KETCHUM WINS E-HEALTH RECORDS PACT

Ketchum has won a stimulus-funded $3.9M contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a national education campaign about electronic health records.

The new pact follows the Omnicom unit’s $25M-plus stimulus contract with the Dept. of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and Office for Civil Rights awarded in March to guide an e-health record campaign.

The CMS is planning a national push to educate the public about e-health records and other forms of health information technology supported by the HITECH Act, which set aside $19 billion over four years.

Ketchum picked up the new assignment under so-called IDIQ rules as one in a small group of pre-selected contractors.

Ketchum’s contract from March was one of 100 stimulus projects singled out this month as “questionable” by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who tried to link the work to the controversial Armstrong Williams incident of five years prior.

STATE FARM’S FERNANDEZ TO CARGILL

Mike Fernandez, VP-corporate communications & external relations at State Farm Insurance, is moving next month to Cargill Inc., the giant grain company.

He made his PR mark when serving as point man for the insurer's response to Hurricane Katrina. State Farm paid more than $3.6B in post-Katrina claims.

Fernandez joined State Farm in `06 following a stint at ConAgra Foods. He also held PR posts at US West, CIGNA and was press secretary to former Senator Fritz Hollings.

At Cargill, Fernandez takes over for Bonnie Raquet. He will report to CEO Greg Page. Fernandez co-chairs the Institute for PR's board of trustees.

President Barack Obama filled the top public affairs post at the Dept. of Health and Human Services with an Aug. 19 recess appointment of Richard Sorian, a healthcare reform advocate and former journalist.

Sorian, who was nominated Oct. 5, 2009 and testified before the Senate in May, was VP of public policy and external relations for the National Committee for Quality Assurance and earlier led public affairs for the Center for Studying Health System Change.

He had been serving as an advisor at HHS as he awaited Senate confirmation and was appointed assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS.

EMBATTLED HP TAPS COMMS. VP

Embattled HP has brought in Bloomberg reporter Connie Guglielmo in a newly expanded role as VP of corporate communications, starting Sept. 1.

David Shane, a Weber Shandwick alum who held a VP/comms. role covering external communications at HP, is leaving the company to start his own agency.

HP, which has endured widespread criticism over its ouster of CEO Mark Hurd earlier this month, told this website that Guglielmo will take over Shane's duties and add responsibility for internal communications, executive communications and messaging to the post.

She was a reporter and enterprise writer for Bloomberg’s U.S. technology unit during seven years at the news agency. She was previously Silicon Valley bureau chief at Interactive Week and executive news editor at MacWeek.

Shane was VP in Weber Shandwick’s corporate issues practice in Los Angeles before joining HP in 2008.

BRAGMAN WORKS FOR ‘SLIDER’ SLATER

Steven “Slider” Slater, Jet Blue Airways' most famous flight attendant, is using Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman to sort through opportunities.

The founder of Bragman Nyman Cafarelli PR and now head of Fifteen Minutes is doing media relations and serving as Slater's manager.

Bragman told The Hollywood Reporter that instant folk hero Slater "hit something in the zeitgeist" and that he understands that.

“Everyone is stressed, squeezed, and we all share and understand that. We all understand how hard we're working and how we don’t seem to be getting ahead or being able to pay our bills,” Bragman told THR.

The first task is to handle and resolve the criminal charges against Slater resulting from his decision to slide down Jet Blue airplane's emergency chute.

GEPHARDT GETS EL SALVADOR

Former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt’s firm is representing El Salvador under a one-year contract worth $420K.

Gephardt Government Affairs reports to Francisco Caceres, private secretary to El Salvador’s president, Mauricio Funes. The former head of the country’s Marxist FMLN party was elected president last year.

That election ended 18 years of rule by the conservative Arena party that was backed by the U.S. More than 75,000 people died during El Salvador's civil war.

Funes, a former TV journalist, has restored ties with Cuba and plans to visit Havana next month.

BLJ BOLSTERS CHINA RULE OF TIBET

Brown Lloyd James scoured leading U.S. high school textbooks for their coverage and portrayal of the issues relating to Tibet and China, according to the firm's contract with the Hong Kong-based China-U.S. Exchange Foundation.

The firm then “drafted and submitted a report along with recommendations for countering the tide of public discourse.” Editors and publishers are among those targeted for pitches.

Tibet is a major focus of BLJ's work to promote economical and cultural exchanges between China and the U.S.

The PR firm wants to remove the “emotion” regarding China’s rule of Tibet and the exile of the Dali Llama.

BLJ “proposes that a strong factual counter-narrative be introduced to defend and promote the actions of China with the Tibet Autonomous Region.”

It believes creating a “factual account of the Chinese impact on Tibet and producing a report that eliminates the emotion from the situation” will serve as a strong platform to address critics.

Reversing public perception about Tibet is not going to happen overnight, according to the pact. It requires a "long-term educational campaign to inform a younger generation of the accurate history of China-Tibet relations."

The firm has plans to arrange “familiarization trips” to China for journalism students to help promote a positive look at the country’s accomplishments and “dispel misconceptions about it.”

The goal is to “educate the next generation of U.S. journalists on China and U.S.-China relations while they are still honing their craft.” BLJ has plans for travel of working journalists to Tibet to be chosen “for effectiveness and opportunities for favorable coverage.”

EGG PRODUCERS GET PR HELP

Wright County Egg, the Iowa egg distributor that is the epicenter of a recall involving more than 300M eggs, has brought in Kansas City PR shop CMA Consulting to handle the crisis.

Hillandale Farms, a second Iowa egg producer which joined the massive recall on Aug. 20, is using former Perdue corporate communications VP Julie DeYoung as its spokesperson amid the crisis. She is working with CMA.

Hinda Mitchell, a senior consultant at CMA, is speaking for WCE as the national recall was expanded to 380M eggs last week after a salmonella outbreak was linked to its facilities. Another 170M eggs from Hillandale were added Aug. 20.

CMA specializes in food and agriculture PR and marketing communications.

GolinHarris works with the United Egg Producers, a longtime client and cooperative of egg producers working to allay fears over the recall. A dispatch from that group Aug. 18 noted the massive recall only affected less than one percent of all eggs in the U.S.

WCE’s initial recall announced last week covered 228M eggs sold since mid-May but that was expanded Aug. 18 to include another 152M.

FOXCONN REACHES OUT TO B-M

Burson-Marsteller is counseling Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group as the publicity-shy company seeks to rebound from the spate of employee suicides.

Motivational rallies are the tool that the maker of Apple iPhones/iPads, Sony game consoles and Dell computers is using to bolster employee morale after a dozen workers killed themselves at Foxconn facilities this year.

The sessions are called “Treasure Your Life, Love Your Family. Care for Each Other to Build a Wonderful Future.”

According to the email rally invite, Foxconn is conducting the rallies at its Chinese factories because “it’s perhaps time to look back and to learn from the tragedies and to send an important message to their employees that they are not alone.”

Foxconn installed safety nets at its factories and worker dormitories as a measure to catch would-be jumpers. The last successful jumper suicide was a 22-year-old woman who took the plunge on Aug. 4. Suicide victims are migrant workers far from their home base.

Bloomberg reported Aug. 18 that safety nets have been removed from some plants in northern China where most of the workers are locals and enjoy family support.

The world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics has boosted worker wages and hired counselors/monks to counsel troubled workers among its 800K factory force. Foxconn plans to hire an additional 300K people.

The company denies charges by China Labor Watch that it runs “sweatshops.” To increase scrutiny of its workplaces, Foxconn has opened its biggest plant to the media. Foxconn chairman Terry Gou attributed some of the suicides to the compensation packages offered to the victim's family.

KURDISTAN, VIA QORVIS, SAYS ‘THANK YOU’

Qorvis Communications is distributing a “thank you to the U.S. military” statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government for bringing “freedom and democracy to our people.”

The statement from Qubad Talabani, Kurdistan’s U.S. rep, says Iraqis-and Kurds in particular-are in “debt to the American men and women in uniform for ending the decades of Saddam's tyranny and oppression.”

Talabani notes that no American was either killed or injured as a result of hostile action in the Kurdish region, which is an “island of stability, prosperity and coexistence among Muslims, Christians and other religions.”

Hinting at a future split from Iraq, Talabani looks for “increased diplomatic and economic relations between the U.S., Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.” He welcomes the State Dept. decision to establish a diplomatic consulate in Erbil, Kurdistan's capital city.

“Economically and politically, Kurdistan is evolving into a model for the future of Iraq and a positive example for the entire Middle East,” said Talabani.

The Aug. 18 withdrawal of the last combat brigade from Iraq is a time to give “great thanks to those Americans who defend freedom, democracy and a peaceful future for Iraq and elsewhere.”

ZAKARIA EXITS NEWSWEEK FOR TIME

Fareed Zakaria, columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, is now contributing editor for Time. He will pen a piece every other week.

Zakaria has been mentioned as successor to Newsweek editor Jon Meacham under new owner Harman International.

He currently hosts a foreign affairs program on CNN, which is a corporate sister to Time. Zakaria also served as editor of Newsweek’s international edition.

DOWD JOINS NAT JOURNAL

Matthew Dowd, founder partner of ViaNovo, will write a biweekly column for the National Journal and its revamped website set for an October launch.

He is to provide a “common sense perspective on American culture, politics and government.”

Dowd co-authored “Applebee’s America: How Successful Political, Business and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community” with NJ editor-in-chief Ron Fournier and political consultant Doug Sosnick.

Dowd served as chief strategist for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 campaign and President Bush's 2004 re-election. He also served as president and founding partner of Public Strategies Inc.

SCHLESSINGER QUITS

Mike Paul, the New York PR counselor who runs MGP & Associates, defended his client and friend Dr. Laura Schlessinger, after the conservative talk-show host came under fire for what some have called a “racist rant.”

But Schlessinger said last week on “Larry King Live” that she plans to give up her radio show when her contract is up at the end of this year in a bid to “regain her First Amendment rights.”

The controversy was sparked when Schlessinger invoked an epithet for African-Americans on her show earlier this month in expressing confusion that the term is sometimes used affectionately by black comedians and entertainers.

After a caller expressed surprise that she used the term on air, Schlessinger repeated it three more times sparking a backlash among mostly liberal pundits and bloggers.

Paul, who is black, said Schlessinger “is not, has not been and will not be a racist.”

He has worked with the talk show host and author on book tours and other assignments and said she has helped him personally through a divorce.

Schlessinger, who has a Ph.D. in physiology, apologized on Thursday, a day after the incident, noting on her show: “I articulated the N-word all the way out - more than one time. And that was wrong. I'll say it again - that was wrong.”

Following the flap, show sponsors General Motors Co. and Motel 6 dropped their support.

Schlessinger told King that she wants “to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart ... without somebody getting angry or some special-interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent.”

MAGAZINE CLOSURES SLOW IN 2010, SO FAR

U.S. newsstands aren’t seeing many new magazine titles, but at least they're not folding like they were in 2009.

While only about 90 new magazines opened during the first half of 2010 – down from the 187 new titles to launch during the same period in 2009 – magazine closures only affected about another 90 titles this year, a big improvement from the 279 magazine titles that shuttered their pages during the first half of 2009, according to recent data published by MediaFinder.

The study also found that only six major U.S. print magazines restructured their publication to an exclusively online format during the first half of 2010, as opposed to 43 for the same time period in 2009.

According to MediaFinder, leading the gains in new titles were magazines that specialize in food, with 10 new titles appearing during the first half of 2010. By contrast, home improvement magazines were hit hard, losing a total of 10 titles so far this year and gaining five. Business-to-business magazines fared worst, losing 35 titles while gaining only 17.

The slow rebound for magazines may be global. U.K. publishing company United Business Media – which owns PR Newswire – added one magazine to its publication roster and shed four titles this year, which is a vast improvement from the 15 it killed during the first six months of 2009 alone.

First-half revenue for the company was essentially flat, falling 0.2% to £434.3 million (about $690 million compared with 2009, but revenue at its distribution and monitoring division rose 7.4 percent during the period to £91.2 million ($145 million) in 2010. Overall profit at UBM had been down 5.2 percent over the first half of 2009 to £45.4 million.

The same can't be said for newspapers. U.S. weekday newspaper circulation fell nearly 11% in 2009 and lost another 9% between Oct. '09 and March '10 alone, according to data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. According to an annual survey published by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism, the U.S. newspaper industry has lost a third of its newsroom jobs – or $1.6 billion in reporting editing capacity – since 2000.

Ball State Journalism professor David E. Sumner argues that magazines have a better chance of survival than newspapers due to their niche agility and historic adaptability.

In his new book, "The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900," which charts decade-by-decade growth of the print periodical industry, Sumner claims that while total circulation of the top 50 leading consumer magazines fell 6% from 2007 to 2009, 32 of them saw circulation gains during the same period.

Magazine growth was also surprisingly strong during the Great Depression, Sumner claims.

BRIEF: Michael Boodro was upped to editor-in-chief of Elle Décor. The former executive editor rejoined ED in 2009 from Martha Stewart Living, where he was EIC. ED is part of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.

(Media news continued on next page)

MSNBC REJECTS ANTI-TARGET AD

MSNBC has rejected an ad from liberal group MoveOn.org, calling for a boycott of Target because the retailer is allegedly buying elections.

MSNBC, which is owned by General Electric, says it rejected the ad because it’s an explicit attack on an individual company.

Justin Ruben, MoveOn’s executive director, called the rejection the “height of hypocrisy.”

He said in a statement that “it is alright for corporations like Target to attack candidates and buy elections, but it is not okay for citizen organizations like MoveOn to fight back.”

The Minneapolis-based discount retailer’s $150K donation to a group supporting Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who is anti-gay marriage, triggered a national call for protest.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trangendered people, says it will contribute $150,000 to elect a pro-gay rights governor in the North Star State.

Target says it gave money to MN Forward because that group is committed to improving Minnesota’s business environment.

CEO Gregg Steinhafel posted a statement on the company’s website to say “Target’s support for the GLBT community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company.”

He noted that Target scored a 100% on HRC’s corporate equality index for 2009 and '10.

LOBBYING REPLACES PRESS AS 4TH ESTATE

The power of lobbyists to influence government has replaced the power of the press in that role, says an article in the September Vanity Fair by Edward Sorel.

Lobbyists spent $3.5 billion last year to get their way and are helped by the “disintegrating media” which has lost influence by “trivializing” the news and by “willful disregard for facts and truth,” says Sorel.

“Lobbying is now effectively the fourth branch of government,” he writes, with about 90,000 lobbyists plying their trade in D.C.

He quotes Jack Abramoff, former lobbyist who served time in prison on felony charges, as saying he took part in a system of “legalized bribery.”

The VF piece on lobbying follows a similar cover story in the July 12 Time that was headlined: “On Sale: Your Government. Why Lobbying is Washington’s Best Bargain.”

Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) wrote in a letter to the New York Times April 24 that the financial industry spent $5 billion in ten years to overturn the Glass-Steagall Act and deregulate the industry, leading to the economic downturn.

Spending on Senate and House elections totaled $77 million in 1974 but by 2008 this had risen to $1.36 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Writing that “lobbying gets results,” Sorel says that the pharmaceutical industry “cut a deal” with the Obama Administration to support its healthcare bill (spending in $150 million in ads) if the Administration promised not to push re-importation of cheaper FDA-approved drugs from other countries.

Sorel quotes White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer as saying that “What they teach you on the first day of press secretary school is to worry about blowing something up by giving attention to it.”

But Pfeiffer also told Sorel that a response is necessary with some stories.

Tension is “high” in the sessions run by press secretary Robert Gibbs partly because of the “paucity of full-dress news conferences” by President Obama, says Sorel. He describes the Gibbs “style” as “pastel ties and sardonic asides.”

Gibbs, says Sorel, “faces the most hyperkinetic, souped-up, tricked-out, trivialized and combative media environment any president has ever experienced” including a “fiercely partisan war” against it by Fox News.

He feels many reporters covering the White House lack sufficient experience — “the White House is their first big assignment.”

E-READERS, TABLETS COULD SAVE MAGS

The recent popularity of tablets, e-readers and devices like the iPad could be just what the news industry needs to recoup lost subscribers and vanished advertising revenues if a series of recent industry reports are any indication.

iPads and their ilk could create as much as $3 billion in subscriptions and $1.3 billion in incremental revenue by 2014, according to a new consumer demand survey conducted by Oliver Wyman for Condé Nast digital publishing arm Next Issue Media.

The study, which charted the periodical reading habits of 1,800 U.S. consumers, finds many place a unique value in the e-reader experience and a surprising amount are willing to pay print subscription prices for access to digital content. Specifically, 9% of device-owning subscribers said they’d be likely to buy subscriptions if their preferred magazine offered an interactive edition at the same prince.

The Oliver Wyman study didn’t pontificate on how digital subscription numbers could affect ad revenues or single copy magazine sales. However, a separate, recent study – conducted by Advertiser Perceptions Inc. – found that 62% of ad executives plan to increase their mobile media ad spending over the next year, and nearly half (46%) have already integrated mobile media into their overall advertising strategy.

Taken together, the numbers could be encouraging for publishers weighing the idea of making their titles interactive.

iPad currently leads the number of magazine titles available for e-readers and tablets – with nearly 150 titles – though audience response has varied among titles and the rules of the roost are currently a publishing no-man’s land (Time Inc. and Condé Nast, for example, have kept their iPad subscription prices close to their print counterparts; Hearst is considering increasing the cost of their interactive versions).

So far, especially popular for interactive periodicals – perhaps as a result of consumer demand or preemptively launched as a safe way to test the waters – have been magazine titles that focus on fashion and lifestyle.

KEKST, JOELE FRANK LEAD M&A ADVISORS

Kekst and Company and Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher were the top M&A PR advisors by number of deals and value in North America, respectively, during the first half of 2010, according to research firm mergermarket.

Kekst advised 48 deals during the first half, followed by Abernathy MacGregor Group (42), Joele Frank (41), FD (34) and Sard Verbinnen & Co. (33).

Those five firms also topped last year’s first half ranking, albeit in different sequence with Kekst at the top. In the first half, Kekst worked with AIG in MetLife’s $15.5 billion acquisition of its American Life Insurance Company, investment firm Metropoulos in its pursuit of Pabst Brewing Company, and played a role in the blockbuster United-Continental merger.

Measured by value, mergermarket found that JFWBK handled deals worth $84.5B during the period, followed by SV&C ($65.2B), Kekst ($62.3B), Brunswick Group ($38.5B) and AMG ($24.4B).

JFWBK’s lead in deal value will get a boost from its role in last week’s assignment handling the $39 billion attempted takeover of Potash Corp.

AMG vaulted into the top 5 from No. 8 last year as ranked by value of deals by taking FD’s No. 5 slot from 2009. FD was sixth this year with deals valued at $24.3B.

BURSON WORKS HAITI RECOVERY

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, a multilateral agency coordinating relief, has tapped Burson-Marsteller after a competitive review to handle pro bono PR for a four-month period as the nation continues to rebuild from a devastating earthquake in January.

B-M said it is expected to donate more than $200K in time and services to the IHRC, which was created in April and is chaired by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, and by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

Gabriel Verret, executive director of the IHRC said communicating the entity’s progress to the Haitian national and international communities is “essential.”

The crux of the four-month contract is helping the commission communicate its work aiding both Haiti’s recovery and long-term development.

The Jan. 12 earthquake killed more than 300,000 people.

Euro ‘Not Engaged’ in Jean Campaign

Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, which helped announce singer Wyclef Jean's presidential bid earlier this month and has worked with his charity, said it remains close to the singer but is not actively engaged on the account.

“Right now there is no formal campaign,” Marian Salzman, president of the firm, told O’Dwyer’s, noting she last spoke with Jean several times on Aug. 17. “Stay tuned.”

BRIEF: MWW Group, East Rutherford, N.J., was named “Best Midsize PR Agency of the Year” at the 2010 Golden Bridge Business America Awards. Loughlin/Michaels Group won in the boutique category while Ogilvy PR topped large agencies.

CISION OUTSOURCES MONITORING TO CM

Cision said it will outsource its U.S. broadcast monitoring services, currently handled in-house, to Critical Mention by the end of the month.

Cision CEO Hans Gieskes said the move is part of its ongoing plan to cut fixed costs and move away from in-house monitoring as it focuses on integration and enhancement of content.

Critical Mention, an eight-year-old privately held company based in New York, provides online services for searching and tracking TV and radio content.

The deal comes five years after the $25M merger of Cision (then known as Bacon’s Information) and the video monitoring start-up Multivision.

Cision said the CM capabilities will be integrated for users of its CisionPoint PR software by late August.

Sweden-based Cision said last month that it posted U.S. growth of three percent for the second quarter. It instituted company-wide cost-cutting last year and unloaded unprofitable business as the company focused on rolling out CisionPoint and a digital distribution service CisionWire.

ENR NOW ENGAGE121

PR software and services company eNR Services has changed its name to Engage121 after an upcoming social media monitoring and engagement service.

The company said it will launch a new social media platform early next month to complement its existing offerings like AP Planner, Matchpoint, MediaQ and Grassroots PR.

CEO John Victor said the new offering will let clients “listen, speak and evaluate their social media communications.”

PAGE, COUNCIL SPLITTING UP OFFICES

The Arthur W. Page Society, which has sublet space at 317 Madison Ave. from the Council of PR Firms for the past two years, has told CPRF it is moving to new offices.

Page’s lease with CPRF expired in April and it was renewed for six months. CPRF has renewed its lease on the 23rd floor for another five years.

Julia Hood, former editor-in-chief of PR Week/U.S., who was named president of Page in July, replacing executive director Tom Nicholson, currently shares an office with Kathy Cripps, president of CPRF.

Page leaders are looking at office space in midtown, Chelsea and downtown that will provide a private office for Hood and space for two other staffers.

There are currently 23 offices for rent at the newly renovated 317 Madison Ave., including 5,777 sq. ft. on the 23rd floor. Asking price is $45 per sq. ft.

EVENT: Wed., Sept. 1, Entertainment Publicists Professional Society Panel Discussion, “New York Based Trade Reporters,” 12:30 p.m., networking and lunch, 1-2:00 p.m. panel discussion and Q&A AT ICG, 80 8th Ave., 14th flr., New York City. Cost: free/EPPS and ICG members, $35/non-members with advance paid reservations, $45.00 at the door. RSVP to 888/399-3777.

ARMSTRONG BRINGS IN PR HELP

Lance Armstrong has brought in Democratic PR consultant Mark Fabiani as the cyclist handles the legal and image fallout from being probed by federal prosecutors in a doping inquiry.

Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis got the ball rolling toward Armstrong when he accused the seven-time Tour de France winner of using performance-enhancing drugs. Landis was stripped of the Tour title last year for testing positive.

Fabiani, a counselor to the Clintons during the Whitewater hearings, joined Goldman Sachs' PR roster in April. He is a partner in Fabiani & Lehane with former Al Gore press secretary and Democratic operative Chris Lehane.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that federal prosecutors and investigators had uncovered testimony of “widespread cheating” on the Postal Service team that included Armstrong and Landis.

NEXT FIFTEEN: NEW DIGI SHOP GETTING BIZ

Next Fifteen Communications Group, which owns Text 100 and Bite Communications, among other units, said fiscal-year results will be in-line with expectations despite “continuing uncertainty.”

The conglomerate said the formation of a new digital communications agency has led to business with Virgin America, YouTube, Google and Cisco, among other clients, and noted it will make an announcement about the new firm on Sept. 1 ahead of its fiscal year-end results to be released Oct. 19.

The solid results will come despite that investment in the new firm, along with a “loss-making acquisition” made during the year, the company said.

Next Fifteen's fiscal year ended July 31, capping a calendar period that saw it make several moves in the PR sector, including the acquisitions of M Booth & Associates and Upstream Asia, a majority stake in D.C.-based 463 Communications, and the creation of a consumer PR unit for its Lexis PR division in London.

On its second-half results, chairman Will Whitehorn said the company has seen “improved momentum” despite the continuing uncertainty.

Whitehorn said its strong balance sheet allows for “selective acquisitions.”

SKD KNICKERBOCKER HITS JACKPOT

SKD Knickerbocker is guiding Malaysia’s Genting Group’s bid to establish a racino at New York’s Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

Stefan Friedman, president of strategic communications and PR, is leading that effort. He is a former political columnist for the New York Post.

Genting has agreed to pay the Empire State an upfront $380M license fee, a deal that passed the state's Assembly this month.

The first 1,600 video lottery terminals are expected to be in place within six months. Another 2,900 will be in operation in a year.

Genting predicts its racino will generate $1.5M daily in tax revenue for New York State. Friedman says the Genting facility will be an “economic engine” for the region.

EDSAL TARGETS COSTCO

Edsal Manufacturing chief Mitch Liss told O’Dwyer’s that he will soon select a PR firm to promote the benefit of “buying American products.” Costco , the chain of membership warehouses, will be a prime target of that push.

The Chicago-based manufacturer controls 70 percent of the steel shelving market and has distribution in Home Depot, Lowe’s, Grainger, Office Depot, Staples, Sears and Sam’s Club.

Liss has been trying to woo Costco into selling Edsal's shelves for the past five years, an effort that has yet to bear fruit. He believes PR may do the trick.

In a July 14 letter sent to Costco chairman Jeff Brotman, CEO Jim Sinegal and COO Craig Jelinek, Liss points out that Costco “is the only U.S. retailer to continue to buy 100 percent of its steel shelving products from China despite the savings it could realize from buying domestically while adding hundreds of American jobs.”

Factoring in freight costs, Liss says Costco would save money by selling shelves from Edsal. The letter also notes that Costco would enjoy a shorter lead time, require less inventory and benefit from positive PR by going with a domestic supplier.

Mark Spano, president of the Allied, Novelty and Production Workers union, which has 500 workers at Edsal, penned an Aug. 3 letter to Brotman to encourage Costco to “help the American economy, help American workers, help your customer base and protect the environment by selling products made in the U.S. such as welded steel storage racks made by Edsal Manufacturing.”

Copies of that letter went to Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris, as well as Sinegal and Jelinek.

Liss has narrowed the list of PR firm candidates being considered for the campaign to a pair. The program is to begin next month.

JFWBK FENDS OFF BIG BID

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is guiding Potash Corp. as it fends off a $39B hostile takeover offer by Australia’s BHP Billiton.

Canada’s Potash, the world’s largest fertilizer company, dismisses the offer as “grossly inadequate.”

Wall Street though cheers the move by BHPB, the globe's biggest mining company.

The Wall Street Journal is head cheerleader, featuring the transaction as its lead story with the headline “A $39B Food Fight.” It crows that the Street has “finally found itself a whale of a deal.” As the biggest proposed M&A this year, transaction fees are expected to hit $200M.

For its defense, Potash has lined up Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets as well as lawyers Jones Day and Stikeman Elliott. BHPB’s team includes Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan Securities, TD Securities, Banco Santander, Royal Bank of Scotland and BNP Paribas with lawyers from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Blake, Cassels & Graydon.

Potash’s JFWBK team includes managing directors Andrew Siegel, Jamie Moser and Eric Brielmann.

Art Stevens, Monty Hagler and Sandra Fathi, representing the Committee to Promote Democracy at PRSA, were hammered in two Assembly delegate conference calls Aug. 18.

Delegates demolished their argument that removing APR as a board requirement does not somehow diminish the value of APR.

The delegates expressed impatience that the APR issue was again being brought up after it was defeated last year.

Chair Gary McCormick said debate on it could be cut short by the delegates themselves.

That will almost certainly happen unless the CPDP takes a new tack. Central Michigan got only ten minutes at the 2006 Assembly when it tried to make the board report to the Assembly. None of the other 109 chapters supported it.

As of now, only two chapters are supporting the CPDP (N.Y. and L.A.).

Only 354 signatures have been obtained in four months toward the goal of 1,000 and new signatures have slowed to a near halt.

Shut Up and Take the Test

Stevens held up Richard Edelman as an example of an executive who is “so far along in his career he has no need to prove something by becoming APR.”

But a delegate from New Zealand countered that Edelman could set a great example for members by becoming APR.

Delegate after delegate flung this argument at Stevens, Hagler and Fathi.

Bryan Campbell of the Jacksonville, North Florida chapter, said he was “very upset” that the issue was being revisited so soon and said it was “ludicrous” for a “chapter secretary” to be eligible for the national board without being APR.

Members who are not APR have not shown the “commitment” needed for national service in terms of time and money, he said.

“You cannot separate the two,” he said in response to Hagler and Stevens who repeatedly said they value APR as the “hallmark of PR professionalism” but feel it nevertheless should be separated from governance.

Why Has APR Been Ignored So Long?

The only delegate questioning the primacy of APR was “Mary” from San Diego, who wondered why APR has made so little progress among the members even though it has been around “for more than 20 years.”

Editor’s Note: APR was created in 1964 by the Society after it was suggested by Pride & Alarm, private New York PR group.

A delegate answered that it was the fault of individual members if they did not take the test.

“APR is open to anyone from the day they join” and such members do not deserve to be national leaders “if they can’t find three hours to get to a Prometric Center and take the test,” said the delegate.

Stevens countered by saying that while APR is a “professional hallmark,”executives such as Richard Edelman “have nothing to prove.”

Appeasement Has Failed

The CPDP ran into stiff opposition in April when it proposed dropping the APR rule while not applying other barriers such as demanding that candidates have 20 years in PR “with increasing levels of responsibility.”

Bowing to the APRs, CPDP then proposed the exact wording that was defeated last year by a vote of 142-111 when 72% of the delegates were APR. That measure carried the 20-year rule.

With more than a month and a half left before the Oct. 16 Assembly, the CPDP must bring out the heavy guns and stress the Achilles heal of the APRs—their undemocratic, anti-press, unethical, anti-New York, anti-PR, hypocritical, inconsistent and even loopy behavior.

APRs and only APRs are to blame for all the above.

They are refusing, as usual, to allow rank-and-file members to see the list of 2010 delegates.

They are refusing to audiocast the 2010 Assembly or provide a transcript.

They won’t give the CPDP access to member e-mails or cover the CPDP in Tactics online or in print.

APR candidates, as usual, are in hiding from the members and press.

Corbett Ducks Members, Press

Chair-elect candidate Gerry Corbett is refusing to answer questions by us or four Fellows until after the Assembly because his “priority is getting my children in their new schools.”

Indefensible is the selection of Susan Walton of Brigham Young University as at-large director over African-American Regina Lewis of The Potter’s House of Dallas.

Walton only joined the Society on Nov. 10, 2004 whereas Lewis has been a member since 1992.

The APRs from 1980 to 1994 sold hundreds of thousands of copies of authors’ materials without their permission even though the Code says members must “preserve intellectual property rights in the marketplace.”

They wouldn’t speak to the authors, pay them a nickel or even offer free ads for their books.

They allowed hundreds of Silver Anvil entries to be tossed in the 1980s for minor rule infractions (while keeping the entry fees).

Their ruinous devotion to the bogus APR credential has resulted in membership being around 20,000, a little above where it was in 1998 (19,600). APR subsidies cost the Society $2,926,080 from 1986-2002.

They can’t obey basic Robert’s Rules which bar proxy voting and demand that all articles in a revision be brought before the voting body. They break year after year accounting’s No. 1 rule—money is not booked until earned. They book a year’s dues as cash, providing misleading balance sheets.

They have picked Philadelphia twice for the national conference (2007 and 2013) while ignoring New York, where the Society had its biggest conference ever in 2004.

They created the “Business Case for PR” but neither president Bill Murray nor VP-PR Arthur Yann are out promoting this to business groups.

Calling PR Pros: Definition of PR Needed

The Aug. 18 Assembly teleconferences included a plea by McCormick for members to e-mail their definition of PR to Walton who is preparing a “white paper” for the Assembly Oct. 16.

This bottomless topic will serve as fodder to distract the delegates from the topic of reducing the monopoly the APRs have on governance.

Walton will help members to “bookmark where we are” and what the Society has to do to “set professional development priorities to help guide the profession,” said McCormick. She gave her e-mail address as [email protected].

Since the Society says it speaks for all PR pros, we urge readers to send in their definitions and hopes for PR to Walton and also send us a copy ([email protected]).

Readers may withhold their names or not because the Society has sharp claws when it comes to any members who deal with the press.

— Jack O'Dwyer