realm of what the contract allowed.”

Fortune reports a legal showdown “could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted,” wrote Tim Arango.

Imus’ five-year $40M contract also stipulates that he must receive a warning before being fired. It is the “dog has one-bite” clause, according to the magazine.

Fortune notes it is unclear whether Imus received a warning after once referring to New York Times African-American sports columnist Bill Rhoden a “quota hire” and PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is black, “a cleaning lady.”

The legal fight, reports the business magazine’s website, could hinge on Federal Communications Commission regulations about appropriate content.

Imus has hired Martin Garbus, a First Amendment expert, as his attorney. Time called that Davis & Gilbert attorney “one of the best trial lawyers in the country.” Garbus told CNN he expects to file a suit against CBS in the near future.

The New York Daily News reports that Imus expects to be back on the air in a few months after spending the summer on his ranch in New Mexico.

Rev. Al Sharpton, who led the drive to oust Imus, told the paper that he will encourage advertisers to boycott Imus if “he returns as his old self.”

WASHINGTON SEEKS REDEMPTION.

PR counselor Howard Bragman is promoting actor Isaiah Washington, who plans to do public service announcements for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network that highlight the need for tolerance.

The move by the “Grey’s Anatomy” star is to atone for his use of an anti-gay slur directed at T.R. Knight, another star on the program. Knight is gay.

Washington made the insulting reference during an on-air interview conducted backstage at the Golden Globe Awards in January.

Washington then apologized to Knight, fans of GA and the gay and lesbian community for “using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance.”

He also entered counseling to “understand what I did and make sure it never happens again.”

Washington expects to return to GA, a program of Walt Disney’s ABC TV network, for another season.

APPLE BLAMES PR FOR ‘GREEN’ WOES.

Apple blames poor PR for the whipping it has received from environmental groups upset with its apparent lackluster recycling program and effort to remove toxic chemicals from its product lines.

CEO Steve Jobs addressed the matter with a May 2 “A Greener Apple” posting on the company’s website. He looked into Apple’s environmental policies and was surprised that the company is either ahead or moving ahead of the competition.

Jobs compares Apple’s performance with Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Lenovo in categories such as use of PVCs, lead, mercury and recycling.

He gives Apple high marks in those categories, but a failing grade in communicating “the things that we are doing well.” That has left “customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener.”

Jobs promises to post environmental updates each spring. He vows to make sure that Apple’s stakeholders are fully aware of its effort to “become an environmental leader.”

Greenpeace, a leading Apple antagonist, praised the computer/music company, for its new door policy on the environmental front.

BP HANDLES CLEAN ENERGY FEST.

Bell Pottinger USA handled the Ignite Clean Energy `07 business presentation competition that took place at Boston’s Hyatt Regency on May 1.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum-sponsored event had 10 finalists competing for cash and services worth $200K.

They are involved in work related to biomass, “green” buildings, solar cell installation and microbial fuel cells. William Swope, VP & director of corporate affairs at Intel, was a featured speaker.

Marlin Collingwood, managing director of BPUSA, said his firm’s participation is a “natural fit” for the U.K.-headquartered firm that recently announced plans to go carbon neutral.

BPUSA contributed three-months of PR services to the first-place winner, RSI Silicon. That is valued at $40K.

BP is the U.K.’s biggest PR operation. It is part of Chime Communications, which is headed by Tim Bell.

GALLAGHER EXITS MLB FOR IMG.

Jim Gallagher has left Major League Baseball’s technology arm for the top corporate communications slot at sports management giant IMG.

Gallagher retains the same title of senior VP, corporate communications that he had at MLB Advanced Media.

He is charged with overseeing external and internal communications for IMG, which represents athletes and entertainers like Tiger Woods and Giselle Bundchen, produces events and media, and provides consulting services.

The company was purchased by Forstmann Little in 2004 for $750M. Gallagher was in corporate communications at ITT Corp. for 20 years prior to MLB.

MURDOCH BIDS $5B FOR DOW JONES.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. on May 1 made a $5B offer to buy Dow Jones & Co., parent company of the Wall Street Journal.

The $60 per-share bid represents a 50 percent premium from the stock's 52-week high. The Bancroft family, which controls 62 percent of the voting stock of the company, is reviewing the offer.

Dow Jones has issued a statement to confirm receipt of the "unsolicited proposal from News Corp." The company says there is no assurance that a deal will take place.

News Corp. is launching a business network on cable TV and the Dow Jones properties would be a nice fit for that operation. Murdoch has made no secret over the years of his desire to acquire the WSJ.

Sard Verbinnen reps Dow Jones. Mark Donohue is director of investor relations at DJ. VP Linda Dunbar handles corporate communications.

REUTERS RECEIVES TAKEOVER OFFER.

Reuters Group has received a preliminary takeover bid, according to a statement by the company. The company's stock price surged 25 percent on the London exchange, giving the media combine a market value in the $15B range.

The third-party suitor "may or may not" make a formal offer for the news and financial data company. The company promises a further announcement "when appropriate."

Canada's Thomson is among those that could be interested in Reuters. The Reuters Foundation, a group formed to protect the independence and integrity of the journalistic enterprise, controls a 30 percent stake in the company.

The Reuters bid comes on the heels of Rupert Murdoch's New Corp.'s $5B offer for Dow Jones & Co.

Reuters CEO Tom Glocer could be interested in bits of Dow Jones in the event that News Corp. succeeds in its takeover. That includes Dow Jones Newswires, which competes with Reuters.

WHITTAKER TO NBC NEWS.

Mark Whittaker, who spent 25 years at Newsweek, has taken the senior VP-news slot at NBC.

He will assume daily oversight of newsgathering, produce online features and create special programming.

The 49-year-old journalist reports to Steve Capus, president of the news division. Capus said in a statement that Whittaker has a "keen sensibility for the news, but also a real expertise in digital and online ventures. He's exactly the type of person I've been looking for to bolster our executive ranks."

Whittaker, who is filling a slot vacated by Bill Wheatley two years ago, was top editor of Newsweek from `98 to `06.

Most recently, he was editor-in-chief of Washington Post/Newsweek's interactive unit.

Allison Werder is the new senior VP-business development at Parade. Her job includes developing long-term strategies for the magazine and website.

DON’T GIVE UP ON IDEALISM – KRISTOF.

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist noted for his coverage of news in war-torn and poverty-stricken countries, told the Overseas Press Club's awards dinner April 26 that attacks on the press from several fronts have reached unprecedented proportions.

He recounted receiving three subpoenas last year, the first he had ever been served with, and predicted an increase in the number of reporters who will be jailed in future years.

"We need better shield laws," he said.

Criticism of the press, he said, has reached the point where reporters have lower prestige “than Congressmen.”

Some of this is justified, Kristof said, because of concentration on celebrities and coverage of domestic crime such as the JonBenet Ramsey murder while the "deaths of some four million people in the Congo are ignored."

The press, including the NYT, performed poorly in the "run-up to the invasion in Iraq," he said, adding reporters should have been more doubtful about the claims being made.

Financial pressures on the press are among the causes of such coverage, he said. "There's lots of financial insecurity in the press," he added.

Cover Big Issues

Kristof, who is noted for his series on child prostitution in the Far East, urged reporters not to be satisfied with day-to-day coverage and "press conferences" but to concentrate on "things that shape history ... cover stories that are not easy but that are important...[and] grapple with serious issues."

"In journalism," he said, "we have the ability to do good ... we can make a huge difference ... we must recognize the importance of what we do."

Overseas Reporters Honored

Katie Couric, anchor of the "CBS Evening News," handed out awards to scores of journalists. Some of them recounted harrowing tales of coping with danger and disease.

The International News Safety Institute, a coalition of news groups, has reported that more than 1,000 journalists have been killed while reporting news in the past ten years, many of them hunted down and assassinated.

The 450 attendees at the black tie OPC dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel observed silence as a scroll played of 250 journalists slain and 50 others wounded while covering the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002.

The Los Angeles Times and its reporters were the big winners of the 2007 OPC awards, winning four.

The New York Times and Chicago Tribune reporters took two awards each.
More than 50 reporters were given awards in 21 categories.

A complete list of awards is at opcofamerica.org.

Sponsors of the dinner, paying $5,000 and more for a table, included Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Siemens, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, MasterCard, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, the Dilenschneider Group, Edelman, and most major news organizations.

(Media news continued on next page)

NYT DUCKS WHITE HOUSE PRESS DINNER.

The New York Times has decided to end its participation in the annual White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner amid growing concern about the chummy atmosphere between the White House press corps and the Administration.

The annual dinner has the president doing a comedy routine before an appreciative audience.

NYT columnist Frank Rich unveiled news that the NYT is opting out of the event in his April 29 piece.

Rich doesn't like the dinner because it reduces the role of reporters to the role of "extras" in the White House's propaganda effort.

Hoyt Named Public Editor

The Times has tapped Clark Hoyt, who headed Knight-Ridder's Washington news bureau, for its public editor post.

The 64-year-old editor received kudos for KR's coverage of the dubious reasoning put forward by the Bush Administration for going to war against Iraq.

He left KR last year following its acquisition by McClatchy. Earlier, Hoyt served as KR's VP-news.

Hoyt follows Daniel Okrent and Byron Calame in the PE spot, which was established in `03. He assumes the post May 14, and will serve for two years.

ABC’S HALPERIN TO TIME.

Mark Halperin, who was political director of ABC News, is shifting to Time magazine on May 7 as editor-at-large and senior policy analyst. The 20-year veteran of ABC plans to do some political consulting for the Walt Disney Co. unit.

Halperin is founder of ABC News' political memo, The Note, an online site for politico junkies. The Note was launched as an internal daily political tipsheet during the `00 elections, and was introduced to the public in `02. At Time, Halperin will report to Richard Stengel and Josh Tyrangiel, managing editor of the printed mag and website, respectively.

Halperin spent the last 20 years at ABC.

TOMASKY GUIDES GUARDIAN'S U.S. PUSH.

Micheal Tomasky has been named editor of Guardian America, the website geared at the U.S. market that will be launched in a few weeks by the U.K.-based left-leaning paper.

He edited The American Prospect from `03 to `06, served as chief political columnist for New York Magazine and wrote for both the Village Voice and New York Observer.

Tomasky said the Guardian has a "great tradition, one of the greatest in English-language journalism."

He is that author of two books: one deals with Hillary Clinton's Senate run in New York and the other on the history of progressive politics.

Graham Rayman, an investigative reporter for Tribune Co.'s Newsday property, is joining the Village Voice on May 14.

He was at Newsday for 11 years, working on stories about politicians, crime, courts and disasters. Rayman also reported from Iraq.

MCCRACKEN EXITS PC WORLD.

Harry McCracken resigned as editor of PC World after a dozen years at the magazine reportedly over editorial differences with management.

C/NET News reported that McCracken exited due to pressure from management to avoid stories critical of advertisers.

McCracken says he had a good run at PC World. IDG Communications, which publishes the magazine, denies any pressure to spike stories.

PC World reaches 4.3M readers a month, while its website attracts 6.8M unique visitors monthly.

SOURCE FILES CHAPTER 11.

Source Magazine, the "bible of hip-hop," has filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. It blames shoddy business practices by former management as the reason for its financial downfall.

Source Entertainment CEO Jeremy Miller said the company has been struggling under a cloud of negative publicity since ex-executives were charged with the misuse of corporate funds a few years ago.

The company plans to re-emerge from Chapter 11 as a vibrant reorganized entity.

INKY’S GORDON SAYS BYE.

Anne Gordon, who was managing editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer for the past five years, has decided that it is time to do something else.

She is joining the investment firm of Dubilier & Co. to buy, build and manage media, technology and entertainment companies.

In her departure memo, Gordon calls Brian Tierney, the ad/PR exec that led a buyout group for the Inky, a "passionate entrepreneur" who "cares very deeply about the success of this company."

Though the Inquirer has suffered cutbacks, Gordon believes it still retains a "deep, deep well of journalistic experience."

YAHOO! BUYS RIGHT MEDIA.

Yahoo!, which is reportedly being pursued by Microsoft, is paying $680M to buy the remaining 80 percent stake in Right Media, a firm that runs an online ad exchange.

CEO Terry Semel said the deal creates the "industry's most open, accessible and vibrant advertising marketplace, which will help democratize the buying and selling of digital advertising."

The acquisition is an "important step in our long-term vision to build the industry's leading advertising and publisher ecosystem," according to a statement from Semel.

Yahoo is facing pressure from Google, especially in the wake of the No. 1 search giant's $3.1B acquisition of DoubleClick.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company acquired its 20 percent stake in RM in October for $40M in cash/stock.

OutCast Communications is handling Yahoo's RM deal.

Our web editorial April 16 on the “beheading” of Imus (4/18 NL) was the most accessed story on odwyerpr.com during April, an indication of interest in this brouhaha. No. 2 was the commentary on the Imus firing by D.C. counselor Richard Levick, who said the day of broadcast “shock artists” is over.

Imus is now fighting back, noting that his contract demanded that he be “controversial” and that it had a “one-bite” clause, meaning he could make a mistake once before getting canned (page 2).

Journalists we talked to at the Overseas Press Club dinner April 26 were flabbergasted at the mob psychology that engulfed Imus. It was a bad day not only for Imus but for all journalists and especially those who used his program as a platform and failed to come to his aid. One of the raps on journalists is that they can be treacherous and disloyal. With friends like Frank Rich, Tom Friedman and Tim Russert, Imus didn’t need enemies. We blame this ruckus on Rutgers president Richard McCormick, who should have met with Imus right away instead of waiting till he was fired. McCormick joined others in hurling epithets such as “racism,” “sexism,” “disgusting,” “disgraceful,” “extremely hurtful,” etc. Schools are supposed to be thoughtful institutions. Playing to the mob was marketing, not PR.

The NYT’s Nick Kristof (page 3) says journalists, although being shot at with real and figurative bullets, should cover big, difficult issues. We agree...U.S. News & World Report is one of the few media that have focused on the eight officials (including PR pro Larry Hincker) who held up news of the Virginia Tech shooting for two hours and 11 minutes after the first 911 call came in at 7:15 a.m. The eight did what committees mostly do–defer decision...third most accessed story on odwyerpr.com was PRSA/NY president Barbara Burns demanding that the PR industry reject the vote by a U.K. PR audience that “occasional” lying is necessary if PR pros are to keep their jobs. She called on PR pros to live up to industry codes...part of telling the truth, as the Virginia Tech tragedy indicates, is the speed at which it is told. The delay in telling the truth at VT arguably cost 31 additional lives..the VT tragedy has put U.S. colleges in the limelight. USNWR says there are 17 million college students. There are 3,800 four and two-year colleges and 280 of them have PRSSA chapters with a total of 9,000 members. These low numbers indicate the great bulk of colleges do not accept PR as a legitimate area of study. This is a fact that must be faced...what most disturbs us about PR academia is the failure of any professors or grad students to probe such difficult topics as the ad conglomerates’ buyout of so many PR firms, the increased influence of marketing on PR, the finances and governance of PR trade groups, etc. Most of the PR texts we see do “PR for PR” rather than describe current market conditions. Many of the “professors” are either working for industry or hope to. The only serious PR thesis we ever saw was by Steve Bomba, who revealed that Ivy Lee (the same Ivy Lee who said the press should be “cheerfully” served) was an admirer of Hitler, Mussolini and other “big men.” Lee secretly did PR for Hitler in the 1930s, resulting in the Foreign Agents Registration Act and earning him the nickname of “Poison Ivy” in Congress...fifth most popular odwyerpr.com item was an editorial saying the Council of PR Firms, now nine years old, practices almost no PR (it does not have an open, non-discriminatory policy with the PR press) and puts nearly 99% of its ad money into one publication. CPRF membership has stalled at about 100 firms. More than 40 firms have joined and quit since 2001...the fact that only 60 of the 1,100 members of PRSA/National Capital showed up for lunch with new PRSA president Bill Murray last week (page one) indicates there is little interest in him. He has no background in PR and was not even a member of PRSA. His statement that “PRSA stands for the ethical practice of PR” shows he is unaware of PRSA’s chronic rejection of democratic practices (including the motion by the Central Michigan chapter last year to empower the Assembly); its 30-year denial of national office-holding to 80% of members; its withholding of the transcripts of the 2005-2006 Assemblies when members have asked for them, and its selling of tens of thousands of copies of authors’ works without their permission. In a case rooted in D.C. itself, PRSA censured Summer Harrison twice in 1989 for daring to ask PRSA to investigate the day of PR advice four members gave CIA head Bill Casey during the Iran/Contra scandal. It’s about time PRSA pardoned Harrison.

A group that New York PR pros should look into is the Direct Marketing Club of New York (DMCNY.org) which draws 100 members to monthly lunches at the Yale Club. PR is mostly marketing today and the DMCNY focuses on analyzing audiences and finding ways to reach them. PR pros would find many of the Club’s topics germane such as the May 10 program on maturing consumers and emerging minorities and their “changing values, needs and lifestyles.” The Club, independent throughout its 80 years although there is a national DMA, has a special on for new members at $95 (vs. the usual $125). There are 22 local DMAs throughout the U.S. and none are obliged to pay dues to the national group or take orders from it...PRSA’s abuse of its New York members is legendary. In the early 1990s, more than 30 New York service firms, dissatisfied with national conference exhibit traffic, organized the “PR Services Council” to win better treatment. PRSA, fearing it might occur to the services to run their own conference in New York each year, killed the exhibit hall in 1995. The Council itself promptly expired. The hall was closed until 2000. New York-based PR pros and exhibitors should take a page from what the DMCNY, NYWICI, American Society of Assn. Executives and others have long done and get out from under the expense and heel of PRSA national whose heart and soul is far west of the Mississippi.

--Jack O'Dwyer