SITRICK GUIDES ASARCO

Sitrick & Co. has been hired by bankrupt copper giant Asarco, which is squabbling with parent company Grupo Mexico.

The Mexican combine offered to invest $300M to help Asarco exit Chapter 11, but claims it has received a cold shoulder.

It asked the U.S. bankruptcy court to give it control of Asarco’s board. That bid was denied.

Asarco maintains that GM control of its board would hamper negotiations to settle asbestos claims.

Tucson -based Asarco was formed in 1899 as American Smelting and Refining Co. It has more than 2,000 workers in Arizona and Texas.

DUKE U. LOOKS FOR PA CHIEF

Duke University, home of the lacrosse team that was wrongly accused of a sex scandal in `06, is looking for a VP/PA & government relations person to replace the retiring John Burness, who is leaving June 30, `08.

Duke turned to Burson-Marsteller and Edelman to defuse that sex scandal crisis.

Dean Gregory Jones heads the 12-member search committee of faculty, trustees, administrators and alumni to identify candidates for the post.

He is using search firm Heyman Associates to help in the hunt.

The new university staffer will serve as chief spokesperson for Duke and senior counselor to president Richard Brodhead.

Resumes go to senior associate Jessamyn Katz, [email protected].

GREEN BAY FIRM AIDS E. COLI BEEF RECALL

Green Bay firm Leonard & Finco PR is handling crisis PR for American Foods Group, the Wisconsin meat packer that is recalling thousands of pounds of ground beef after two people fell ill from possible E. coli contamination.

AFG beef produced in early October and sent to seven states—Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia—has been voluntarily recalled by the company. Although the use-by date is expired and the beef is no longer on store shelves, customers may have frozen the beef.

Susan Finco, president of the PR firm, is leading the AFG work. Her firm’s website carries an endorsement from AFG president Carl Kuehne praising the firm’s crisis and media savvy.

AFG claims to be the sixth largest meat packer in the U.S.

PR SEMINAR ABANDONS ‘PR’

A committee of PR Seminar, the annual gathering of heads of blue chip corporate PR depts. and about a dozen CEOs of major PR firms, has decided to rename the group as simply, “The Seminar.”

Founded in 1952 by corporate PR people who attended annual meetings of the National Assn. of Manufacturers, Seminar had retained “PR” in its title although most members had dropped it decades ago in favor of “corporate communications,” “public affairs,” etc.

Only one of the 33 new members of Seminar this year had a title with PR in it—Jane Garvey, VP, corporate communications & PR, Convergys, Cincinnati, $2.7 billion company that grew out of Cincinnati Bell.

Only five of the 42 new members in 2004 had “PR” as part of their titles.

A committee headed by 2007 Seminar chair Jon Iwata, senior VP, worldwide communications of IBM, did a survey earlier this year of titles used by members and also discussed the matter at length.

Sources said there was “heated discussion” on both sides but that the weight of evidence (the nearly complete abandonment of PR by members) proved decisive.

One topic of discussion was whether PR is a subset of corporate communications or vice versa. Some Seminarians argued that PR involves a number of activities that are not strictly communications and therefore, communications is a subset of PR.

Don’t Want ‘Relations with the Public’

Some PR veterans said the meaning of the switch is that many companies, and particularly the biggest ones, “simply don’t want relations with the public any more.”

They particularly don’t want relations with the press, others added.

Some educators worried that there will be fewer PR majors now that Seminar, whose members have the highest titles in corporate and agency PR and communications, have dropped the term. Corporate PR policy throughout the U.S. is heavily influenced by discussions among the members of Seminar both at the annual meeting and at sessions of the executive committee throughout the year. At one point, monthly meetings of the committee were held at the Harvard Club in New York. There is no press contact at Seminar to field questions.

Attempts to reach Iwata earlier this year and for this story were unsuccessful. Staffers will not provide his phone or e-mail.

With “marketing communications” in ascendancy,

(Continued on page 7)

MCCLELLAN CLAIMS BUSH MISLED PUBLIC

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan in an upcoming memoir accuses President Bush, VP Dick Cheney and political counselor Karl Rove of giving him false information regarding the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

“The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his “behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,” according to McClellan’s book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong with Washington.”

McClellan wrote that he “had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President’s chief of staff [Andy Card], and the President himself.”

He “stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.”

Wrote McClellan: “There was one problem. It was not true.”

PublicAffairs Books released a three-paragraph excerpt of the book that is slated for publication next spring.

ICR HANDLES INTERNET BRANDS IPO

Integrated Corporate Relations is advising Internet Brands, the operator of e-commerce sites like Auto.com, LoanApp.com and Vacationhomes.com that went public on Nov. 16 with a scaled back IPO.

El Segundo, Calif.-based IB had initially filed to offer shares between $10 and $12 each, but pulled back the offering of six million shares to $8 per share on Nov. 19. Reuters reported that the IPO was initially expected in midweek last week, but failed to price on Nov. 15.

Henry Blodget, writing for Silicon Alley Insider, said the IPO size cut could be the result of general concerns about advertising weakness.

He sees a recession dampening investor demand for Web 2.0 companies.
Internet Brands cashed in about 2.4M of the six million of the shares with the remainder offered by selling stockholders. The stock, trading as INET on Nasdaq, closed at $8.30 on Nov. 19.

IB websites span automobile sales, a network of mortgage brokers, vacation home listings and home improvement.

ICR senior managing director Andrew Greenebaum heads the account for Wesport, Conn.-based ICR. He said ICR’s work is continuing.

Angie Montes, who headed the American Diabetes Assn.’s federal lobbying shop, has moved to Ogilvy PR Worldwide’s Washington office. She takes a VP post in the WPP Group unit’s health policy group.

Montes handled legislative work concerning private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and embryonic stem cell research.

Rob Mathias is managing director of the office.

F-H RISES TO DEFENSE OF ST. LOUIS

Fleishman-Hillard has been working with the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Assn. to fight its ranking as the nation’s second most dangerous city according to the 14th edition of “City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America” published by CQ Press in Washington, D.C.

The effort got a national airing of National Public Radio’s “On the Media,” which specifically cited F-H’s work.

The Omnicom unit and the Chamber contacted CQ in October before the rankings were released.

They complained the ranking information is “baseless and damaging,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Paul Wagman, F-H senior VP, had hoped CQ staffers would at “least listen respectfully to their concerns.”

That complaint fell on deaf ears, and dismissed as a “spin job” by CQ publisher John Jenkins.

The CQ figures are based on FBI numbers assembled in categories for murder, robbery, rape auto theft and assault.

The P-D pointed out the criminologists believe a fairer comparison of the overall crime picture would include the entire metro area, vs. the center city.

Detroit overtook St. Louis as the most dangerous city by a single point on CD’s list.

AMG GUIDES MORGAN STANLEY SPINOFF

Abernathy MacGregor Group is handling financial communications in New York for MSCI, the Morgan Stanley spin-off that debuted with a 46-percent IPO surge on Nov. 15.

The IPO grossed $252M for the investment banking services company.

Morgan Stanley controls 97 percent of MSCI’s Class B stock. The IPO covered 14 million Class A shares priced at $18 per share. The shares rose to as high as $26.71 in the first day of trading.

AMG managing director Steve Bruce and SVP Pen Pendleton are handling the account.

MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International, puts together global equity indices for investment market research. Its clients span 63 countries.

SAVAGE OF MARSTON DIES

 Harry Savage, who first went to work for Robert Marston and Assocs., New York, in 1971, died suddenly of a heart attack on Nov. 7.

He was senior VP and director of the corporate/financial programs at Marston.

Savage in 1979 became a corporate VP of Norton Simon, whose operating units included Hunt-Wesson Foods, Avis, Canada Dry and Max Factor. He headed global PR and chaired the corporate contributions committee. He rejoined Marston in 1994 and had worked for a number of major clients including Albertsons, Honeywell, Dial Corp., Pentair, Santa Fe Energy, The Rouse Co. and Coopers & Lybrand.

Surviving are his wife, Monica Gail, three children Mary Elizabeth, David and Michael, two stepchildren William and Patrick Judge, and two sisters.

AD AGE’S DONATON TO EW

Scott Donaton, publisher of Crain’s Advertising Age, is the new publisher of Time Inc.’s Entertainment Weekly effective Dec. 10. He succeeds Dave Morris who left last month.

Stephanie George, Time Inc.’s executive VP, praised Donaton’s “perspective on the relationship between entertainment and business.” He “shares EW’s signature wit and passion for all things movies, music and television,” she wrote in a memo to staff.

Donaton worked for nearly two decades at AA. He rose through the editorial ranks becoming publisher in February.

MEDIA GENERAL REVAMPS D.C. BUREAU

Media General has downsized its six-member Washington bureau to four “multimedia” journalists working through its web site. It has abandoned its former regional and national correspondent set-up.

James Crawley, who is president of the Military Reporters and Editors group, is departing as military reporter for MG, owner of 25 newspapers (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tampa Tribune, Winston-Salem Journal) and 23 TV stations.

His is joined in the exit by Peter Hardin (T-D), Mary Shaffrey (W-SJ) and Gil Klein (national correspondent).

Bureau chief Marsha Mercer remains at MG with Sean Mussenden and Billy House, according to a report of Editor and Publisher.

She says the company is creating a bureau to “make sense for the 21st century.”

WRITERS STRIKE BACK AT WALL STREET

More than 1,300 writers, PR pros and financial experts showed up for the 2007 Financial Follies at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.

A sold-out, black-tie audience of 1,300 watched as financiers and corporations were roasted. A prime target was bankers and others who lured home buyers with low mortgage rates only to boost them later.

Using the tune, “Summer Nights” from Grease, the writers sang:

Easy credit had me a blast,
Easy credit happened so fast,
I met a mark crazy for me,
I bought a house cute as can be,
Sub-prime days on lay away,
But oh oh those sub-prime heights

Companies that “go green” also came in for ribbing.

Major corporations, PR firms and media were among those taking tables including Bristol-Myers Squibb, BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX (three tables), Edelman (two tables), Fannie Mae, Ketchum (two tables), Merrill Lynch, New York Society of CPAs, Rooney & Assocs. (two tables), Sard Verbinnen & Co. (four tables), Sloane & Co. (two tables), UBS (two tables) and Weber Shandwick Worldwide (four tables).

Sheila Mullan of Market News International, president of NYFWA, announced that the group has given $30,000 in scholarships this year to ten students who are planning to become business and financial journalists.

Britt Tunick, a senior editor with Alpha Magazine, was the producer and Josh Friedlander of Institutional Investor headed book and lyrics. Laura Josepher directed the show. Photos are at odwyerpr.com.

DUBAI TAKES SONY STAKE

Dubai International Capital has made a “substantial” investment in Japan’s Sony Corp., the electronics and entertainment powerhouse.

The $13B fund cited Sony’s strong management team and leadership position in emerging markets as reasons for the cash infusion.

DIC’s strategy is to invest from $500M to $1.5B in leading “brand names” throughout the world.

ABC TEAMS WITH FACEBOOK

ABC News has established a partnership with Facebook, the social networking site, to cover the political arena.

Facebook members will get access to ABC reports, polls and video via a “U.S. Politics” section on its site. They can also engage in dialogs with ABC correspondents.

ABC and Facebook are sponsors of the Democratic and Republican presidential debates slated before the New Hampshire primary. Facebook has 56M active users.

CBS UNVEILS ‘MOBILE ZONE’

CBS has launched a six-month “CBS Mobile Zone” initiative that will give midtown Manhattan workers and visitors free access to a high-speed wireless network for their laptops and phones.

The 20-block zone covers Times Square to Central Park from sixth to eighth avenues. It is a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Citibank and Salesgenie.com are charter sponsors. Users receive an ad message when accessing the zone.

The network is powered by transmitters fixed on CBS Outdoor billboards and above subway stations.

CNN BOOSTS NEWS STAFF

CNN is increasing its news staff by 10 percent in an effort to generate and own more original news content. The Time Warner unit plans to add about 15 staffers to its 150-member staff.

Tony Maddox, executive VP-CNN International, said owning content that can be distributed to multiple platforms is the “backbone of this business.”

The expansion plan focuses on CNN’s bureau in the United Arab Emirates though news people will be hired throughout Asia and Africa (South Africa and Kenya).

CNN recently opted out of a contract with Reuters.

Lincoln Financial Group has agreed to sell TV stations in Charlotte, Richmond and Charleston plus its sports syndication business to Raycom for $583M.

The Philadelphia-based insurer has a separate deal worth $100M to sell its Charlotte radio stations to Greater Media, which owns stations in Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston.The sale of the broadcast properties is expected to be finalized during Q2 of '08.

(Media news continued on next page)

MUSIC MEDIA WANT STORIES, NOT PROFILES

PR pros should go for stories, not artist profiles. Lay off on the gimmicks, said a Nov. 14th Entertainment Publicists Press Society panel of music journalists in New York. Members of the music press are all-too familiar with the piles of eye-grabbing packaging and promotional swag that clutter their offices. Dress up a pitch any way you'd like, the press can see through to the story underneath.

"Look, I get to work with naked women. There's not a whole lot you can do that's going to get my attention," said Tim Mohr, music editor for Playboy.

Ken Dashow, who moderated the event, discussed the mess it makes in his office when publicists decide to package press kits with things like confetti. It isn't cute, Dashow said, and bending over to clean the floor doesn't put him in a good mood, let alone do your client any favors.

Dashow hosts the top-rated radio program "Drive Time" on Q 104.3, which has been nominated for a NY A.I.R. award in the "best afternoon show" category. He said staying away from gimmicks is a practice that translates into email as well.

"The guy who now sits permanently in my delete box is the one who always writes in superlatives and bolds. 'It's the greatest.' 'The future is now.' He's really not saying anything," Dashow said.

Dave Park, founder of Prefix magazine, noted that elaborate press packaging can even distract from an otherwise good story.

"If it's too gimmicky sometimes you feel that they've compensated for talent," he said.

Pat Cole, who has covered the music beat at Bloomberg Radio WBBR-AM for six years, reminded the audience that straying from gimmicks should not be confused for remembering to add a twist to your press pitches.

"What I think music publicists or anyone in publicity needs to think about, is adding a peg to your story. I think editors are always asking why: why should we be doing this story now, why is it compelling? Those are the things we're looking for."

Cole said one way to do this is by humanizing the artist. Cole's program caters to a niche audience that wants to hear stories not only about the music, but also about the musicians behind it. "Blasts from the past" are a great angle for publicists to take to reintroduce artists who may have faded from the spotlight some time ago.

"We like stories, not profiles," said Margeaux Watson, staff writer for Entertainment Weekly.

Watson, formerly Arts & Entertainment editor at Suede magazine and a writer for Time Out New York, said sending press releases does not constitute pitching. A certain level of creativity - and an ability to deliver the facts succinctly - is needed from the publicist to get the ideas rolling.

"If it's vague I'm not going to present it to an editor. I'm not going to go back and forth on it with you. I need the bottom line: what's the story, what's the access, and when can we do it. You need to bring your a-game."

REUTERS’ WILLIAMS TO BBC

Ed Williams, corporate affairs director at Reuters, is moving to the BBC as its corporate PR spokesperson early next year. He succeeds Sally Osman.

Williams worked for Hutchinson Whampoa and Brunswick Group prior to joining Reuters.

He told the Guardian that he is eager to help the BBC redefine its "relationship with its audiences and leading innovation in the media industry."

Williams also worked as a media consultant. He advised former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark during the war crimes trial of former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

GREEN GOES TO CNN

Katherine Green, who was VP/news director at WTTG/Fox 5 News in Washington, D.C., is now senior VP of CNN International programming.

The 20-year TV veteran takes charge of editorial production, program development, network talent and day-to-day operations of the network that is viewed in more than 200 countries.

Green will be based at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

ADWEEK CUTS PRINT FREQUENCY

Adweek will publish 36 issues in `08 because it is "not focused on the antiquated idea of a weekly-only model, but on the minute-by-minute schedule that our audience desires," according to Sabrina Crow, senior VP-media and marketing at Nielsen Business Media.

She called Adweek a "multi-platform brand" that will re-launch its website with the "most robust content in the industry 24/7 replete with exclusive Nielsen data," during the first-quarter of next year.

KEKST MAKES CASE IN XM-SIRIUS COMBINE

Kekst & Co. is making the PR case that the proposed XM-Sirius satellite radio merger would stifle minority programming.

Kekst is handling PR for Georgetown Partners, a minority-owned private equity firm, as it makes its case to the FCC against a merged satellite “monopoly.”

If the deal is approved, GP wants the combined company to turn over minority channels to a third-party entity.

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is working for XM on the proposed $4.7M merger.

People _________________________

Peg Finucane, a 24-year veteran of Newsday, died Nov. 18 from pancreatic cancer. She was 57. She joined Newsday as a copy editor and rose to editing its "Viewpoints" section. Finucane also worked at the New York Times, Toledo Blade and Kansas City Star... John Lippman, one-time Wall Street Journal Hollywood reporter, is returning to the Los Angeles Times to cover the TV beat for the business section. He also filed copy for the Sunday Times (London) and Broadcasting and Cable in a 25-year career. Most recently, Lippman was at Sitrick & Co.

The abandonment of “PR” by PR Seminar (page one) says volumes about the current state of PR.

There are several ways of looking at this but we take the most direct one: “Seminar” is simply getting out the business of “PR” or “relations with the public” (via the public’s representatives in the press).

Nearly all its members stopped using “PR” decades ago, switching to “corporate communications.”

We agree with those who say this reduces “PR” to “communications” although communications is but one of the activities of “PR.”

Attempts to reach Jon Iwata of IBM (current chair) about this change were unsuccessful. No officers of Seminar have ever returned calls.

Ironically, “PR” is a topic that is forbidden at Seminar’s meetings. It is considered too “tradey,” too boring or too inconsequential. Topics wanted were Sino-Soviet relations, world economic trends, U.S. political trends and candidates, the “mood of America” as defined by sociologists, etc.

A 1968 book on Seminar by a Seminarian said its members are the “leaders” and the “elite” of the PR world who prefer speeches that have “intellectual quality—statesmanlike perspective—balanced appraisal of negative forces” and a “strongly philosophical, future-looking perspective, together with a lack of emotionalism or hysterical orientation.”

Seminar is far more than an annual event at plush resorts. Its literature says it is the “premiere organization of senior business executives recognized for leadership in communications and PR,” that membership is limited to 200, and that members “interact as an informal network for the exchange of high value information” throughout the year.

Distributed each year is a list of members and their addresses, e-mails and phone numbers plus a book of 150 pages or so of their biographies. Seminar is the ultimate networking tool for jobs and other purposes. It’s no wonder that almost all members take ironclad, lifetime oaths of confidentiality.

We wonder how many of their CEOs know about this group.

Seminar, in session all year, has a huge influence on how corporate America practices “corporate communications.” Many of these executives have control over ad budgets which puts them in the position of influencing editorial coverage. Articles in the NYT magazine or other media on “diversity,” the environment, or similar subjects are accompanied by numerous corporate ads.

Powerful editors and columnists speak at Seminar but they never mention the group in their media. These have included John Huey, editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., and former editor of Fortune; Robert Bartley, editor emeritus, Wall Street Journal; Peter Kann when he was president and publisher of the WSJ; Paul Steiger, WSJ managing editor from 1991 to May 2007 and now editor-at-large; John Geddes, when he was financial editor, New York Times (he is now one of two managing editors); Matthew Bishop, U.S. editor, The Economist; Sam Donaldson, ABC-TV News; Bill Raspberry, Washington Post; Stephen Shepard when he was editor-in-chief of Business Week; Marvin Stone, editor, U.S. News & World Report; Stanley Bing, Fortune columnist (alias Gil Schwartz of CBS PR); John Stossell, ABC News; Bob Schieffer, CBS News; Campbell Brown, NBC News; Lionel Barber, U.S. managing editor, Financial Times, and William Schneider, political correspondent, CNN.

Why do the NYT, Washington Post and WSJ skip coverage of Seminar? Are they afraid of losing corporate ads? Why doesn’t the NYT ask why Omnicom’s stock is $46 now when it was $53.50 eight years ago and wonder why CEO John Wren has been paid at least $50M in that period? The WSJ and New York Post cover OMC and its $3 billion debt, but not the NYT.

PR Seminar has logically removed “PR” from its name and we applaud its honesty. PR should also not be used by the “PR” Society (headed by Rhoda Weiss) because it doesn’t live up to the principles of PR including democracy and openness.

PR should not be used by the Council of “PR” Firms because it is improperly dominated by conglomerate-owned PR operations.

More than half of its dues come from such operations (15 are members and most pay the minimum $40K yearly in dues). Three of the five executive committee members are always from the conglomerates so its governance is not representative of the industry it is supposed to be serving.

Formed in 1998, the same year as PR Week, the Council of Firms has spent upwards of $150K in ads in PRW in the past five years and virtually nothing in any other PR publication.

This discriminatory, un-PR policy, helped pave the way for the failure of at least four PR publications. Council membership is currently 103, down from a high of about 128.

At least 45 firms have left it including major independents such as Edelman and Ruder Finn. Some departures were due to mergers.

News item: AdWeek will drop 11 issues next year, printing only 36. Veteran publisher Wright Ferguson was cut by owner Nielsen Business Media. A related item is that Scott Donaton, after 17 years at Advertising Age (as editor until he became publisher in February) has jumped to Entertainment Weekly of Time Inc. as publisher. Ad Age columnist Al Ries has pointed out that the big ad agencies (owned by WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic, Publicis, Havas) some years ago stopped almost all their house ads in AA and AdWeek, thus leading to belt-tightening of one type or another. Astoundingly, said Ries, ad agencies don’t believe in advertising if their dollar is being spent.

--Jack O'Dwyer