E-BAY AUCTIONS $360K ACCOUNT

Kijiji, one of eBay’s five global classified groups, is looking at a half-dozen firms to take on its $30K a-month account, says Lisa Boyd, who is coordinating the search. She told O’Dwyer’s that Kijiji considered a dozen shops for the campaign that is to begin in August.

The account search has attracted much interest from shops, but Boyd says she is happy with the credentials of the six under consideration. She declined to name the shops under review.

E-Bay launched Kijiji, which means “village” in Swahili, in China, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Taiwan in `05. The U.S. was added in `07.

The PR firm is to build brand awareness, drive traffic to the site and engage its user base. Kijiji sees Google, Craigslist and Microsoft Live Expo as competitors. It wants a PR partner with a “high level of proactive thought leadership” and a track record of strong consumer brand campaigns. The firm must be skilled in viral/guerrilla tactics and offline events.

Boyd expects to pick a winner from a trio of finalists during the week of July 14.

EX-CHENEY STAFFER JOINS APCO

Alicia Clark, who served the Bush Administration as deputy director in the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, the think tank created by Karl Rove to accomplish the President’s political goals, has taken a job at APCO Worldwide.

She also worked as assistant VP for political affairs in the Office of the Vice President managing more than 70 events for Dick Cheney in support of congressional and gubernatorial candidates in `04.

Clark is a veteran of both Bush/Cheney campaigns. She organized grassroots media support for the ticket.

Most recently, Clark was chief of staff for North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr.

PG INKS $2.4M PA PACT WITH ANGOLA

Angola has given Patton Boggs a $2.4M one-year public affairs pact designed to cement its ties with the U.S. The oil rich country expects to hold elections in September. It last held elections in `92 following the end of a two decade long civil war after it gained independence from Portugal.

Angola, which joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries group in `07, recently surpassed Nigeria as Africa’s No. 1 oil producer. ExxonMobil and Chevron are the U.S. majors involved. Angola’s economy is slated to grow more than 20 percent this year.

PR DIR. HAS RECORD RANKINGS INFO

The 2008 O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms, published this week, has rankings from a record 204 PR operations which supplied 618 fee totals in 12 specialized categories.

“The PR counseling industry, which showed strong growth in 2007 based on verified figures, is increasingly marked by well-defined practice areas such as technology, healthcare and financial,” said publisher Jack O’Dwyer. Fees from tech practices were supplied by 114 firms, up from 79.

The 450-page directory, which for the first time has five color dividers and color ads on three covers, lists 1,900 firms in 48 countries and 9,500 clients. It is $175. All Fortune “500” companies are receiving the Directory this year via a promotion.

Order at odwyerpr.com or 866/395-7710.

BRUNSWICK AIDS INBEV’S BEER RUN

Brunswick Group is working with Belgium brewing giant InBev on its surprise $46.3 billion takeover offer for family-run Anheuser-Busch.

Senior partner Steven Lipin and partner Nina Devlin in New York are joined by Rebecca Shelley, a Brunswick/London partner, on the InBev account.

InBev, which markets Stella Artois and Bass among its beer brands, said in a statement that it wants to “engage in a dialogue with the goal of consummating a friendly combination” of the two companies.

Terri Vogt, corporate external communications director for Anheuser-Busch, issued a statement saying the company’s board will mull the offer in the context of long-term planning, fiduciary duties, and stockholders.

InBev and A-B combined would be the largest brewer in the world. A-B, which has been run by the Anheuser and Busch families for 148 years, claims nearly half of the beer sales in the U.S.

CLIFT, BARTIROMO AT (PR) SEMINAR

Eleanor Clift, Newsweek columnist and panelist on “The McLaughlin Group,” and Maria Bartiromo of the “Closing Bell” show on CNBC, were among the speakers at the 57th annual Seminar (formerly PR Seminar) May 28-31 at the Four Seasons Troon, Scottsdale, Ariz.

About 150 blue chip corporate executives and their spouses or companions, as well as a dozen heads of the largest PR firms were present.

The group dropped “PR” from its name last year, members noting that almost none of them have PR as part of their titles. Most switched to “corporate communications” years ago.

(Continued on page 7)

PR EFFORTS AIM TO SQUASH TOMATO SCARE

An outbreak of salmonella linked to tomatoes has put PR plans into action from growers, retailers and the food industry across the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration, which expanded a warning against eating certain raw tomatoes on June 7, said 145 people across 16 states have been hit by the bacteria since mid-April. Raw tomatoes are believed to be the cause.

Fleishman-Hillard’s Austin office is working with Desert Glory, a San Antonio-based grower of Nutrasweet tomatoes, to remind the press and public that more than half of all tomatoes bought in grocery stores are unaffected by the latest FDA alert. DG grows its tomatoes in controlled greenhouses and says it continually tests its products for safety.

Meanwhile, Lipman Hearne is working with the Tomato Products Wellness Council, a two-year-old group of growers and distributors that works to highlight the health benefits of the vegetables.

SVP Stephenie Fu is handling that account. She put out a statement for the group on June 6 noting there is no salmonella risk from tomato-based products like ketchup and pasta sauce, and highlighting canned tomatoes as a safe substitute for raw tomatoes. Fu told O’Dwyer’s: “We are proactively communicating to the media in case consumers are confused about which products are affected and which aren’t.”

McDonald’s on June 9 became the highest profile eatery chain to stop serving products with raw tomatoes, saying the move was made with an “abundance of caution” to be safe.

Winn-Dixie Stores, based in Jacksonville, Fla., said on June 9 that it is voluntarily removing from shelves tomatoes in states covered by the FDA warning. St. John & Partners is supporting W-D.

Bullfrog & Baum, the high-powered restaurant PR firm in New York, issued a statement for client The Glazier Group saying the company’s Strip House restaurants and catering businesses have removed three types of tomatoes from its dishes.

‘GREEN’ PERSONAL CARE CO. WANTS PR

Save Your World, an environmentally friendly personal care products company, has issued a request for information to PR firms.

The Portland, Ore.-based company markets “Save Your Skin,” “Save Your Body,” and “Save Your Hair” brands that are billed as all-natural with certified organic ingredients.

SYW is looking for high visibility media placements (Wall Street Journal, USA Today, “Oprah,” Forbes, National Geographic) to take it “to the next level.” The RFI states: “We want coverage that is so great that it pays for and justifies the expenditure.”

SYW wants interested firms to submit examples of pitches/placements and info about their track record in getting desk side interviews. Another question: “Would you consider a pay for performance bonus structure pegged with a lower retainer fee.”

Responses are due June 25. The six-month PR campaign begins July 1. The effort could be extended for another six months.

Donna Morrison, VP-corporate communications, is handling the RFI. She is at 862/576-0191 and [email protected].

TOBIN DIES AT 65

Patricia Tobin, a prominent African American PR professional and co-founder of the National Black PR Society, died June 10 after a battle with cancer. She was 65.

Tobin, known as “Pat” and called a “queen of public relations” by the Los Angeles Times, founded and ran her L.A.-based firm Tobin & Associates for 25 years handling PR assignments in the community, corporate America and Hollywood with a particular focus on outreach to minorities.

“Pat was an amazing human being who gave herself so willingly to others,” said NBPRS president Wynona Redmond. The group had planned to honor Tobin at its 10th annual conference and career fair in November. Redmond said there will now be a “full celebration” of Tobin’s life at the event.

Among Tobin’s many high-profile assignments was helping Toyota repair its relationship with African American consumers in 1988. Her work began a 20-year relationship between Tobin & Associates and the automaker that continues today. Other prominent clients included Johnnie Cochran, Spike Lee, Fitzgerald’s Casino & Hotel, Shell Oil and the Urban League.

Tobin’s daughter, Lauren, formerly of ABC-TV, runs her own entertainment PR firm, Panther PR in L.A.

Funeral arrangements are pending. In lieu of flowers, Tobin’s family requests donations to the Pat Tobin Scholarship Fund or Pat Tobin Memorial Fund, 4929 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 245, Los Angeles, CA 90010.

PAINEPR WINS ANCESTRY.COM

PainePR has picked up national PR duties for Ancestry.com, the top online genealogy portal which is growing at a rapid clip, following an RFP process.
Coltrin & Associates, New York, previously handled the business.

Mike Ward, director of PR for the site, said Paine’s experience with “Gen X” and boomer women was key to the selection because those groups predominately focus on family history. He also liked Paine’s social media, marketing to men and influencer brand building know-how.

PainePR managing partner Cynthia Rude heads the work out of Irvine, Calif. The firm’s Los Angeles and New York offices will assist. Budget was not disclosed but described by the firm as “significant.”

WEIDMAN TO UNION BANK

Daniel Weidman, who left the VP/corporate comms. slot at mortgage giant Countrywide Financial in March, has moved on to Union Bank of California as senior VP of corporate comms.

Weidman, based in Los Angeles, was at Countrywide for a tumultuous year and a half for the company. That followed a two-year stint as director of corporate communications of homebuilder KB Home.

Prior to that, he worked in the agency arena at GolinHarris, Edelman, and Carl Byoir & Associates.

RUSSERT DIES AT 58

Tim Russert, moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and Washington bureau chief for the organization, died on June 13 after suffering a heart attack at work. He was 58.

Veteran NBC newsman Tom Brokaw announced Russert’s death on the air on MSNBC on Friday afternoon, sparking an outpouring of grief and condolences from around the world.

Brokaw called his former colleague “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time.”

Russert hosted “Meet the Press” since 1991 and was revered for relentless and well-researched interviews of public officials.

He is survived by his wife, Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, and a son, Luke.

U.S. NEWS GOES BIWEEKLY

U.S. News & World Report will publish on a biweekly schedule beginning next year in an effort to deal with declining circulation and advertising revenues. Special issues are promised as the situation merits.

The redesigned magazine will focus on its franchise rankings (schools, hospitals) and “news you can use” stories about health, education, finance and public affairs.

U.S. News promises a vigorous presence on the web via set up of the U.S. News Media Group.

The magazine reported a 35 percent dip in ad pages during the first-quarter of this year. It has a circulation of two million.

LYNE RESIGNS AT MARTHA STEWART

Susan Lyne, CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, resigned last week in a management shake-up that may be a response to a sinking stock price.

MSLO shares traded as high as $38.45 more than three years ago. They currently sell for $7.68.

Lyne, the 57-year-old former ABC Entertainment president, is being replaced by co-CEOs Wenda Harris Millard, who was in charge of media, and Robin Marino, merchandising chief. Both report to chairman Charles Koppleman.

Lyne earned $900K in `07 salary, and received total compensation of $3.9M. She will remain at MSLO for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition.

Lyne assumed the helm from Sharon Patrick shortly after Martha Stewart began her prison sentence related to her stock trading of ImClone Systems.

Millard joined the company in`07 from Yahoo, greeted by a cash incentive bonus of $450K. She was Yahoo’s chief sales officer. Earlier, Millard was chief Internet officer at Ziff Davis Media, and executive VP and founder of DoubleClick.

Marino joined MSLO in `05, exiting the president & COO slot at Kate Spade Inc., where she handled all licensing deals.

She has more than 30 years of retail/merchandising experience gained from work at Macy’s, Polo Ralph Lauren and Burberry.

Marino earned $495K in `07 salary. Her total comp was $1.7M.

WSJ ‘CORRECTIONS’ SURGE

The number of “corrections” in the Wall Street Journal is up 25 percent during the first-quarter under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The Journal claims the increase is due to more stories, wrote Mark Bowden in the July/August issue of The Atlantic.

Robert Thomson, who has been installed as editor-in-chief, has plans to “thin the ranks of the mid-level editors who were the newspaper’s line of defense against sloppiness and error,” according to Bowden.

The WSJ staff opinion about life under News Corp. ownership is divided into three groups.

There are “extremists” who plan to jump ship at the first opportunity. The “hopefuls” don’t believe Murdoch will destroy the paper’s traditions.

The biggest group is called the “naives.” Bowden says the naives think Murdoch is going to invest in the paper and though it may turn into something akin to Fox News, the WSJ will offer an opportunity to do great work.

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SHUTS MKE

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is closing its youth-oriented MKE free weekly and MKEonline due to a combination of sinking advertising and rising newsprint costs.

Launched in `04, the lifestyle/entertainment paper’s ad revenues peaked in `06 and have trended downward since.

MKE was unable to grab ads from other free distribution papers such as The Onion.

Staffers at the paper and website who fail to find jobs at the MJS will receive a “transition package,” according to a memo from Rick Groth. The MKE shutdown is slated for July 10.

DMN STARTS FREE DELIVERED PAPER

The Dallas Morning News said it will start a home-delivered, “quick-read” free newspaper for non-subscribers with a circulation of 200K Wednesday through Saturday.

The new paper, called “Briefing” and slated for a debut later this summer, is aimed at “time-starved” families and was developed after what the DMN says was extensive research on the needs of local readers.

John McKeon, president and GM for the DMN, said the target audience is “consumers who are engaged and interested in the world around them but who are not able to fit the traditional newspaper into their busy lifestyles.”

He said surveys showed readers want the most important stories of the day in an easy-to-read format. He added that advertisers want higher circulation and are supporting the new paper.

The DMN also said it will expand distribution of its Spanish-language paper, Al Dia, beginning in late July adding about 80K households to its current run of 40K.

The boost comes from the start of home delivery on Wednesday and free Saturday editions.

(Media news continued on next page)

KUNKEL EXITS AJR

Tom Kunkel, president of the American Journalism Review, is stepping down from that post with his exit from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, which has 500 undergrads. He is moving to St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wis., to become its president.

AJR is published bi-monthly by the University of Maryland Foundation, which is based in College Park.

The Foundation is accepting resumes for his post.

LOW FUNDING LOST FOR CLINTON — PENN

Hillary Clinton did just about everything right in running against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president but she found herself “without adequate money at the beginning of 2008 and without organizations in a lot of states as a result,” Clinton advisor Mark Penn wrote in a New York Times op-ed on June 8.

Campaigns are just as much about money as the message and the $100 million that was raised for Clinton in 2007 was just not enough, he said.

Penn, who is CEO of Burson-Marsteller, said Clinton’s support among working class voters, women, older voters and Latinos held together and “even strengthened” at the end of the campaign but too many “super delegates” switched to Obama. [Clinton won nine of the last 16 primaries, amassing 6,973,751 votes to 6,356,644 votes for Obama and 510 delegates to his 466].

Clinton “did show her warmer side” and had “bold” campaign themes including those for universal healthcare, universal preschool, new retirement accounts and a strategic energy fund, said Penn. He believes that neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton ever said anything “intended to divide the country by race.”

Penn admits that the campaign “needed a different kind of operation to win caucuses and retain the support of super delegates.”

NEWSER DISTILLS N.Y. TIMES

Newser.com, a news aggregation and summary site, has added content from the New York Times to its line-up.

The site says it culls “must-read” stories from the Times and gives a “crisp” summary for each story selected. A grid of links from the Times can be scanned in 60 seconds, according to Newser.

“Finally there's a way to read the New York Times without having to, well, read the New York Times,” says Newser founder and former Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff. “Newser truly brings the Times into the Internet age."

The site has also produced “Best of the Glossies” and “Pundit Watch” pages of what it deems the best daily magazine stories and most provocative opinion pieces online.

Local news is its next target with the addition of news streams from more than 70 U.S. markets and 16 English-language streams from overseas. Sports coverage from the Associated Press and food and entertainment content will be streamed from Yelp.

TW NIXES NBCU DEAL

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says his media combine has no current plan to merge with General Electric’s NBC Universal unit. He told Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications conference that Warner Brothers runs a lucrative business by producing programming for the four TV networks. That business would be endangered by a hook-up with NBCU.

Bewkes, who assumed the helm from Dick Parsons this year, says more big moves are in the works following the spin-off of Time Warner Cable. That includes a transaction involving AOL and the potential spin-off of Time Inc., the venerable publisher.

TI lifestyle magazines (People, In Style) are doing well this year, but the financial and news publications (Fortune, Time) are lagging.

‘HANNAH MONTANA’ POWERS DISNEY

Disney Consumer Products chief Andy Mooney expects $30B in branded merchandise sales this year, up 12 percent from fiscal `07.

That upbeat performance is powered by dolls, consumer products, video games based on franchises such as “Hannah Montana,” and “High School Musical,” he told the International Licensing Expo. Disney receives fees ranging from five to 15 percent of total sales.

The Hollywood Reporter puts Time Warner’s Warner Bros. Consumer Products unit in second place in retail sales, expected to generate $6B in revenue with “Harry Potter,” “Batman,” and “Looney Tunes.”

People _____________________________

Josh Jackson, editor-in-chief of Paste magazine, has started a blog, “High Gravity,” to post daily comments on music, film and culture from around the web.

“Realizing there was virtually zero content on the Web devoted to musical opinions and news, I took it upon myself to immediately fill that void,” said Jackson. “Ok … only kidding, but I do have a few surprises and ideas up my sleeve, and I’m especially looking forward to connecting with our many readers on a more personal level.”

Amy Cosper, a VP at WiesnerMedia and former publisher and editor of Primedia’s Satellite Broadband magazine, will join Irvine, Calif.-based Entrepreneur Media as VP of business development and editor-in-chief on July 1. Entrepreneur’s stable includes the self-titled magazine, website and WomenEntrepreneur.com.

Cella Irvine, former chief administrative officer of Digitas, has been named CEO of the New York Times Co.’s About Group, starting July 28. The group includes the About.com sites, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. From 2001-05, she was global head of strategic planning and then chief operations officer for a business unit of Marsh, Inc. and earlier was GM, New York Sidewalk for Microsoft Corporation from 1996 to 2000, where she built, launched and scaled the business site.

She also served as VP and GM of Hearst’s new media and technology unit in the mid-1990s.

The German PR industry's enforcement of its code of ethics is a model U.S. PR should follow (page 7).

Offenders are tried in public and "rebuked" or acquitted and guidance given for controversial issues.

The German PR Council targets organizations but individuals are occasionally named.

PR people practice "corporately," meaning they are almost always under the protection of a corporation. One of PRS's problems in enforcing its previous code (abandoned in 1999) was that it had to find an individual member who was responsible for alleged misconduct. Firms could argue that no PRS member was involved.

One of the cases handled by the German group involved a "company accused of a media boycott." The group "reported in detail" the arguments pro and con.

The ethical standard of "two-way communication" set by Prof. James Grunig of the University of Maryland is followed by the German group.

"Grunig became the authority for German PR scholars" for saying that only two-way communication was "morally justifiable," says Horst Avenarius, council chair.

"Dialogue, discourse and debate are the rules of a democratic system," he said in a 14-page paper that was published Feb. 15, 2007.

The PRS code does not have the word "dialogue" in it. Instead, there are promises to provide "accurate and truthful information," "aid in informed public debate," and "act as responsible advocates."

"Aid in informed public debate" is weak and should be supplanted with "take part in" or "vigorously support full public debate on all issues that arise." The code captures PRS's "leave the baby at the doorstep and run" approach to communications.

The 110 chapter presidents of the PR Society at this time should be organizing their own leadership-chair, secretary, parliamentarian-for the Oct. 25 meeting in Detroit.

It should copy the House of Delegates, American Bar Assn., which has its own leadership separate from the national board and officers of the ABA.

Chapter presidents should constitute the "Assembly" this year with proportional voting in place. Big chapters like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles would have "votes" that equal the number of their members. This would stop chapters with 10-25 members (and there are many) whose one vote counts the same as chapters with 99 or 100 members. This unfair voting system has put the smaller chapters in charge of PRS and resulted in the current governance strangulation caused by the APR requirement for national office. The smaller chapters tend to be the biggest fans of APR.

Unless the chapter presidents grab the bull by the horns, the 2008 Assembly will be like all the others-about 95% of the time hogged by a double-deck dais of the board and its law firm, CPA firm and parliamentarian (which last year was its own lawyer-a conflict of interest). We hope the chapter presidents-elect were not co-opted by their $100K "Leadership Rally" June 6-8 in New York which involved $500 cash.

PRS is a stickler for "the highest standards of accuracy and truth" but its description of Detroit does not match a column by Rich Lowry of the National Review in the New York Post April 1 headlined "Destroying Detroit: How Liberalism Killed a City."

Here is PRS's description of Detroit from the 52-page glossy booklet it is distributing for the conference:

"This year we welcome you to Detroit, the heartland of American industry and innovation. It's an exciting time to visit the Motor City-a culturally diverse, creative community and epicenter of global commerce for many Fortune 500 companies-which is currently undergoing a renaissance."

Lowry, however, wrote that Detroit was called "America's Most Miserable City" by Forbes, which cited its 8.2% unemployment rate (highest of any major urban area) and a homicide rate greater than that of New York in the "bad old days of the early 1990s."

"The city has a revitalized downtown, but all around it rots," continued Lowry, who said one million residents have left since 1950. Governance has been "disastrous"-Mayor Coleman Young, in office from 1974-94, and current Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, indicted on eight felony counts including perjury and obstruction of justice. Government services are "terrible to nonexistent and both crime and tax rates are high," wrote Lowry. High schools graduate a third of their students.

PRS has a new CPA firm but the same accounting practices persist that were criticized by three college accounting professors in 2006. PKF, New York, has replaced Sobel & Co., Livingston, N.J., after six years. PRS had used Deloitte & Touche for 10 years.

Staff costs for "media relations" in 2007 are reported as $296,230 while staff costs for the national conference are reported as less than that--$240,039. This is absurd because the conference occupies a good part of the 50+ staff much of the year. Members think the conference made $569,901 in 2007 when it probably lost $1M+. Net assets are reported as $3,484,266 but this includes about $2.5M in unearned dues. Net assets, as calculated by most assns. (ABA, AMA, IABC, etc.) are a skimpy 8.4% of expenses (usual goal is 50%).

Phil Wolitzer, New York Society of CPAs, said after examining the 2005 PRS audit, that it did not meet the standards for "full, fair and adequate disclosure." Prof. Charles Mulford of Georgia Tech said dues income should be booked as earned over the course of a year, reducing net assets. Agreeing was Prof. Edward Ketz of Penn State. Wolitzer said staffers should keep time sheets all year showing work on the conference. He called the apparent PRS practice of only counting staff time at the actual conference as "not ideal." The three were not pleased by the new "administration" category into which $2.2M in expenses were dumped after being removed from 13 categories. That "dumping ground" held $2.87M in 2007.

--Jack O'Dwyer