ALASKA MULLS PR FOR BOAT SAFETY

Alaska is searching for a firm to develop a statewide social marketing campaign to boost the use of lifejackets by boaters.

The state’s Dept. of Natural Resources has issued an RFP through Sept. 11 for a firm to develop and implement a PR push to foster “behavioral change” among boaters to voluntarily wear personal floatation devices. Budget is capped at $600K.

The Frontier State has one of the highest recreational boating fatality rates in the U.S. with most incidents involving people not wearing life vests. Male powerboaters are the highest demographic for boating fatalities and the least likely to wear personal floatation devices.

Rural and urban areas of the state must be covered and the proposed year-long contract covers research and focus groups, campaign materials, PSAs and media relations.

MCINTYRE TAKES VP POST AT WYETH

Daniel McIntyre, a top healthcare executive at Fleishman-Hillard, has returned to the client side as VP of corporate communications at pharmaceutical giant Wyeth.

McIntyre exits a senior partner/managing director post in F-H’s healthcare unit. He previously held corporate PR and policy posts at MeadWestvaco (VP/corporate comms.), Pharmacia (VP, public policy), Bayer’s pharmaceutical division, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Hoffman-LaRoche.

At Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth, he reports to Timothy Cost, SVP for corporate affairs and handles global internal and external communications for the company and its three main units covering pharmaceuticals, consumer health and animal health.

Cost said the company is in a key period in its history as it transforms for the future.

Columbia University wants to hire a senior public affairs officer to write releases, e-alerts and place stories in the New York, national and international press.

The position requires service on the “rotation team” that deals with “after normal work hours” media requests for information.

There are two week rotations about once every six weeks. Columbia wants a “strong, fast writer” who is a quick learner and “calm under pressure.”

Seven years of “progressive PR experience” is required. The job is listed on the school’s website.

Dave Poratta, who handled the science and tech press, exited Columbia last week.

LAKE LEAVES B-M FOR GIBRALTAR

Jim Lake, chairman of Burson-Marsteller’s public affairs practice, is joining Gibraltar Assocs. as president on Sept. 15.

Lake is to concentrate on public affairs and corporate communications, issue advocacy, crisis preparedness and management, domestic and international public education campaigns and brand management.

He is a player in the Washington PA game having counseled the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s “New Color of Money” roll of redesigned currencies, Washington Convention and Tourism Corp., Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau. Lake headed B-M’s 100 PA staffers in eight offices.

Prior to joining B-M, Lake was senior VP/PA at Cohn & Wolfe’s D.C. office and VP at Robinson Lake Sawyer Miller. He served eight years in the Reagan and Bush I Administrations.

GA was founded in `07 by Eric Bovim and Thomas Pernice.

Bovim is a journalist by training who went on to work for Montana Senator Conrad Burns and DCI Group, where he handled Google, Merck, NASDAQ and Amgen.

Pernice heads GA’s Los Angeles office. He worked in the Reagan and Bush White Houses, and served as an advance man for VP Dan Quayle. He also was VP-PA at Castle and Cooke and its Dole Food unit.

Josh Gottheimer, who is B-M’s global PA chair, will handle Lake’s duties on an interim basis.

DAVIDSON GETS AUSSIE WORK

Laura Davidson PR has scooped up the Tourism Victoria business to promote that Australian state and its crown jewel of Melbourne.

Laura Davidson reports the piece of business is worth $115K a-year with options for project put-ons.

The New York-based shop is no stranger to The Land Down Under, having worked for Tourism Australia for nearly a decade.

Davidson is gearing up for Tourism Victoria’s promotional tie with Walt Disney World’s 13th annual International Food & Wine Festival slated this Fall at Epcot.

She also anticipates much buzz surrounding the launch of Qantas Airlines’ A380 service linking Melbourne with Los Angeles.

LDPR has 18 travel PR staffers working on accounts such as Scotland, Montreal, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Mustique, Peter Island and Abercrombie & Kent, tour operator.

CHEVRON TAPS SINGER FOR SUIT

Chevron has brought in San Francisco PR firm Singer & Associates as the No. 2 U.S. oil company stands trial next month in a U.S. civil suit by Nigerian villagers.

Chevron, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., and will present its defense in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in October, faces charges of civil conspiracy, wrongful death, torture and negligence stemming from events in May 1998 when a three-day protest by Nigerians on a Chevron offshore oil platform turned violent as the country’s military and police intervened.

S&A, which has worked with Chevron in the past, was brought in to help brief media regarding the trial.

The case is a potential PR hit for the company which has worked hard to portray itself as a good global citizen in Nigeria.

Operations in Nigeria have been volatile at times but profitable for Chevron. Six employees were kidnapped in the country last year after armed militants boarded a Chevron oil vessel. They were released a month later. A 2004 attack left seven people dead, including two U.S. citizens working for a Chevron contractor.

In 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the company, then ChevronTexaco, with an award for “corporate excellence” for its citizenship work in Nigeria. That stemmed from the company’s airlift of villagers fleeing civil violence in the country in 2003 and other medical and education work there. In February, Chevron said it is teaming with Discovery Channel and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation to launch eight learning centers and a teacher training program in under-funded schools in the capital of Lagos.

The trial was pushed back from September to October after Nigerian plaintiffs have had trouble getting State Dept. clearance to enter the U.S. A backup plan for video testimony is being arranged.

The case was allowed to proceed under a 1789 law that allows foreigners to sue U.S. companies in the U.S. for violations of U.S. laws, according to the East Bay Business Times.

Chevron’s 2007 revenue was $214.1 billion.

ZUNO TARGETS HISPANICS FOR GH

Zandra Zuno, who handles marketing duties at GolinHarris, has added Hispanic outreach to her responsibilities. She is upped from VP/marketing director to senior VP in charge of the Confianza unit.

Zuno joined the Interpublic entity in 2001 as manager of global integration. She also headed the firm’s global partners network and served as worldwide account manager for Cotton Council International, National Peanut Board and Florida Dept. of Citrus.

Zuno played a key role in the celebration of the firm’s 50th anniversary in `06.

Steve Aiello, senior counselor at Hill & Knowlton, released the final report of the Commission on School Governance last week as chair of the panel. Aiello’s group interviewed more than 100 people during the past year for input on how to improve New York City’s public schools.

PN BUILDS BIOPLASTICS SUPPORT

Porter Novelli has cobbled together a consortium of companies and organizations with an interest in the renewable plastics industry as consumer backlash to products like bottled water has surfaced amid the “green” movement.

Primo Water Corp., a North Carolina company which markets bottled water made with so-called bioplastics, is PN’s client.

The firm has worked to assemble several entities, including Primo, under the umbrella of the Bioplastics Recycling Consortium.

Pia Garcia, executive VP at PN who heads the account, said her firm has been identifying and recruiting participants with an interest in recovery systems for used bioplastics material.

The firm oversees meetings of the Consortium and communicates updates to participants. She said VP Josiah McClellan has played a key role at PN in the stakeholder outreach that has recruited the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Climate Neutral, the EPA Office of Solid Waste and the Yale Office of Sustainability, among others, to the group.

Primo and PN launched the company’s “environmentally friendly bottled water” on Earth Day in April contrasting the bioplastics derived from plant matter used to package Primo water against traditional bottled water, which is sold in containers made from crude oil and natural gas.

Garcia said PN’s outreach has extended from media and consumers to CSR circles and so-called “mommy bloggers.”

EURO PROMOTES SEARS/ARMY LINE

Euro RSCG Worldwide PR is helping Sears launch its All American Army Brand’s First Infantry Division collection of men, women and boys apparel that will debut in 550 retail outlets next month.

It marks the first time that the U.S. Army has officially licensed its marks and insignias. “Every design carries the Army seal of approval,” says Sears’ Robert McGuinness.

The Army Brand collection promises to be “authentic lifestyle reinterpretations of the supreme fit, classic design and rugged performance of regulation uniforms and military issues gear,” said McGuinness in a statement.

An Army spokesperson added “by incorporating the Army’s timeless traditions with iconic styling and unparalleled standards for performance, fit and function, consumers can wear the pride they feel for our troops.”

The line is to be introduced Sept. 10 at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. The opening price point for an Army Brand t-shirt is $11.99. Hoodies will sell from $29.99 to $44.99, while outerwear ranges from $35.99 to $119.99. Information will soon be available at www.armybrand.com.

Sears has close ties with the military as evidenced by its “Heroes at Home” program that supports the families of soldiers that face economic hardship.

That program raised $5.4M for “Rebuilding Together” during the past year. RT is a non-profit that provides home repair service at no cost.

NEW YORK SUN NEARLY SETS

The nearly seven-year old New York Sun will close at the end of the month unless millions of dollars are found to funnel into the conservative money-losing paper.

Seth Lipsky, editor, warned readers of the Sun’s dire financial condition in a Sept 4 posting outlining the dim future.

The paper may “cease publication at the end of September unless we succeed in our efforts to find additional financial backing,” he wrote.

The Sun was launched as an “alternative to the New York Times in coverage of New York City, politics, foreign policy and culture.”

Though the Sun is read by “a high-quality group of readers” and blessed with a “wonderful staff that works incredibly hard,” the paper has yet to “achieve its goal of making a profit.”

Lipsky says to keep the Sun alive, it requires “broadening the base of investors beyond the original group.” The paper is engaged in negotiations with other newspapers and “potential investors about possible combinations or investment relationships.”

The editor is proud to have served in a “newspaper war that is alive with the battle of ideas at a juncture when ideas make all the difference.”

BUYOUTS SLATED AT MCCLATCHY'S N&O

The News & Observer is offering 320 employee buyouts to counter the newspaper advertising slump at the Raleigh paper that is part of the McClatchy Co. empire. The buyouts cover each full-timer in the newsroom.

The buyouts cover 40 percent of total staffers at the N&O Publishing Co., which includes community papers.

John Drescher, executive editor of the N&O, outlined a plan to trim about 10 pages a week from the paper to save newsprint costs. That effort includes combining the Sunday Travel section with “Arts & Living.”

The N&O laid off 70 staffers in April.

GANNETT UPS STAKE IN CAREERBUILDER

Gannett has acquired an additional 10 percent stake in online job listings portal CareerBuilder from Tribune Company for $135 million giving the company a 50.8 percent controlling interest in the U.S.’s largest online job site.

Tribune, previously the majority owner, falls to a 30.8% stake, while McClatchy owns 14.4% and Microsoft has a four percent stake.

Craig Dubow, chairman, president and CEO of Gannett, said the company was “delighted when the opportunity arose” and said he didn’t expect any major changes for the site.

Sam Zell, chairman/CEO of Tribune, said the deal gives Tribune a chance to monetize some of the value built over the years by the portal while keeping a “significant” stake.

Gannett controls three seats on the six-seat CareerBuilder board, while Tribune and McClatchy control a seat apiece and the company’s CEO holds the final slot.

NYT SHUTS DOWN ‘METRO’ SECTION

The New York Times, which recently upped its newsstand price, is planning to cut the number of sections of the paper in a move to save money.

The “Metro” report will no longer be a standalone section beginning Oct. 6. It is being merged into the “A” section of the paper from Monday through Saturday. NYT management is still mulling whether to fold Metro into the Sunday edition.

The “Sports” section is going into the “Business Section” from Tuesday-Friday. It will stay as a separate part of the paper on Monday and weekends.

Bill Keller, executive editor, told staffers in a memo that editors are talking about “how we assure, in practice, that we keep the light of Metro burning bright when there is no longer a freestanding Metro section.” One idea is putting more local stories on the front page.

Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger’s note says the company “is not reducing the space devoted to Metro or Sports news. This is simply a way to produce the paper more efficiently.”

The section shrinkage enables the paper to eliminate the early press run and collation process. No jobs are being cut, but overtime expense is expected to drop.

WSJ UNVEILS UPSCALE MAGAZINE

The Wall Street Journal unveiled its glossy magazine, WSJ., during a breakfast meeting Sept. 3 at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. The 960K circulation magazine was included in the Sept. 6 weekend edition of the paper.

The debut issue has 104 pages and 51 advertisers hawking upscale fashion, watches, travel, real estate, wines & liquors, cars and tech products.

Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio, publisher, says the broad range of advertisers is a “testimonial to the brand and quality of journalism” that the Journal has delivered for more than a century.

The premiere issue has a feature on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s long-distance running, moose eating and snowmobiling health regimen and another on how American art collectors are being shut out of auctions because of the weakness of the U.S. dollar.

Tina Gaudoin, editor-in-chief, promises a “smattering of humor, the inside track on major global players and any number of compelling, entertaining images and stories.”

The second issue of WSJ. is set for December. A monthly schedule is slated for next year.

Consumer Reports magazine debuted a redesign on Sept. 2. The company simplified its color palette and re-organized sections to make information more accessible.

A new section of updates on popular or “big-ticket” products was added, along with a Q&A feature covering questions about testing, and more photographs of the testing process.

Luke Hayman, partner at Pentagram Design, oversaw the project for CR, which claims 190K newsstand copy sales so far in 2008 and 2.3M paid web subscribers.

(Media news continued on next page)

STONE DEMANDS HEAD OF MATTHEWS

Roger Stone wants NBC to dump "Hardball" talking head Chris Matthews, who is mulling a run for the U.S. Senate against Republican Arlen Specter (78) of Pennsylvania.

Richard Nixon’s former political operative plans to form a 527 committee called Mouth—Movement Opposing Unqualified Talking Heads—to dig up dirt on Matthews.

According to the StoneZone site, Stone will “collect, review and organize everything Matthews has said or written in his public career in preparation for TV ads introducing the real Chris Matthews to Pennsylvania voters.”

Stone, who says he was an unaffiliated gadfly at the GOP convention, dismisses Matthews as “nothing other than a self important windbag.” He wants NBC to drop Matthews because his “partisan personal ambitions will now cloud any political analysis he may put forward.”

Stone has posted an email petition to Jeff Zucker, NBC president; Steve Capus, head of NBC News, and Phil Griffith, MSNBC head, saying that since Matthews has made his intention to run clear he cannot be an unbiased analyst.

Matthews was an aide to Jimmy Carter and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. His brother, Jim, ran unsuccessfully for the lieutenant governor spot in 2006 on the Republican ticket headed by former Steelers great Lynn Swann.

Jim reportedly believes there is a 25 percent chance that Chris will run for office. He says the political talk may be a bluff by Chris to angle for a better contract with NBC; the pact expires in '09.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in August that Specter led Matthews in a poll by a margin of 41 percent to 36 percent. It quoted Gov. Ed Rendell saying Matthews would probably be the strongest Democrat in the race, but he questions whether Matthews wants to leave a cushy media job for the gritty world of Keystone State politics.

Specter, who has been in poor health, faces re-election in '10.

FUTURE OF JOURNALISM CENTER DEBUTS

The $31M Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute opens Sept. 12 at the University of Missouri (Columbia) to create a “solution-oriented center for ideas, experimentation and research.”

The three-building complex features 50K sq. ft. at which “journalists, corporate partners and citizens will collaborate to find practice solutions to the challenges facing our industry,” according to the release.

The RJI wants to forge relationships with media companies and emerging new media innovators. It already has ties with Apple, Adobe and AT&T.

Everette Dennis, former executive director of the Gannett Center for Media Studies at Columbia University, said the new complex is a “truly unique enterprise that will connect serious research with practical solutions for the news media, education and the public.” He helped plan the Institute.

MTV’S TV LAND GOES PRIME

MTV Networks’ TV Land unit launches TV Land Prime on Oct. 6, new primetime programming fare aimed at people in their mid-40s.

The block will consist of a mix of original programming (“High School Reunion”), acquired series (“Scrubs”) and theatrical releases (“Analyze This”).

TVLP will have a new logo, color scheme and on-air graphics. It will offer sponsorship and placement opportunities.

There will be a robust online entity, featuring games, trivia, photos, video and entertainment news.

LOCAL MEDIA IS BOON FOR ADVERTISERS

Local online media has an advantage for advertisers because consumers exhibit trust and response to such sites, according to a report by the Online Publishers Association.

JupiterResearch conducted a survey of more than 2,000 online content consumers finding that 46 percent of visitors to local newspaper sites take some form of action after viewing a local ad, whether it is making a purchase, going to a store site, or conducting research.

Numbers were similarly high for local TV and magazine sites (44% and 42%, respectively), which compares to only 37 percent who took action on a local ad displayed on a web portal.

Fifty-six percent of consumers in the study said they express “strong trust” in the advertising found on local newspaper sites.

Briefs ______________________

Mary Anderson, senior fitness editor at Self magazine for four years, was named fitness director at Fitness magazine. She is former editor-in-chief of GymAmerica.com.

Leah Wyar, deputy beauty director for four years at Self, has been named beauty director at Fitness.

Nancy Meyer, a veteran journalist and professor, has been named editor for monthly ScheinMedia magazine New York House, which covers residential and multifamily real estate, construction, design and green living in New York.

Meyer has been senior editor for Home Furnishings News in a 14-year career there. She was previously editor-in-chief of Intimate Fashion News and managing editor of Empire State Report.

She also currently teaches journalism at SUNY New Paltz.

Pitches Requested _____________________

Fashion publication for the industry is looking for sources or articles from experts on fashion trends, color, marketing trends, Internet marketing and viral marketing, as well as PR and promoting accessory products.

Contact Diane Feen at [email protected]. All articles and experts are welcome.

This is for a 300-page book that goes out to designers, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, etc. “We will promote your product, book or company,” the author said.

Presidential candidates and their families are the subject of a media feeding frenzy with both sides claiming “unfair” treatment at one time or another.

Cutting off a news medium that goes “over the line” in its questioning is a weapon that candidates can use. When and whether they are justified in doing so is another matter.

Candidate John McCain, for instance, cancelled an appearance on Larry King’s CNN show as “punishment” for alleged “unfair” questioning of a McCain aide.

Reporter Campbell Brown of CNN, interviewing aide Tucker Bounds, had repeatedly demanded to know “one decision” Sarah Palin had ever made as commander of the Alaska National Guard.

An argument ensued that left both sides unsatisfied.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, citing the Brown incident as the reason, then announced that McCain had cancelled the interview with King.

Had Brown stepped “over the line” and who is drawing the line these days are relevant questions.

The Poynter Institute, founded in 1975 when St. Petersburg Times publisher Nelson Poynter willed it controlling stock in the paper, takes up such matters.

The Institute, a well-financed school for reporters based in St. Petersburg, in July got a five-year, $1.4M grant from the Knight Foundation for NewsU, an online journalism program.

Kelly McBride, Poynter ethics group leader, penned a web column on media criticism touched off by coverage of Palin’s family issues, drawing numerous comments.

Reporters seeking ethical guidance can also post their issues in an elaborate section on the Poynter website that breaks the issues down 10 separate ways and allows users to ask what is “fair play” in the matter at hand.

Users have to register (free) and we have done so, asking how far reporters can go in covering uncooperative institutions. Can matters be brought to the attention of top management, board members, big clients, stockholders, members, etc., when normal channels are blocked?

E.W. Scripps (newspapers/TV) and Scripps Networks Interactive (the spin-off of profitable cable shows) both subscribe to EthicsPoint, an independent, secure website for handling ethical questions and complaints of employees and non-employees.

The Scripps ethics code promises “fairness,” “compassion,” “courage,” “excellence” and “respect” to “those whose lives we touch,” and promises to “promptly address any concerns brought to our attention.” Scripps “maintains the highest standards of journalistic and organizational integrity,” said a statement by Kenneth Lowe, former president/CEO of E.W. Scripps who now heads SNI.

We filled out the web ethics form and sent it to Denise Kuprionis, chief ethics compliance officer of Scripps and also to Scripps Networks (SNI), asking if Scripps has researched the PR Society to which SNI employee Gary McCormick not only belongs but has been nominated as chair-elect.

In view of 10-plus pages that Scripps spends on its devotion to ethics, we asked how this squared with some of the PRS policies and practices.

Thus far Kuprionis has pointed out that McCormick is no longer employed by E.W. Scripps and so she is not involved in this issue. She confirmed SNI uses EthicsPoint but said, “I cannot verify that its processes are in place.” SNI does not as yet have an ethics compliance officer but we await its response.

Virtually the entire management of SNI is from SSP. SSP stockholders got one share of SNI for every share of SSP so the ownership is about the same.

The “Code of Ethics” of the PR Society says that “Ethical Practice is the most important obligation of a Society member.” The words “ethics” and “ethical” appear 12 times on the first page of the Code.

With such emphasis on ethics, PRS could be expected to have a process for dealing with ethical questions such as those at Poynter and Scripps.

What is wrong and right about a situation may only emerge after considerable research, discussion and debate.

PRS has no process whatever for dealing with such discussions. It abandoned any enforcement of its Code in 1999 and now merely says, when a controversy arises, that everyone should obey the PRS commitment to “the highest standards of accuracy and truth.”

What, for instance, is the “highest standard” for PRS reporting its finances? Do members have a right to obtain a transcript of the Assembly? Do college PR professors have the right to argue for printing the members’ directory again?

Discussion is needed.

Bob Frause, ethics chair who succeeded Gail Baker in that post earlier this year, instead of working on such a process, is pushing a new form of accreditation called “certification” of specialties in areas such as healthcare, tech, financial, media relations/media training, travel, digital/social media and “military communication.”

A survey of about 125 members by Frause found virtually no interest in “military communication” and not much in certification in financial, tech, healthcare or travel.

Half or more of respondents are interested in certification in media relations, digital/social media and crisis management. Sixty percent would open “certification” to non-members for “a higher fee.” Frause, chair of the certification task force, is also chair of the College of Fellows.

The certification move comes on the heels of the results of the first five years of the new test for accreditation. They are dismal to say the least.

Only 550 PRS members became APR in that period (average of 110 a year). Although there are eight other “member organizations” of the Universal Accreditation Board, the eight only generated 119 APRs.

PRS’s attempt to sell the APR test to other groups (at $410 per exam) has fizzled. Selling the new “certification” would also be a stretch.

Governance reform is the big topic at the Society this year, as announced by CEO Jeff Julin. It should include setting up a process for publicly debating ethical issues.

We wonder whether there will be much governance reform at the Assembly Oct. 25 because this topic was first broached in 2004 when PRS president Del Galloway named Dave Rickey to head a new task force on “leadership and governance.” Rickey was also at that time head of the Ethics Board.

It’s four years later and Julin is now asking the 2008 Assembly in Detroit to come up with governance reform ideas. We bet press will again be barred from the Assembly lunch which will be turned into a “working lunch” (for governance ideas) like it was last year (for the Strategic Plan).

--Jack O'Dwyer