ARMY TO REVIEW IRAQ PR PACT

U.S. troops have started to leave Iraq but the Army says it needs to keep the PR going.

The Army said in a notice to contractors May 11 that it plans to review its Iraq-based pact for PR and strategic communications support with an open RFP process starting this month.

The Lincoln Group, now known as Fulcra Worldwide, is the incumbent that has worked in Iraq since the U.S. military invasion in 2003. The Washington, D.C.-based firm most recently was awarded an emergency extension in late February that runs through July.

The Army's Joint Contracting Command-Iraq said it plans to award an eight-month contract through March 2011 for the Iraq PR work with the potential for a nine-month option period that would take the pact to the end of 2011, when the Obama administration hopes to have combat forces out of the country.

The work covers a variety of media relations and PR tactics from execution to monitoring.

An RFP is slated to be released on or about May 17, the Army said in a statement.

The U.S. is in the process of drawing down its military presence in Iraq from about 94,000 troops now to 50,000 by September.

FENTON PRESSURES MLB

Fenton Communications is handling the PR drive to persuade Major League Baseball to yank its 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix to protest Arizona’s immigration law. Arizona expects to reap a $60M windfall if the All-Star Game remains in Phoenix, home of the Diamondbacks.

Vice President Dave Gordon told O’Dwyer’s that FC is working with MoveOn.com and Presente.org, a Hispanic activist group, in the PR effort. They have succeeded in getting more than 100,000 signatures in the first-week on a petition that urges MLB to move the game “unless Arizona changes it harmful and hateful immigration law.” That petition is posted on the MoveTheGame.org. site.

The petitions will be delivered to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig this month, according to Gordon. If Selig fails to follow the precedent set by the National Football League, which pulled Super Bowl XXVII out of Tempe to protest Arizona’s failure to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday, pressure will be applied on MLB’s sponsors. That group includes McDonald’s, Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo and sells a lot of products to Latinos, according to Gordon.

MDC ACQUIRES ANALYTICS FIRM

MDC Partners has acquired a majority stake in Integrated Media Solutions, the direct response media/analytics firm that is based in Los Angeles with an office in New York.

CEO Miles Nadal says the ad/PR business is at a point where the “analytical left-brain must fully inform the creativity, and big ideas born of the right brain, in delivering measurable return on marketing investment for our clients.” That’s the rationale for making the deal.

IMS, which has 130 staffers, will be merged into MDC's performance marketing services group, which Nadal has targeted for development during the next five years via acquisitions and organic growth.

IMS was founded by Robert Ingram, Desiree DuMont and Ron Corvino in 2002. Previously, the trio established Media Inc. and Media Direct Partners, which was built into a $650M billings business before being sold to Interpublic in 1996.

MDC picked up majority stakes in PR firms Sloane & Co and Allison & Partners within the last six weeks.

TRANSOCEAN LEANS ON FD

Transocean, the Texas-based company which leased the Deepwater Horizon oil rig at the center of the Gulf spill to BP, has brought in FD for crisis communications counsel and assistance.

FD managing director Lou Colasuonno, former editor-in-chief of the New York Post and Daily News, is heading the work. He told O’Dwyer’s that FD was hired the day the rig sank - April 22, two days after an explosion and fire decimated the platform. FD has people on the ground in Houston and Washington, D.C., as well.

"There's a lot of finger pointing going on but everybody is trying to shut this monster off," said Colasuonno, noting the media circus currently centered in Washington.

Brunswick Group is working with BP on the crisis. Cameron International, which made the blowout preventer device bought by Transocean that failed after the explosion, is working with Abernathy MacGregor Group. Halliburton is not using any outside agencies.

USEC, the uranium enrichment company for the nuclear power sector, has brought in veteran energy sector PR executive Paul Jacobson as VP of corporate communications. The hire comes as USEC is working to get $2 billion in loan guarantees from the federal government. Jacobson had been running his own firm after serving as VP/CC for Evergreen Energy, a company focused on “clean coal” technology.

TOURISM BODIES FIGHT OIL SPILL EFFECTS

While asking BP to fund marketing efforts to protect Gulf Coast tourism, states in the region are forging ahead with PR and marketing pushes on their own as the summer travel season fast approaches and the national media remain fixated on a growing oil slick approaching shores.

Alabama's tourism entity has kicked off a $1.5M marketing push with Birmingham-based Luckie & Company touting the state's beaches in the face of reports of oil-related debris washing ashore there.

Luckie’s PR division—Luckie Strategic PR—works with the state’s Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources but all PR for the oil spill is being coordinated by the governor’s office, said Luckie senior VP and director Brian Pia, who noted that it’s standard operating procedure for a hurricane, as well.

“We’re keeping a close eye on the oil spill on a daily basis and we’re ready to move into action if necessary,” he told O’Dwyer’s. “This is a little like a slow-moving hurricane.”

Florida meanwhile is asking BP to fund a large campaign to counter the negative PR it believes will affect tourism.

Gov. Charlie Crist has requested $34.75M from the oil giant, including $24.75M for an emergency campaign to begin immediately and run through July under the direction of the state’s tourism entity - Visit Florida. An additional $10M would be used at the county level through September, the governor said.

M. Silver & Associates is Visit Florida’s PR firm but is not engaged in the crisis, the firm said.

Mississippi’s tourism agency posted a YouTube video on May 12 featuring tourism director Mary Beth Wilkerson declaring the state “open for business.”

Officials from the Harrison County Tourism Commission, which covers the Gulf coast region of the Magnolia State, have asked BP to shell out $7.5M a month for a national campaign focused on its casinos and entertainment.

GUAM FLOATS SOCIAL MEDIA RFP

The tourism entity for the U.S. territory of Guam wants a firm to help create a social media presence touting the island as a travel destination and oversee its online reputation.

The Guam Visitors Bureau issued an RFP on May 3 outlining tasks from social media, blogging and search engine optimization to strategies for reaching the mobile web on smart phones. The work is divided into two phases: implementation and monitoring. Its current online footprint is composed solely of VisitGuam.org.

Guam, which relies heavily on tourism and a key U.S., military installation for its economy, wants to reach online audiences in the U.S., Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines, markets where the Visitors Bureau maintains marketing reps.

Proposals are due June 11. Gerald Perez ([email protected]) is overseeing the RFP process.

Firms must pay a $20 fee for a copy of the document. Info: odwyerpr.com/rfps.

PPG PRESSES FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Burson-Marsteller’s Prime Policy Group is repping the National Immigration Forum Action Fund, which is pressing both the White House and Republican leadership to move on immigration reform.

The Forum says its mission is to “embrace and uphold America’s tradition as a nation of immigrants.” It criticizes Arizona's new immigration law as one that “enshrines racial profiling” and believes its passage highlights the need for national reform before other states apply their own band-aid fixes.

The Forum praises Democratic Senators Harry Reid (NV), Chuck Schumer (NY) and Bob Menendez (NJ) for introducing a framework for reform legislation. It wants Republicans to review the Democratic proposal and put forth their own ideas in fixing the system. [South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had been negotiating a reform package with Schumer, but withdrew to protest Reid’s decision to debate a climate change law before immigration.]

Charlie Black, chairman of PPG, is spearheading the Forum’s effort on Capitol Hill. The GOP-connected Black advised Presidents Reagan and Bush I, and served as spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. He is assisted by Mark Disler, who worked on civil rights and immigration issues in the Justice Dept. and as staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

PPG is the outgrowth of the merger between BKSH Assocs. and Timmons & Co.

CONTRACTOR BRINGS IN CRISIS EXPERT

Military contractor DynCorp. International has brought in Prism Public Affairs executive VP Ashley Vanarsdall Burke in a top PR post at the Falls Church, Va.-based company.

Burke serves as senior director of media communications and is charged with developing a media strategy, serving as its spokeswoman and guiding all external media relations.

The company, which posted revenues of about $2 billion last year, draws media interest for its work in global flashpoints like Iraq and Afghanistan. It handles training for the Iraqi army and police, provides security for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was hired by the U.S. to support security operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Burke was an executive VP at Prism PA where the company touted her media relations experience for companies “undergoing governmental scrutiny and involved in high-profile litigation.” The firm said her clients included government contractors subject to intense scrutiny and oversight.
She was communications director for the Entertainment Software Association as it waged PR and legal battles over piracy and the effects of media violence. Previous stints also included Powell Tate and Smith & Haroff.

DynCorp CEO William Ballhaus said in a statement: “Her experience in our industry … will be a real benefit as we continue to strengthen the DynCorp International brand and messaging moving forward.”

R&C PUTS COOKING CHANNEL ON PLATE

Scripps Networks Interactive has tapped Rogers & Cowan to launch the Cooking Channel, which debuts at the end of the month.

CC promises to be an “edgier” version than its sister Food Network. The Interpublic unit is to position the new channel as the “premier destination for discussing food,” according to its announcement. Its programs are for "food people, by food people," and will explore trends related to food from farm to table and global cuisines to wine and spirits.

Via media relations and promotional marketing, R&C is to generate awareness of the brand and provide the audience an “immersive” experience.

CC programs will feature “Cook Like an Iron Chef” hosted by Michael Symon and “Foodcrafters with Aida Mollenkamp.”

The line-up includes U.S. premieres of “Indian Food Made Easy,” “Food Jammers” and “Caribbean Food Made Easy.” Shows with Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay Emeril Lagasse are in development.

R&C will introduce the next-generation of culinary talent including Chuck Hughes (“Chuck’s Day Off”), David Rocco (“David Rocco’s Dolce Vita”), Ching-He Huang (“Chinese Food Made Easy”) and Roger Mooking (“Everyday Exotic”).

Michael Smith, GM of CC, says R&C won the competitive pitch due to its “deep category knowledge, disciplined strategic approach and "rich array of industry relationships, necessary to take messaging our programming offerings to the next level.”

SNI’s other cable properties are HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY Network, and Great American Country, a music channel.

SM SPONSORSHIPS SET FOR 25% GROWTH

The social media sponsorship market hit the $46M mark in 2009 and is slated for growth of nearly 25 percent this year, according to a survey compiled by PQ Media.

The firm defines sponsorships as compensation in the form of cash, products, points and trips to bloggers and tweeters for promoting or reviewing a product/service.

PQ interviewed several dozen opinion leaders/analysts at PR firms, ad agencies, marketing companies and trade associations to arrive at its numbers for its “Social Media Sponsorship Forecast 2010-2014.”

Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ, believes social media sponsorship will receive a boost from the Federal Trade Commission’s push for transparency.

The FTC guidelines help legitimize the market by requiring paid creators to divulge the compensation they receive for editorial coverage.

PQ expects growth in sponsored conversations to receive a boost as leading networks like YouTube develop partnerships programs with brands to allow users to raise cash by hosting video blogs about things they have purchased. ABC News reported that some “vloggers” earned up to $1,000 a-month.

The full survey is available for $1,295 at pqmedia.com.

TIMES EYES JAN. FOR PAYWALL

The New York Times will begin charging for access to articles on its website in January, Times executive editor Bill Keller told the Foreign Press Association last week.

The Times said in January that it would charge some frequent readers for access to its website starting next year. Unlimited access to NYTimes.com will require a paper subscription or payment of a flat fee, it said then. Visitors will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month.

The company said it wanted to create a system that would have little effect on the millions of occasional visitors to the site.

News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch said in early May that he'll unveil his plans to erect paywalls for his publications within a month.

Keller’s remarks were reported by the Wall Street Journal.

BROWN TAKES MTV COMMS. REINS

Nathaniel Brown, a veteran media sector corporate communicator, has been named VP of corporate comms. at MTV Networks.

Brown, who was recently a senior consultant at Edelman, was senior VP of corporate comms. for XM Satellite Radio in three years there, departing after its merger with Sirius.

He moved to XM after five years at Sony BMG, where he rose to VP/corporate comms. after a stint as director of corporate comms. at Hachette Filipacchi Media.

Brown started out in the agency realm at Dan Klores Communications and Jason Weinberg Associates.

MTV’s senior director of corporate comms., Jennifer DeGuzman, left for Bravo Media last month.

MTV is owned by Viacom.

JOB CUTS IN HONOLULU

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser plans to cut about 400 jobs when the paper, a combination of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser, debuts next month. The individual papers currently employ about 900 people.

Publisher Dennis Francis says HS-A will blend the best of both papers with a redesigned look and new features.

TIERNEY STEPS DOWN AT INKY
Brian Tierney is stepping down as CEO of Philadelphia Newspapers LLC on May 21 as part of the takeover agreement of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.

The former PR man fronted the local investment group that purchased the paper for $515M in `06. He is leaving as part of his desire to effect a smooth transition to new ownership, which expects to be in place in June.

Tierney tried to regain control of the paper during the bankruptcy auction of the papers but lost out to a consortium led by Angelo, Gordon & Co.

(Media news continued on next page)

RIAA RECORDS COPYRIGHT WIN

The Recording Industry Association of America has declared an “extraordinary victory for the entire creative community” as a federal judge ruled May 12 against file-sharing service LimeWire in a four-year-old copyright infringement case.

U.S. District Court Kimba Wood decided that LimeWire customers commit a “substantial amount of copyright infringement” each time they use the peer-to-peer Internet service. She knocked LimeWire for not taking strong measures to end the infringement.

Mitch Bainwol, CEO of RIAA, said LimeWire failed to negotiate a license, establish filters or end its “illegal conduct” following the Supreme Court’s 2005 Grokster ruling, which paved the way for lawsuits against file-sharing piracy.

“LimeWire instead thumbed its nose at the law and creators,” said Bainwol’s statement.

LimeWire claims more than 70M unique users and five million users at any given moment. It says 18 percent of the world’s computers have LimeWire on them.

The RIAA wants $150K per copyright violation. Its suit alleged that 93 percent of LimeWire’s file-sharing traffic was unauthorized.

Final damages have not yet been determined.

Wired reports the court ruling “threatens to financially devastate the New York company behind the file sharing application.” A June 1 hearing date is set.

LimeWire strongly opposes the court’s decision.

In a statement, CEO George Searle said: “LimeWire remains committed to developing innovative products and services for the end-user and to working with the entire music industry, including the major labels, to achieve this mission. We look forward to our June 1 meeting with Judge Wood.”

Linda Lipman of LB Lipman PR handles LimeWire.

Bainwol believes the decision sends a “clear signal to those who think they can devise and profit from a piracy scheme that will escape accountability.”

‘NET NEUTRALITY’ SLAMMED AS POWER GRAB

The Americans for Prosperity, a right-wing group, has launched a $1.4M advertising push aimed at squashing “Net Neutrality,” the idea that Internet providers must provide equal access to all comers.

The ad portrays Net Neutrality as a U.S. Government grab of the Internet that would “halt innovation, deter new private investment and limit future options for consumers,” said a statement from Phil Kerpen, VP at AFP.

The ad depicts the Internet as the next domino to fall in the U.S. takeover of the economy following banks, insurers, car companies and healthcare. The cable spot debuts in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and D.C. It is available on NoInternetTakeover.com.

AFP believes Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski's call to reclassify broadband Internet as a telephone service will reduce the ’Net to “an old-fashioned government regulated utility.”

The Washington-based advocacy organization contends that private competition is the reason that 95 percent of the U.S. population has access to high-speed broadband.

AFP is remembered for its 2008 Hot Air Tour campaign that had the theme: “Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom.”

CBS ACQUIRES ECOMEDIA

CBS has acquired EcoMedia, which partners companies with local governments to fund projects to improve the environment.

“We want to be a catalyst for getting actual bricks-and-mortar ‘greening’ projects done that will improve the quality of life in the local communities we serve,” CBC Leslie Moonves said in a statement.

EcoMedia is to help CBS’ advertising clients fund energy efficiency initiatives as part of their normal ad buys, including retrofits and solar installations on public buildings and schools, tree plantings and watershed clean-up projects.

The company has worked with the broadcaster to launch the CBS-EcoZone Green Schools Initiative in San Francisco, Miami and the suburban Chicago area. That Initiative raised more than $650,000 worth of products and services for green projects and technologies to give a winning school in each city a “green makeover.”

EcoMedia is headed by Paul Polizzotto.

PEOPLE _______________________

Gordon Lubold, a Pentagon correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, is moving to Politico as a defense reporter on May 24. He was previously a reporter for Marine Corps Times.

Also at the D.C. pub, Keach Hagey has signed on to blog about the media industry. She covered media and marketing for the English-language Abu Dhabi paper The National and takes over for Michael Calderone, who left for Yahoo! News.

Ellen Van de Mark, a producer at “Meet the Press” on NBC, has moved to CNN to work on “State of the Union.”

Karen Bordeleau has been named deputy executive editor of the Providence Journal to oversee three of its main news desks - Commerce/Consumer, Futures and Justice. She'll also direct new content initiatives and assist in the administration of the news department, the paper said.

Thomas Heslin, senior vice president and executive editor, said Bordeleau, a 14-year veteran of the paper, “will help shape our future” as the Ocean State’s top news outlet.

She was recently managing editor for administration and is an adjunct professor of journalism at Emerson College, in Boston, and the Univ. of Rhode Island.

John Carney, managing editor of BusinessInsider.com, joined CNBC.com on May 17 as a senior editor for the website. He’ll also appear as a contributor to the cable network. Carney is a former corporate lawyer.

COYNE PITCH WINS BIG FOR SEALED AIR

A brainstorm from an assistant account executive at Coyne PR and some serendipitous timing helped the firm score a major sports PR coup this month across a variety of national media for client Sealed Air, the New Jersey-based maker of Bubble Wrap.

Coyne, based in Parsippany and populated by a contingent of New York Yankees fans, sent around a photo of a Sealed Air factory worker sending bubble rap to shortstop Derek Jeter, putting the product at the center of one of sports’ biggest rivalries – Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox – with a PR push conceived and mobilized in 24 hours on Thurs., May 6.

Joe Gargiulo, VP at Coyne, told O’Dwyer’s that AA/E Andrew Testa brought up the pitch after pitcher Andy Pettitte was hurt on Wed., May 5, the Yankees final game before the Boston series. That injury was followed by two others on the team and came in the aftermath of four Yankees players appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, a well-known editorial curse that allegedly brings misfortune to athletes who grace the magazine’s front page.

The PR result was a spate of coverage of the photo across national broadcast, online and print outlets.

More at odwyerpr.com.

HAWAII SEEKS IMMUNIZATION PITCHES

Hawaii wants pitches for a public education campaign touting the importance of immunizations for all age groups from infants to seniors.

The healthcare PR work is to be broken down into “focus areas” determined by age, starting with the parents of newborns.

A media purchasing budget ($100K) for PSAs is set alongside the public education RFP’s $55K annual budget. A six-year contract is possible from the RFP, which was issued by the state’s health department on May 6 and has a deadline of July 8. Info at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

CA PA FIRMS IN ALLIANCE

Los Angeles-based Englanger, Kabe & Allen has aligned with San Diego public affairs firm Southwest Strategies.

EK&A managing partner Harvey Englander said he has long admired Southwest while Southwest CEO Alan Ziegaus said clients of both firms will benefit in being able to navigate the “challenging maze of local government.”

Ten-year-old Southwest has handled political and corporate clients like Wal-Mart and San Diego Gas & Electric. EK&A has been around for 40 years handling clients across dozens of industries.

WESTGLEN CELEBRATES 40TH BIRTHDAY

WestGlen Communications, New York, founded by Brooklyn native Stan Zeitlin, whose first job was working summers as an usher for CBS-TV shows, turned 40 years old on May 15.

Zeitlin, who majored in radio/TV at the University of Alabama, worked at the “Ed Sullivan” and “Jackie Gleason” shows and quiz programs such as “The $64,000 Question” and “What’s My Line?” when the shows were all live.

Services of the company today include production of video and audio news releases; half-hour cable TV programming; a monthly video magazine of VNRs and Satellite Media Tours called “Health & Home Report”; Public Service Announcements, and a new practice group called i-Blitz Interactive aimed at opportunities on the internet.

Client messages are sent to selected blogs, social media networks and websites. There is also micro-syndication of video to media websites and consumer portals.

“Health & Home Report” is seen in all major markets and is one of the longest running programs on cable TV, says Zeitlin.

Initially the company specialized in sponsored 16mm films, serving schools on behalf of corporations and trade associations, and medical audiences such as hospitals and physicians.

Clients included many pharmaceutical companies that used WestGlen to distribute their PSAs on health issues.

Company Embraces Change

"Our ability to embrace change has ensured that our clients have access to a broad range of services to reach their target audiences," said Zeitlin, adding that the firm appreciates the loyalty of the many clients and friends "who have helped us to reach this major milestone."

Besides its New York office, the company has branches in Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Francisco. Its 35 employees serve clients in PR and ad agencies, corporations, trade associations, nonprofits, foundations and independent video producers.

A major part of the business is distribution of PSAs.

Worked at Ad Agency

After stints in the U.S. Army in 1959-60, Zeitlin joined CBS Newsfilm Syndication as an assistant producer.

“My next job was at a small ad agency in Flushing where I learned how small businesses operate,” he said.

He then joined Sterling Movies, a distributor of sponsored 16mm films, and opened WestGlen in 1970 when Sterling was sold to Association Films.

The name “WestGlen” is a combination of Glen Cove and Weston, Conn., where an early partner resided.

UPCOMING: IABC’s World Conference is slated for June 6-9 in Toronto. The event will feature more than 1,400 communications professionals from around the world and include speakers, workshops in seven professional development tracks, the Gold Quill Awards Gala and networking. Info: iabc.com.

PRSA CHARGES VIOLATION BY O’DWYER’S

Arthur Yann, VP-PR of the PR Society, last week charged the O’Dwyer website with copyright violation because it linked to a video that was on the Society website. He demanded that the link be removed from odwyerpr.com “immediately.”

ditor Jack O’Dwyer replied that the O’Dwyer’s website linked to the Society’s posting on YouTube and therefore was no violation.

O’Dwyer said he found irony in Yann’s complaint of copyright violation in this one instance since the Society sold at least 50,000 copies of O’Dwyer’s articles without the company’s permission.

The practice was discontinued in 1994 after it was exposed by the O’Dwyer’s newsletter and magazine.

Eleven info packets of the Society were purchased in 1994 and 52 O’Dwyer’s articles totaling 90 pages or 4.72 articles per packet were found. Since packet volume was 3,800/year that meant about 17,900 O’Dwyer’s articles were being sold yearly in packets up to $55 each.

O’Dwyer’s articles were by far the most copied, second place going to PR Quarterly (19 articles with 50 pages in the 11 packets).

Yann has asked several times why O’Dwyer’s and 12 other complaining authors did not file a lawsuit in 1994. He says the word “alleged” should be used in connection with the copying charges because, “In America, individuals and organizations are innocent until proven guilty.” He e-mailed that, “For accuracy’s sake, how about saying, ‘Since PRSA allegedly violated the O’Dwyer copyright.’”

“Guilt” and “Innocence” Are Legal Terms

O’Dwyer replied that what Yann is referring to is a matter that has come before a court.

Even a serial murderer whose crime has been caught on videotape is “innocent” until proven “guilty” in court, said O’Dwyer, adding, “But this does not mean he did not commit the murders.”

Said O’Dwyer: “There is no question that PRS sold hundreds of thousands of copies of authors’ works without their permission. We have boxes of the copied materials.

“The authors, including PR Professors Tom Bivins, Bill Brody and Dan Lattimore, were told they faced not only the cost of suing PRS but would have to defend against defamation and other charges that would be brought against them personally.

“They also faced a legal gambit called “motion practice” that could be used on them—the filing of scores or even hundreds of briefs and motions, all of which have to be answered and at great cost.

“Furthermore, they would be spending their own after-tax income while PRS had almost unlimited tax-free funds at its disposal.”

O’Dwyer said the professors and other authors also faced making trips to New York for depositions and a trial which might not sit well with their employers. Professors already have a heavy schedule, he noted.

Said O’Dwyer: “The fact that legal relief was not obtained against the Society does not mean it did not improperly sell works of the authors or that it does not owe them compensation for doing that.”

HUNTSWORTH POSTS Q1 GAINS

U.K.-based PR conglomerate Huntsworth said May 10 that new business activity in Q1 was “significantly higher” – up 33 percent – compared with the same period of 2009.

CEO Peter Chandlington said in a statement he is confident the company will return to growth this year and meet a goal of doubling organic growth in 2011 after falling nearly 5 percent in ’09.

“I am very encouraged by this good start to the year,” he said.

The company’s financial communications unit Citigate was up 51% in the first quarter of 2010 on stronger markets, Chadlington said. Recent assignments were counseling Tullow Oil on its acquisition of Ugandan assets, and Russia’s first two public listings in 2010 – Protek and Russian Sea. It also picked up Spyker, the Dutch car maker that rescued Saab.

Huntsworth’s revenues of $240M were flat for 2009 as the company “repositioned” amid the global financial crisis following a record 2008.

PR and public affairs unit Grayling picked up its largest client to date during the first quarter - a seven-figure retainer for the Portuguese Cork Association which covers Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Its new sister firm Dutko Worldwide, which Grayling acquired in a $33.6M deal last year, has been in more than two dozen transatlantic deals since joining the Grayling division, Huntsworth said.

Huntsworth’s health division is up 40% over ’09 and digital revenues have risen to 15% overall, while its Red PR unit is up 13% in Q1 on new business from rental car companies Avis and Budget in the U.K.

MAYER JOINS SUIT VS. SITRICK

Alan Mayer, who co-wrote “Spin: How to Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage” with Michael Sitrick, has joined the lawsuit that has been lodged against the West Coast crisis PR heavyweight.

Mayer, who heads the strategic communications unit of 42West, worked at Sitrick & Co. from ’9-06. He has signed on to the suit filed by Richard Wool last month that charged the Sitrick & Co. CEO with manipulating shares of the firm’s employee stock ownership plan. Wool had headed S&C’s New York outpost.

S&C dismisses the complaint as groundless and is working to deny Wool and Mayer standing for other stock plan members. Mayer is a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, senior editor of Newsweek and founding editor of Buzz.

SLEEP COUNCIL FALLS TO CJP

CJP Communications has taken over as agency of record for The Better Sleep Council, following a competitive review that included nine firms.

Fleishman-Hillard previously handled the mid-six-figure account.

New York-based CJP will handle a mix of digital and traditional media relations and messenging to develop a new strategy for pitching mattresses as key to a good night's sleep and a healthy lifestyle.

The 31-year-old Alexandria, Va.-based council is run by the International Sleep Products Association.

The tornado of lies and spin that is J&J/Tylenol is sweeping up not only J&J itself but the slavish media that perpetuate the myths.

Also victims are the PR and press associations whose phony codes are not being followed in this case.

On another note, the admirable initiative by the Committee for a Democratic PRSA to oust APR control of the Society is doomed unless it can get the board to put itself into ethical receivership. The non-APRs cannot get fair treatment from the all-APR board and the Assembly that was 72% APRs in 2009.

The $100K meeting of 110 chapter presidents-elect in New York June 4-5 should do partial duty as an Assembly that would remove the unfair APR requirement for office and allow any member to run this summer.

Two-thirds of delegates are needed for a quorum or about 200 votes. Already present are nearly 110 and another 90 votes could be obtained via proxies which were made legal at the last Assembly.

There’s no excuse not to have an Assembly June 4-5 except continued opposition to bringing democracy to the Society.

Tylenol Tall Tales Need Topling

Johnson & Johnson is up to its ears in product recalls these days resulting in a public apology by CEO Bill Weldon.

Almost every story about the recalls mentions what a wonderful job J&J did with Tylenol after the 1982 murders.

Such characterizations are false. There is nothing wonderful about the subsequent murder of 23-year-old Diane Elsroth in 1986 via poisoned Tylenols.

Easily-spiked capsules should never have been mass marketed in the first place and definitely not after seven people were killed with them.

J&J brought them back to market knowing the killer was still at large and with many indications that the Tylenols were poisoned within J&J itself.

That is the claim of former employee Scott Bartz who knows a lot about the distributional practices of the company.

Several PR professors have written that the five-day delay in pulling Tylenol capsules from the market should never be referred to as “immediate” or “instant,” and that there is no way of knowing how much the profit motive figured in J&J’s decision to re-market the capsules.

Among other interesting statements to be brought out in a book by Bartz this summer called “The Tylenol Mafia,” is that Arthur Hull Hayes Jr., FDA Commissioner in 1982, left the FDA in 1983 and signed a ten-year $1,000 per-month contract with Burson-Marsteller, PR firm for Tylenol.

Records dug up by Bartz show that Hayes then became vice chairman and medical director of Nelson Communications, founded in 1987 by former J&J executive Wayne Nelson.

The company got 39% of its $86 million in revenues from J&J in 1996.
Nelson headed McNeil Consumer Products Co., created to market Tylenol in capsules.

J&J’s claim of lack of responsibility is a legal stance and not one that plays in the court of public opinion.

We have e-mailed media that reflexively sing the praises of J&J and are having little luck in getting any of them to change their minds.

Media Reject Tylenol Corrections (So Far)

The Economist, which said April 10 that J&J/Tylenol is the “gold standard of crisis management”) blew us off. That remark was in a column called “Schumpeter” written by Adrian Woolridge.

Business editor Edward McBride said that “In the context of Toyota’s recent failings, or Tiger Woods’ infidelities, or any of the other episodes referred to in the article, J&J’s decision to recall Tylenol was very prompt—although the firm may well have made subsequent mistakes.

“It also seems unfair to say that such easily spiked capsules should never have been marketed. To this day, supermarkets and drug stores across America and around the world remain full of products that could easily be tampered with.”

New York Times reporter Natasha Singer has been unreachable for two weeks. She praised J&J on May 3 for its “fast and adept” handling of the Tylenol murders in 1982.

The Christian Science Monitor, which said Jan. 15 that what J&J did in 1982 “is still regarded as a shining example of corporate social responsibility,” said it will look at the matter more closely.

“The Motley Fool (fool.com),” which on May 6 said that J&J “has always been the poster child for how to handle a crisis,” was sent one of our columns debunking the Tylenol myths.

Fortune magazine, which on May 28, 2007 hailed J&J/Tylenol as the “gold standard in crisis control,” was sent a column via a general Fortune mailbox. The writer was Jia Lynn Yant but there is no way of contacting an individual Fortune reporter via e-mail or phone.

wikipedia.com, which says J&J’s “quick response” in 1982 “has become the gold standard for corporate crisis management,” was sent a column.

Tactics of PRSA, which praised J&J in a full page in 2007 for providing “an enduring example of crisis management done right,” was also sent a column. Tactics editors should read the Society’s PR Journal.

James Lukaszewski, crisis expert for the Society, said in an e-mail to us last week that “The 1982 Tylenol incident remains the most internationally recognized successful crisis incident response, even after all these years.”

U of F Flunks Us

The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications was contacted because a posting on its website called “Effective Crisis Management” says J&J “conducted an immediate product recall,” “knew they were not responsible for tampering of the product,” and put “public safety first.”

We asked College Dean John Wright, Ph.D., to correct these false or at least debatable statements. David Carlson of UF said the piece was by a student who quoted the Chicago Sun-Times, J&J, and Mark Mitchell of Economic Assn. Int’l, and it will be changed when those organizations change their opinions.

Chapters Asked to Conduct Polls

We have e-mailed 24 chapter presidents, asking them to conduct a poll of their members on the APR issue. That would be the democratic thing to do.

Several have replied but none has shown any intention of polling the members, about 80% of whom would be non-APR. We doubt any will.

Jeff Ghannam, president of the National Capital Chapter (NCC), by far the biggest with 1,400+ members, said he will bring the subject up at the board meeting May 20. NCC, above all chapters, should practice democracy but we’re not hopeful. Thirteen of the 14 NCC Assembly delegates are APR when only three should be to reflect the proportion of APR members.

--Jack O'Dwyer