MAINE FLOATS $400K BOAT PR BID.

Maine is looking for a PR firm to build global awareness of its boat building and marine trades as part of a broader effort to boost the state’s coastal economy.

Through its economic development arm and trade groups representing top industries in the state, Gov. John Baldacci set up the Maine North Star Alliance Initiative to educate and “re-skill” the workforce.

Boat building is among a handful of industries seen as “core” to the state’s future growth.

That collaborative has issued an RFP for a $400K PR services contract through February 2009–an option could take it to 2010–to support boat builders and the Alliance Initiative.

The work includes statewide and international PR outreach, as expanding Maine’s marketplace to the world stage is seen as crucial to the overarching effort. A firm must organize participation in boat shows, garner media coverage, and produce some collateral materials.

Proposals are due on Aug. 9. The RFP can be obtained from Deborah Cook at [email protected].

SITRICK ENTERS VICK FRAY.

Sitrick & Co. is working for the defense team of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who has entered a not guilty plea on charges connected with a dog fighting operation in Virginia.

Sitrick issued a statement from Vick that was read by his lead attorney on July 26, following his appearance at the Lewis Powell Courthouse in Richmond, Va., to enter his plea. Vick apologized to his teammates and asked the public to withhold judgment "until all the facts are shown."

Vick and three others were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.

The high-profile case, which has earned Vick a suspension from the NFL and caused his sponsors to backtrack, is set for Nov. 26. Nike suspended Vick from its endorsement roster last week but did not drop him.

Vick's lawyers, via Sitrick, noted “we’d like to remind the public that these are only allegations, not facts. This case will be tried in the courts, not the media.”

The legal team, which includes lawyers in D.C., Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, said it is conducting its own investigation and “look[s] forward to clearing Michael’s name and vindicating him of these charges.”

F-H HANDLES MEAT RECALL.

Fleishman-Hillard has been called into a crisis role for canned meats marketer Castleberry’s as at least four people have fallen seriously ill from apparent botulism poisoning from its products.

David Elder, a regulatory affairs official of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told reporters: “This is a very big recall” and an “urgent public health matter.” He told Reuters, “These products can hurt people. And they have to be off the store shelves. And consumers have to discard any that they have at home.”

F-H is working for Augusta, Ga.-based Castleberry’s on two coasts – out of New York and San Diego. Castleberry’s is part of Connors Bros. Income Fund’s Bumble Bee Foods unit, a previous client of F-H.

The company has expanded its recall to more than 80 varieties of canned meat products like chili and corned beef hash, along with four types of dog food.

PUBLICIS’ FINANCIALS DISAPPOINT.

Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy says first-half financial performance didn't live up to expectations as the French ad/PR combine registered flat income and revenues of $288M and $3B, respectively.

That compares to a bullish 12 percent net income jump and 11 percent revenue rise reported by rival Omnicom for its six months.

Levy blames Publicis’ lackluster performance on paltry “organic growth,” which fell to 1.6 percent in the half-year after a three percent rise in the first-quarter.

That rate, according to Levy’s statement, “does not reflect what Publicis Groupe has regularly achieved or its potential.” Factors such an “unfavorable base of comparison” with earlier results and cutbacks in drug campaigns are reasons given by Levy for reduced organic growth.

He reassures stockholders that “none of these problems encountered are of a structural nature.”

PRS DIRECTOR'S O'DWYER CODES ABUSED.

Access codes to odwyerpr.com of Gerard Corbett, VP of the Branding and Corporate Communications Group of Hitachi America and a director of the PR Society, are among the most used codes to the site, according to electronic tabulations.

Use is many times greater than that of the average single subscriber, indicating use by a number of people.

The user name and password of Corbett had 10,510 "hits" in the first 18 days of July, a figure surpassed only by the 11,581 hits registered for the free sample web codes.

(Continued on page 7)

KOMISARJEVSKY FAMILY REELS.

APCO Worldwide counselor and former Burson-Marsteller CEO Christopher Komisarjevsky is speaking for the Komisarjevsky family as his nephew is charged in the kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery and arson that led to the death of a Connecticut woman and her two daughters.

The New York Post has called 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky a “merciless parolee” and noted he is the grandson of the late theater director Theodore Komisarjevsky and the step-son of the late Wall Street Journal writer John Chamberlain, along with his connection to the former B-M exec.

Jennifer Hawke-Petit, the wife of Cheshire, Conn., endocrinologist William Petit, was found strangled and daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, died of smoke inhalation after being held hostage and assaulted in a “home invasion”, the Post reported.

One of the girls was raped, according to reports. William Petit was beaten with a bat and tied up in the basement of his home, but he escaped the fire and is in serious condition at a local hospital, according to reports.

Christopher Komisarjevsky, who is a senior counselor in APCO’s New York office, issued a statement on behalf of his “immediate family, not on behalf of Joshua Komisarjevsky’s father, Benedict.”

He called the crime a “monstrous, deranged act, beyond comprehension,” apologized and wished for Petit’s recovery. He noted that Joshua was adopted and had been estranged from the family and in prison for five years.

Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes, 44, were arraigned last week in Meriden Superior Court on charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, larceny and arson. Additional charges could follow, the Post reported.

VIRGINIA SEEKS EDUCATION HELP.

Virginia is seeking agency help for a public communications campaign steeped in social media to rally public support for more rigorous education and ambition from the commonwealth’s students.

Citing fundamental changes in the global economy and the skills needed to succeed in it, an entity operating under a National Governor’s Assn. grant in Virginia called the P-16 Education Council said it will be necessary to raise graduation requirements and change curriculum over the next several years. Those changes could come through the state Board of Education or the General Assembly.

The commonwealth has issued an RFP for a firm to develop a public communication campaign. One key aspect will be utilizing outlets like FaceBook and MySpace, along with incorporating viral marketing and celebrity participation.

The initial work only calls for the planning of the two-year campaign on a four-month contract through November.

Budgets exceeding $100K for the four-month period will not be considered. Proposals are due by Aug. 7. The RFP can be found on Virginia’s procurement website.

5W ENROLLS IN ROBERTSON’S COLLEGE.

Regent University, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, has retained Ronn Torossian’s 5W Public Relations to promote its “lauded academic programs,” among other duties.

The “divine mission” of the Virginia Beach-based school is to prepare leaders “who would not only succeed in their profession but also advance as Christians equipped to effectively impact their world.”

RU, which has more than 4,000 students, believes its “focused strategy and Divine Providence have accelerated Regent’s reputation as a global center for Christian thought and action.”

Though RU scored U.S. News & World Report’s “lowest ranking,” the school has more than 150 graduates serving in the Bush Administration. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is among its faculty.

Ex-New York City Mayor and presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani spoke at RU in April.

Torossian has ties with the Christian right as evidenced by past work for the Christian Coalition of America. He calls the 5W-RU hook-up a “match made in heaven.”

5W’s clients include Phillips Van Heusen, Anheuser-Busch, Evian Natural Spring Water, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and L’il Kim.

Earlier this month, 5W picked up the Lifestyles Condoms account of Ansell Healthcare.

PHILLIPS TO BRUNSWICK GROUP.

Oliver Phillips, who headed global media strategy for Unicef, has joined Brunswick Group in New York as a partner.

The firm said Phillips will work on “critical communications projects” with a focus on corporate social responsibility and corporate reputations.

Prior to three years at Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, he was a senior advisor and communications director for Gov. Gray Davis of California from 2001-03, departing at the beginning of Davis’ second term before the recall election removed Davis from office later that year.

He joined Davis’ administration after a broadcast journalism career with ITN, NBC and CNN covering the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Chechen war, and the first Gulf War.

SCC REPS BAIN IN AMERICAN STD. DEAL.

Stanton Crenshaw Communications handled communications for Bain Capital as the private equity firm moved to purchase American Standard Companies’ bath and kitchen products business last week for $1.76 billion.

ASC handled PR in-house for the deal, which was announced on July 23. Its bath and kitchen unit employs 26,000 workers across 23 countries with annual sales of $2.4 billion.

Its brands include American Standard, Ideal Standard, Armitage Shanks, Porcher, Jado, Ceramica Dolomite and Vidima.

The sale is part of ASC’s plan to split into three companies and change its name to Trane, the name of one of its key brands.

TNR REVEALS MILITARY BLOGGER’S NAME.

The New Republic revealed the identity of its "Baghdad Diarist" to be Army Pvt. Thomas Beauchamp after pieces on military life in Iraq were questioned by right-leaning media like the Weekly Standard.

Those critics had questioned Diarist reports under the pseudonym "Scott Thomas" documenting brutality and insensitivity by American soldiers in Iraq.
In a statement on TNR.com, Beauchamp revealed his identity and said his reports were meant to be "one soldier's view of events in Iraq," not a reflection of the entire military.

"It's been maddening, to say the least, to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq," he said in the statement.

"…My character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name."

TNR editors said one particular report from Beauchamp, "Shock Troops," has been questioned and is being investigated by the military.

The magazine said it would "re-report" the facts to verify the story, although it said the article was "rigorously edited and fact-checked" before publication.
Beauchamp is married to a TNR reporter-researcher.

Editor Franlin Foer told the Washington Post that military officials have taken away Beauchamp's laptop, cell phone and email privileges.
Foer told the Post's Howard Kurtz: "It is really unfortunate that someone like Scott, who was really only trying to tell his particular story, has become a pawn in the debate over the war and the Weekly Standard's efforts to press an ideological agenda."

CRAIN’S IS BULLISH ON NYC PR SCENE.

Crain's New York Business says it is a good time to be in PR in NYC, "where demand for tech-savvy PR professionals is reaching levels not seen since the dot-com frenzy of the late '90s.

Companies are devoting more money to PR rather than advertising to deal with blogs and social networks, wrote Amanda Fung in the July 23 issue.

One key problem: the dearth of talent with five-to-10 years of experience.
Don Middleberg, who now has a dozen staffers at Middleberg Communications, says its "tough" to find good people.

Despite talent worries, firms have been bulking up. Edelman now has a record 500 staffers in the Big Apple, up from 380 at the zenith of the dot-com boom.
U.K.-based Bite Communications, which opened with two staffers in `05, expects to have 25 by the end of the year.

Sean Cassidy, president of Dan Klores Communications believes the profession is getting more respect, noting that the independent firm is getting resumes from "top-tier universities."

PR, he told Crain's, "is no longer just the less costly stepchild of marketing."

HEARST MAKES ONLINE SPLASH.

Weber Shandwick is guiding UGO (UnderGroundOne) Networks, a collection of websites aimed at young men, which is being acquired by Hearst Corp. in a deal estimated in the $100M range.

Hearst CEO Victor Ganzi called UGO “one of the most popular men’s lifestyle brands on the web.”

He referred to the New York City-based company as “another building block in Hearst’s growing interactive media division.”

Ken Bronfin heads Hearst’s online unit.

Nine-year-old NGO reaches 11 million unique visitors in the U.S., and 28 million worldwide. The advertising-supported site is positioned as a playground for people with “gamer DNA.” UGO content also features information about movies, TV, comics, and sports.

UGO has more than 80 staffers. Forbes.com estimates the company earned $6M on $30M in `06 revenue.

PEW GAUGES ’NET VIDEO POPULARITY.

Nearly 20 percent of online adults watch or download Internet video on a typical day, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study.

Three-quarters of broadband Internet users with connections at home and work said they watch or download video.

The social nature of online video was apparent in the study as 57 percent of online video viewers said they share links to video, and three out of four said they receive links from others.

Viewing video and contributing content are different aspects of the picture, however. Only eight percent of adults said they have uploaded content, compared to 15 percent of users aged 18-29.

News content is the most popular video draw for every age group except 18-29, which view comedy videos more than news (56% to 43%, respectively).

Significantly for PR and ad pros, 62 percent of all video viewers said their favorite clips are professionally produced, while only 19 percent preferred "amateur" videos.

ZAHN EXITS CNN.

Paula Zahn, host of "Paula Zahn Now," is leaving her prime-time post at CNN on Aug. 2, months before Campbell Brown is expected to take over.

The 51-year-old Fox News pro debuted on CNN on 9/11. She plans to take some time off before plotting her next career step.

Brown, who was hired from NBC News, officially joins CNN in September. Her show will debut in November. She is due to have her first child in late December, and plans to take time off.

CNN will have substitute hosts to fill the gap between Zahn's departure and Brown's arrival.

Mega Media Group, New York, has acquired Metpo Magazine, a Russian-American lifestyle and entertainment mag currently distributed in the Tri-State area. MMG owns RadioVSE, a Russian language radio station based in the Big Apple.

(Media news continued on next page)

XM's CEO TUNES OUT.

Hugh Panero, CEO of XM Satellite Radio Holdings, will exit the firm in late August, paving the way for Sirius Satellite Radio boss Mel Karmazin to lead the combined companies.

Karmazin unveiled a menu of lower priced offerings on July 23. Those offerings are viewed as a way to gain Federal Communications Commission support for the marriage of the competing satellite radio companies.

Nate Davis, COO of XM, will assume Panero's duties. He will step down if the feds ultimately approve the merger.

PAM KILLS WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.

Publisher American Media Inc. is killing the popular weekly entertainment newspaper Weekly World News.

The final issue for the Boca Raton-based publication will hit newsstands on August 27. The publication's website, weeklyworldnews.com, will remain in publication.

AMI PR counsel Richard Valvo cited "challenges in the retail and wholesale magazine marketplace that have impacted the newsstand" as the primary reason for the newspaper's cancellation.

WWN rose to popularity in the 1980's with offbeat humor by "reporting" on impossible events guised as actual news items. A standard formula of the publication was to combine fictional "news" stories with actual "strange-but-true" newswire pieces: apocryphal reports on Elvis and Jesus sightings were popular with its readers, as was its flair for equally absurd headlines such as "Hillary Clinton Adopts Alien Baby" and "Saddam and Osama in Love."

AMI is the fourth largest consumer magazine publisher in the U.S. The company's 16 publications include top newsstand titles Star, Muscle and Fitness, National Enquirer, and Spanish language celebrity magazine Mira. Valvo said WWN was AMI's smallest weekly publication.

AREA DEVELOPMENT TAPS MWW.

Area Development, a magazine on corporate site selection and relocation, has tapped MWW Group's economic development unit to better position the publication.

MWW will lead a media relations push for AD's "Gold & Silver Shovel" Awards, annual surveys, and editorial features, along with its FastFacility.com database of buildings and sites.

AD, which is published bi-monthly, counts 45K executive subscribers.

Briefs __________________________

Emmis Publishing, part Emmis Communications Corp., has acquired Orange Coast magazine to complement its Los Angeles magazine and Tu Ciudad Los Angeles properties.

The magazine counts 26 employees and distribution to 60K householders.

Emmis was the winning bidder and bought the pub from Ruth Ko, who has owned the title since 1991.

Ten newsroom staffers and four other employees have accepted buyouts from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the paper reported.

The moves come amid declining advertising revenue that caused two staffers to be laid off and an unspecified number of open jobs to be eliminated.

MediaNews Group bought the paper from The McClatchy Company in August 2006.

Meredith Corp. has inked separate licensing agreements to launch versions of More and Fitness magazines in Indonesia. MC had previously launched Parents in the world's fourth most-populous country.

People __________________________

Danny Flanders, former garden writer/editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has been named editor-in-chief of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine.

The monthly pub counts a circulation of 32K affluent residents in the Atlanta area.

Neal Boulton, editor-in-chief of Men's Fitness, has been named EIC of Genre Magazine, part of the gay publishing group Window Media. Boulton had previous stints re-launching Outside Magazine, L.A. Times Outdoors, and Life magazine.

VP & publisher William Kapfer said Genre is committed to being the "complete lifestyle sourcebook catering to today's smart, stylish and tuned-in gay man."

Boulton takes over for Christopher Ciompi, who had the helm for two years.

DAN’S PAPERS SOLD TO CINCY FIRM.

Dan's Papers, which chronicles the goings-on in the Hamptons, has been sold to Brown Publishing Co. (Cincinnati) for about $20M.

Sixty-seven-year-old Dan Rattiner, founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of DP, is expected to stay on as long as he keeps on putting out “great stuff,” according to Roy Brown, CEO of BPC, owner of The Hill and “Who’s Who in America.”

DP’s circulation is 60K a week in the summer. That drops to 40K after the season.

The deal also includes DP's sister paper, The Montauk Pioneer, and magazine Hampton Style.

WNBC DROPS 5 P.M. NEWS.

New York’s WNBC is the biggest market TV station to drop its 5 p.m. newscast, a program that belongs to an earlier era, according to Dan Forman, senior VP, news and Channel 4 station manager.

Forman says fewer people are at home for the early news program because of longer working hours and commutes.

The station intends to add a 7 p.m. newscast presented by veteran Chuck Scarborough. He currently co-anchors the 5 p.m. show with Sue Simmons. They will continue as a pair on the 11 p.m. news.

WNBC plans an entertainment program called "Extra" to replace the first half-hour of the 5 p.m. news on Sept. 10. "News 4 You," a consumer information program, will run until 6 p.m.

The high volume of usage of odwyerpr.com via codes assigned to PR Society director Gerry Corbett (far above normal usage for a single subscription) puts the spotlight on problems websites have in controlling access. But webs can also electronically track usage.

Corbett, who ran for the nomination for treasurer in 2006, says he doesn't know how others got his codes. But he is responsible for them, under terms he agreed to.

We suspect some of the other 16 directors got them because only two of the directors are subscribers. They should be interested in what we and readers (including PRS members) are saying about candidates for the national board. This is the fourth time we’ve been ripped off by PRS or someone connected with it.

The first was the copying and sale of our works (and those of many other authors) that went on from 1977-94. Gross profits approached $60K yearly, the Assembly was told. None of the authors ever got a nickel from PRS.

In the second instance, an APR at the 2003 Assembly in New Orleans stole an entire day of notes from our open conference bag while we were talking to Corbett. This crime sabotaged a reporter in performance of his duties. Even worse was that PRS leaders refused to supply an audiotape of that day's Assembly which debated APR.

In the third instance, our web tracking system found that staffers at PRS h.q., on one subscription, were accessing odwyerpr.com in early 2005 as much as those paying $5,000 yearly for a site license. Rather than pursue a copyright violation action, we suggested a site license for PRS at $3,000 yearly. All we got was one more $295 sub.

One would think that having made so much money from the unauthorized sale of works of writers, PRS would be generous with them. Also, PRS is supposed to win the good will of reporters, not their ill will. But the opposite is true. It charged them the full price for attending sessions with meals at the 2003 and 2004 annual conferences. We were blocked from attending the 2003Assembly lunch because we had not purchased a $35 ticket. The press room at the conference is typically without food while PRS staff has a full boat of pastries, fruit, fruit drinks, etc. The press room at the 2004 conference did not even have coffee when we used it on Monday. There was no food in the press room on the Sunday of the conference in Salt Lake City last year. After complaining, a small dish of pastries was delivered. The press center, which used to be placed near registration, a hub of activity, in recent years has been placed as far as possible from that. In 2002, PRS gave out 150 copies of its members' Blue Book to the press. Current policy bars reporters from the online directory.

Companies marketing to blogs and social networking sites are "devoting more of their budgets to PR rather than ad agencies," says an article in the July 23 Crain's New York Business by Amanda Fung… Marcia Silverman of Ogilvy PR Worldwide, chair of the Council of PR Firms, has yet to comment to us on the CPRF's report (7/25 NL) that (astoundingly) said ad agencies as well as PR firms could be the best at dealing with blogs, social media, etc. What is the CPRF doing promoting ad agencies?! Silverman has not talked to us for at least five years. Almost no executives from PR firms owned by WPP Group headed by Martin Sorrell are available for comment to the press…Mark Weiner, head of research at Ketchum, sparked many replies to odwyerpr.com when he wrote that PR returns $6 for every dollar invested while ads return about $1.20. Therefore, he says, companies should shift money out of ads and into PR. Some marketers are now favoring PR and direct response ads and are killing their "image" ads since the latter don't produce tangible results like actual sales or inquiries. But how are the media supposed to exist with few or no ads from these freeloading marketers!? Also, a reader pointed out to Weiner that PR is often a negative-stopping a story, blocking information flow, preventing a crisis. How can that be measured, the reader asked? PR can also be institutions cooperating with each other to frustrate some action. For instance, the authors who were ripped off by PRS (see above) found none of their publishers would help them. The publisher "institutions" stuck with another institution-PRS. When PRS/Central Michigan sought greater power for the Assembly last year, not one of the other 109 chapters supported it. The chapters (institutions) stuck with PRS. Institutions, especially when cooperating with each other, can trample on the rights of individuals.

An unfortunate result of the estrangement of PRS from the press is that there is no national publicity on the Society's 60th anniversary. Celebration was to have started July 1…four candidates have now shown up for S.E. director of PRS—Ray Crockett, Coca-Cola; Keith Hayes, Blue Cross N.C.; Angel Postell, Charleston Food +Wine Festival, and Philip Tate, Luquire George Andrews, ad/PR firm, Charlotte. For about a week, in violation of PRS bylaws, members couldn't see the applications of the four on the PRS website without an O.K. from PRS staffer Donna Jonas…the addition of blue chip Coca-Cola to the board would be a coup for PRS, which desperately needs corporate reps. Eastman Kodak might be the only company on the board next year…Linda Cohen, Ethics Board chair, asked for comment on the resignation of Rick French from the EB (page 7) and for a report of any activities of the EB this year, said the PRS board has "terminated" its relationship with us and therefore we are not to attempt to contact her again…there is not only a PRS press boycott but a boycott against members, who are still being denied the transcript of the 2005-06 Assemblies. CEO Rhoda Weiss has yet to appear before a chapter and answer questions. COO Bill Murray spoke to one chapter-NCC-but did not invite questions…silent while all this is going on are the 300 "Fellows,” supposedly the repository of wisdom of PRS. They are apparently too institutionalized to speak. Current chair is Debra Miller.

--Jack O'Dwyer