MEXICO TAPS FIRMS FOR PR BLITZ

Mexico's Committee of Tourism and Conventions for the image-tarnished Mexican State of Baja California has hired Allison & Partners to lead a six-figure tourism PR campaign starting this month.

Drug cartel-fueled violence has shaken the region as 28K people have been killed since late 2006.

Allison & Partners, part of MDC Partners, will handle media monitoring and crisis response, as well as proactive media relations with support from San Diego-based Crossborder Group, which has a Mexico outpost. Weddings, medical tourism and outreach to students are among topics to be pitched.

Most of the $300K PR budget is funded by Tijuana’s convention and tourism entity. Rosarito and Ensenda are other key outposts in Baja. Another $100K has been allocated to pay for journalists’ travel and $100K will go to social media.

APCO Worldwide inked a $1.4M deal with Mexico's tourism board last year and Qorvis Communications also had a $330K, one-year contract with the board for online PR.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Crossborder Group will contact universities, chambers of commerce and other groups in the U.S.

In June, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he would launch an “integral publicity project” to include the hiring of a PR firm to burnish the country's image.

FITCH GETS GLOBAL COMMS. HEAD

Fitch Ratings has tapped Citigroup vet Daniel Noonan to head global corporate communications for the international ratings company based in New York.

Noonan, a managing director at Fitch, takes over for MD David Weinfurter, who filled the post on an interim basis since January and is returning to his role as head of strategy and corporate development.

Noonan was at Citigroup for 11 years and leaves the banking giant as managing director of global communications. He was previously associate director of corporate comms. at the American Stock Exchange.

Fitch, one of the “big three” ratings trifecta with Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, is based in New York London and is a unit of Paris-based Fimalac S.A.

NASCAR SHIFTS PR GEARS

Auto racing giant NASCAR is shaking up its PR apparatus with the departure of a top communications executive and the hiring of a search firm to tap a chief communications officer.

NASCAR said managing director of corporate communications Ramsey Poston will step down by the end of the year after seven years with the association amid a restructuring of its PR apparatus. Jim Hunt, VP of corporate communications, is moving into a special projects role.

PR agency Taylor is advising NASCAR on the revamp and produced a report that recommended the new top position be created atop an integrated marketing communications department, along with the addition of several other PR posts that could double its existing staff of more than 20.

Korn/Ferry International has been tapped to run the CCO search.

NASCAR CEO Brian France told the Sports Business Journal: “Our [media relations] model was designed to be more of a service bureau rather than something that could attack all of these things that are evolving. Now we’ve got the right road map to address an ever-changing area and we’re putting a significant amount of resources against it.”

SITRICK LACES ON SKECHERS

Skechers is using Sitick and Company to fend off damage from what it calls a “scientifically worthless” report that questions whether its Shape-Up shoes tone muscles and contribute to weight loss.

The American Council on Exercise released a report in July that found no evidence that toning shoes such as Skechers, help wearers exercise more intensely, burn more calories or improve muscle strength and tone.

Skechers countered with a release Aug. 26 that cited the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority and Australia Therapeutic Products Complaints Resolution Panel that upheld its fitness claims.

Those reports, according to Skechers fitness group president Leonard Armato, confirmed the "facts and science” presented by the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based shoe company. Skechers stands ready to address any complaints about its shoes and “will aggressively defend the integrity of this great product from baseless complaints and junk science attacks,” according to Armato.

Skechers and Reebok International are leaders in the $1.7B toning shoe market. Former football great Joe Montana is Skechers' pitch man.

Tony Knight of Sitrick handles Skechers.

ARMY CORPS DELAYS NEW ORLEANS PR

The Army Corps of Engineers put its lucrative New Orleans PR account out for bids in late August but postponed the RFP a few days later on Sept. 3, a year after it drew fire from critics who said it was trying to “spin” the news.

The Army Corps issued the RFP Aug. 25 for a pact with the New Orleans District Public Affairs Office as it communicates the Corps’ work in reducing hurricane and flood risk in the southeastern area of Louisiana ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

This solicitation was postponed on Sept. 3 pending notice of a new deadline.

The account has been handled by Outreach Process Partners of Annapolis, Md., which won a $5.2M pact in 2007 to provide PR support for the Corps’ public affairs staff and to help stem a tide of negative press by fostering public outreach and communicating the Corps’ work. Its contract runs through September.

A citizens group in New Orleans organized criticism of the PR contract last year by claiming the Corps was trying to “spin” news coverage.

OPP is run by Janice Roper-Graham, a 25-year pro with extensive experience in floodplain, engineering, public works and mitigation communication with clients like FEMA, the Maryland Transportation Authority and the Louisiana Governor´s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

She could not be reached about whether her firm will re-bid for the project.
The RFP covers communications, public affairs, public involvement, community relations, and media relations services. The resulting contract is set at $1.5M for the first year with four option years.

Eighty percent of New Orleans flooded when Corps-designed levees failed after Katrina in 2005.

ICR SHINES LIGHT ON OPEL

Opel International, a photovoltaic cell maker for solar energy production, has hired ICR for PR and IR on a monthly retainer.

The pact starting Sept. 1 is capped at $18K/month.

Opel and its Opel Solar unit have their operations base in Shelton, Conn., near ICR’s Wesport, Conn., headquarters. Opel’s head office is in Toronto and its shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange, which lists early-stage companies not yet ready for the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The company had been working with New York-based PR firm W. T. Blase & Associates. Pat Agudow, VP of public and government relations at Opel, confirmed that ICR is taking over Blase's work.

CEO Leon Pierhal said the company wants to build relationships with analysts, as well as business and trade media as it seeks global investment and a higher profile.

ICR senior VP Gary Dvorchak said the firm will be handling external communications and sees Opel as a “compelling investment proposition” for small cap investors eyeing the so-called clean tech sector.

Opel makes panels and “trackers” which mount solar panels. It closed the second quarter $7.55M in raised capital.

TOP SOLAR CO. GETS COMMS. VP

Ted Meyer, director and head of media relations for Deutsche Bank - Americas, is moving to First Solar, Tempe, Ariz., as VP of corporate communications, starting later this month.

First Solar is publicly traded and the largest solar panel maker in the world. Second quarter revenue was $545.4M.

Meyer was associate director of media relations at UBS and a PR specialist for GE earlier in his career.

TheStreet first reported Meyer’s exit from Deutsche.

BLUESHIRT GUIDES COGENT TO 3M

San Francisco’s Blueshirt Group is guiding Cogent Inc. as the biometric identification company agreed to a $943M takeover by industrial giant 3M.

The deal bolsters 3M’s high-security unit that makes products for border patrol security and passport manufacturing/verification systems, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pasadena-based Cogent employs 500 people that make finger, palm, face and iris I.D. systems for governments and businesses. It had $130M revenues in 2009 in the estimated $4B global biometric market.

Chris Danne, co-founder of Blueshirt, is handling the deal. He founded the firm with fellow Morgen-Walke Assocs. alum Erica Abrams.

Three of Cogent’s top shareholders have come out against the deal. They include Corbyn Investment Management, Iridian Asset Management and Pointer Capital. The New York Times noted the market is “rife with rumors” that there will be a hostile bid.

COUNCIL TABLES SMART GRID PR PACT

The Naperville, Ill., city council has tabled the award of a six-figure PR contract with Chicago-based Jasculca-Turman Associates to educate the public about the installation of “Smart Grid” technology in the city.

J-TA beat out The Vandiver Group (St. Louis), Hill & Knowlton (Chicago) and Community Energy (Palantine, Ill.) for the $449,000-plus, three-year contract, knocking off H&K in the final round, according to documents provided by the city.

Although half of the contract is eligible to be reimbursed by the federal Dept. of Energy under the federal stimulus law, members of the city council said they wanted $314K whacked from the total cost.

Naperville received $11M from the DOE in a matching grant as one of 100 communities in the U.S. to install the digital technology, which controls energy distribution with an eye on conservation and greater efficiency.

The PR contract covers a communications plan, advocacy, assistance with internal and external inquiries about the technology, and development of a handbook for the public.

J-TA and H&K originally proposed campaigns of $1M-plus and $2.7M, respectively, before final offers of $449,725 and $450K.

Council members questioned the cost to taxpayers and asked the city manager why in-house PR staff can’t handle the assignment, according to the Daily Herald.

MIAMI HERALD'S REINHARD JOINS NJ

Beth Reinhard, political reporter and columnist at the Miami Herald, has joined the stampede to the National Journal Group.

She also contributed to the Herald’s “Naked Politics” blog. Reinhard wrote for the Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach), Education Week (Washington) and The Home News (New Brunswick, N.J.) before moving to the Herald.

NJG editorial director Ron Brownstein says Reinhard has the “skill, wit, insight, and passion for the game that makes a great political correspondent.”

Reinhard’s husband, Ronnie Greene, is investigations and government editor of the Herald.

MTV DIALS UP AT&T

Viacom’s MTV Networks has joined with AT&T to give customers free access to musical artists via Motorola’s Android smartphone.

Users will receive social media updates, news, and photos of artists from MTV and its sister networks VHI and CMT.

The service kicks off with "All Time Low" (MTV), Adam Lambert (VHI) and LeAnn Rimes (CMT).

Kevin Arrix, executive VP at MTVN, said consumers now have the "ability to not only engage with their favorite musicians, but also with friends and family, while checking out all the latest music and news of the hottest artists."

AT&T expects a certain level of coolness from the deal. Chris Schembri, VP at ATT Media Services, says in his statement that the partnership “brings to life who ATT is today-an innovation company, constantly working to rethink the limits of what's possible to help consumers live their lives more expansively.”

NEWSWEEK'S GROSS TO YAHOO

Dan Gross, economics editor at Newsweek, is joining Yahoo Finance to beef up its original content push.

The former New York Times columnist had been with Newsweek for three years He also penned Slate's “Moneybox” column.

BusinessInsider.com broke the scoop on Gross' exit from the 76-year-old magazine that is changing ownership hands from the Washington Post Co. to Harman International.

Yahoo Finance is the No. 1 financial site, with almost 42M unique visitors, according to comScore.

WSJ’S HITT TO PUBLIC STRATEGIES

Wall Street Journal congressional reporter Greg Hitt has joined Public Strategies in Washington as a managing director.

Hitt has covered Congress and politics for 20 years at the Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.

PS CEO Dan Bartlett, a counselor to President George W. Bush, worked with Hitt when the veteran reporter covered Bush’s first term. He sees Hitt helping PS clients manage corporate reputations and to navigate D.C. Hitt was at the Winston-Salem Journal before moving to Washington in 1989.

WESTIN RESIGNS FROM ABC NEWS

ABC News president David Westin has resigned after a 13-year run expressing a desire to do “some other things” in his career.

The 58-year-old media executive will serve through the end of the year and said he will seek opportunities outside of the network.

A successor has not yet been named.

Westin, a lawyer, replaced Roone Arledge at the helm of ABC News in 1997.

ABC’s evening news telecast is No. 2 behind NBC.

The Associated Press noted he oversaw a 25 percent reduction in ABC News’ staff in the past few years amid rapid changes in the TV news landscape.

“For the past 13 years, David Westin proved himself a tireless advocate for ABC News.”

Anne Sweeney, co-chair of parent Disney Media Networks, called Westin a “tireless advocate for ABC News” and said he “positioned us for great success going forward.”

Bloomberg reported that ABC was the only major network to have a drop in overall prime-time viewers last season and also was down in the coveted 18-to- 49-year-old group that advertisers seek, according to Nielsen.

BARBASH TAPPED FOR CQ WEEKLY

CQ-Roll Call Group has named Washington Post and Politico veteran Fred Barbash deputy managing editor of CQ Weekly magazine, starting Sept. 20.

Barbash has been a senior editor at Politico and created and ran the online political forum “The Arena.”

He was previously national editor and business editor at the Washington Post, as well as deputy editor of the newspaper’s “Outlook” section.

He was as a national reporter, Supreme Court correspondent and headed the paper’s London bureau. He also taught at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism from 2006-08.

PEOPLE _____________________

New York Observer style writer Simon Doonan has moved to Slate.com. Doonan is the creative director for Barney’s New York.

Conservative pundit Glenn Beck has launched The Blaze, a news aggregation and opinion site.

Scott Baker, previously with Breitbart.com, is managing editor. Info: theblaze.com.

Arlene Getz, editorial director for Newsweek, has joined Reuters as editor in charge of media. She was senior editor of worldwide special editions at Newsweek, senior editor for the U.S. edition, and senior editorial manager for the online edition, among other posts.

Peter Orszag, economist and former director of the Office of Management and Budget, is a new contributing columnist for the New York Times Op-Ed page.

(Media news continued on next page)

PRSA VP-PR FLIPS ON PRESS POLICY

Arthur Yann, VP-PR of PR Society of America, has contradicted himself twice in moves to impede coverage of the 2010 Society conference in D.C. by O’Dwyer staffers.

He told this NL via e-mail Aug. 26 that this reporter and a D.C. writer hired by us could attend the Assembly Oct. 16 but each would have to pay the full fee of $1,275 to attend the conference. When we asked if this was a policy applied only to the O’Dwyer Co., he answered via e-mail, “The policy has not been applied selectively. No.”

We called up Scott Van Camp, editor of PR News, who said he is being given full conference registration at no cost and that he was accepting this even though we might be barred.

Relaying this to Yann, he then e-mailed us that under a new policy, “Any trade publication that attended last year’s conference but never wrote about it, is not being given a complimentary conference registration, but instead is being asked to pay for their registration this year if they wish to attend. Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter falls into this category.”

This statement is false because odwyerpr.com extensively covered principal speakers Arianna Huffington and Wendell Potter.

Conference Speakers Covered

O’Dwyer media have extensively covered conference speakers for many years, including 2008 featured speakers Penelope Trunk who gave career tips, and Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

PRSA staffers pleaded with me to come to a pre-speech press briefing because I was about the only reporter present. I did so and asked him a number of questions.

In 2007, I gave extensive coverage to the remarks by Tim Russert, Karen Hughes, Ray Kotcher, Mia Farrow and other speakers. This coverage appeared on our website, mag and NL.

In 2006, I gave huge coverage to Tavis Smiley, talkshow host, who demanded that PR people “Stop the spinning.”

Yann said on Aug. 26 that John O’Dwyer, who has both editorial and sales duties, could attend the Assembly. “A credential for John to attend the Assembly is not a problem; I’ll add him to the list,” he wrote.

But later in the same day, he wrote: “I checked John's role at the O’Dwyer Co. and your website notes that he is the ‘Advertising Manager and Webmaster.’ Press credentials are for working press, not ad sales reps. Unless he's on the editorial side, it would not be appropriate for him to attend the Assembly. I'm sorry but I cannot add him to the list.”

John O'Dwyer, as his title says, is both editorial and ad sales. “Webmaster” is an editorial title. John O’Dwyer covers public affairs, lobbying and FARA news in the nation's capital.

PRSA's 'No Comment' Policy Described

Yann is directing Twitter users to the Society’s “Media Policy” that bars anyone connected with the Society from talking to the media for or about the Society unless “specifically authorized to do so by the president and chief operating officer or VP of PR.”

Says the policy:

PRSA members and volunteers at all levels of the organization should refrain from speaking with the media as a representative of PRSA and/or on PRSA's behalf.

This policy applies equally to national board members (other than the chair/CEO), national staff members, national task force and committee leaders; College of Fellows inductees; chapter and district officers and board members; section and affinity group chairs and executive committee members; PRSSA national committee members, and PRSSA and PRSA at-large members.

Individual members may speak to the press but “care should be taken to label the viewpoint expressed in such a way that it cannot be construed as an official stance on PRSA’s business operations, policies, thoughts or positions.”

All media inquiries are to be directed to the VP-PR or other members of the Society’s PR department.

— Jack O’Dwyer

LONE STAR SHINES AT ISRAEL PR AWARDS

Jerusalem-based Lone Star Communications was the top winner at the Israel Spokesperson and Public Relations Association annual Roaring Lion Awards for 2010.

Lone Star won Gold honors for campaign of the year for its work on behalf of the March of the Living, a Holocaust education effort, in addition to four other Lions.

CEO Charley Levine said the March campaign “allowed millions of people everywhere to appreciate its vital message: more than six decades after the destruction, sustaining the lessons – and memory – of the Holocaust remains more important and relevant than ever.”

Lone Star edged Ido Hadari and Maccabi Healthcare services, which took silver, and Nati Zilberman, spokesman for the City of Kiryat Yam, which was awarded bronze in the campaign of the year category.

A campaign by Amiran Fleischer for Israeli cellphone provider Pelephone was tops in the marketing category, while Lone Star’s work for Maccabiah Games and Team USA won in the culture category.

Tel Aviv-based Laniado Communications won top honors in the Roaring Lion crisis category for its work during a water workers strike, while honorable mention went to the Nature and Parks Authority for its response to vandalism in the Avdat archaeological site in southern Israel.

Ben Chorin-Alexdranovich won best of the social campaigns for an assignment with the Israel Defense Forces Widow’s Rights group.

Lone Star also won Lions for its international work on behalf of Canadian MP Irwin Cotler and earned a nod in the educational category for the March of the Living campaign.

JONES EYES GOV'T WORK

Jones Public Affairs, a Washington, D.C., shop focused on healthcare and non-profits, has been approved as a GSA schedule contractor, a key step in pursuing government contracts.

Carrie Jones, principal and managing director of Jones Public Affairs, sees the GSA schedule as a “natural expansion” of its client base of pharmaceutical companies, coalitions and non-profit groups.

Millions of dollars in healthcare PR and advertising work have already been awarded following the passage of reform and initiatives to modernize health records in digital format. That bounty is expected to grow as more provisions of the overhaul go into effect.

HM&P MARKS 65 YEARS

Howard, Merrell & Partners, Raleigh, is marking its 65th anniversary this year. The advertising and PR agency was founded in June 1945 by Jack Howard as JT Howard Advertising Agency.

Jim Cobb, CEO and a 25-year veteran of the firm, said “evolution and integration” have been key to HM&P's long-term success. “These are the same characteristics … that have continued to strengthen Howard, Merrell & Partners and have helped us weather challenging times when other agencies, unfortunately, have not.”

RFP: Maine, public health comms.; deadline, Sept. 30. Details: odwyerpr.com/rfps.

BRIEFS: Stevens Baron Communications, Cleveland, has changed its name to Stevens Strategic Communications, 11 years after Edward Stevens purchased Baron Advertising. The firm is also relocating to Westlake, Ohio. SSC is part of the PR Global Network, a group of 40 agencies around the world. ...Lane PR, Portland, Ore., marked its 20th anniversary this summer of the 30-staffer firm founded by president Wendy Lane in 1990. Lane, who has a New York office, thanked clients, media and other supports for contributing to the firm’s success. ...The Phelps Group, Santa Monica, Calif., was again selected to perform at this year’s AdJam "Battle of the Bands" at the House of Blues on September 30. The agency, which placed second in the competition in 2008 and 2009, will return as the band DePhelps Mode with hopes to reclaim the coveted AdJam Axe trophy. ...Nyhus Communications, Seattle, was named to Seattle Business magazine's annual list of Washington's 100 Best Companies to Work For and the annual Inc. Magazine Inc. 5000 list, a compilation of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The Seattle Business ranking evaluated internal communication, leadership and core values essential to developing a successful enterprise, criteria based on data from the firm and employees as determined by a statewide survey of more than 10,000 employees across a range of industries. Nyhus was ranked No. 3,251 on Inc.’s ranking based on revenue percentage growth during a four-year period. It is the second year Nyhus was recognized for its growth by the magazine.

WESTGLEN TOUTS JOLIE PAKISTAN APPEAL

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has tapped West Glen Communications to distribute a PSA with actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie to appeal for humanitarian relief for the millions of Pakistanis displaced by massive flooding across one-fifth of the country.

WestGlen has been disseminating the spot to TV stations via digital delivery, satellite feed and hard copy, along with a multimedia news release and blogger relations push.

In the spot, Jolie, who donated $100K to the effort, asks for a $10 donation by texting the word SWAT to 50555 or via UNrefugees.org/flood.

GLOBENEWSWIRE INKS ASIA PARTNER

The Nasdaq OMX Group, which owns GlobeNewswire, has struck an alliance with Asian investor relations services provider MZCAN.

Under the deal, MZCAN, formerly known as Corporate Asia Network, or CAN, becomes the first Asia-based reseller for GlobeNewswire's press release and multimedia services, while GN becomes a sponsor for the IR Global Rankings in the region.

Nasdaq senior VP Demetrios Skalkotos said the deal is part of its push to provide worldwide a news distribution service targeting media and investors. He said MZCAN will complement Nasdaq's own Asia-based staffers. Seven-year-old MZCAN's services include IR website production and hosting, webcast services, SEC filings, and content development, among other tools.

BW STRIKES COLLEGE MEDIA DEAL

Business Wire said it has enhanced its college and university media circuit through a deal with MediaMate, which manages the advertising process for college media like newspapers and websites.

BW's content will be incorporated into the MM platform as an added-value component of the circuit.

MM founder Brad Duquette said college papers will have access to professional advertising management and timely and relevant content in a single platform.

BRIEFS: PR Newswire parent company United Business Media has acquired virtual career fair producer Astound in a deal worth up to $3.1M over the next three years. Astound's two key offerings are Milicruit, which links employers to U.S. military veterans leaving the armed services, and Unicruit, which helps universities get jobs for graduates. UBM also said that it acquired Shanghai-based paper industry data and intelligence firm IM Paper for $440K in cash and up to $440K more payable over the next two years. ...Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Professional Podcasts, part of PR shop Lubetkin Communications, said it has reached a milestone surpassing 350K downloads of its program content for clients after five years. Managing partner Steve Lubetkin said the mark was reached in the early morning Sept. 1. He noted adding 150K in less than two years is a “clear indication that audience appetities continue to rise” for such content.

WRIGHT GETS BURSON CHAIR

Donald Wright, professor of public relations at Boston University, has been tapped as the Harold Burson Professor and Chair in PR in the institution’s College of Communication.

The position, established by endowment by the Burson-Marsteller founder and chairman and its parent company, Young and Rubicam, carries a five-year appointment.

Wright, a corporate and agency PR veteran, is the third to hold the seven-year-old chair.

He follows longtime BU professor Otto Lerbinger (2003-04) and former B-M CEO Chris Komisarjevsky (2005-06).

Wright has been a professor at BU for five years after stints at the Universities of Texas (Austin), Georgia and South Alabama.

BU was the first school to offer a master’s degree in PR.

JOHN BEARDSLEY DEAD AT 73

John R. Beardsley, retired chief executive officer of Minneapolis-based communications firm Padilla Speer Beardsley, died Sept. 2 night from complications following heart surgery. He was 73.

Beardsley, who began his career as a journalist with the Associated Press, was part of the communications departments at Pillsbury Co. and Dayton Hudson Corp. before joining Padilla and Speer, Inc. in 1970. He was named CEO in 1987 shortly after the firm merged with Brum and Anderson and became Padilla Speer Beardsley. He retired at the end of 2001.

“One of our firm’s core values – Keep Learning – reflects John’s intense desire to understand the triggers that motivate action from customers, investors, employees and voters,” said Lynn Casey, Padilla Speer Beardsley’s current CEO and Beardsley’s successor. “His inspiration came from astonishingly diverse sources ranging from classic literature to pop culture to neuroscience.

His most recent passion, social network theory, is at the root of the social media campaigns and word-of-mouth marketing programs that communications firms like ours are now creating for our clients.”

Professionalizing the public relations field was another of Beardsley’s interests. He presided over the Minnesota chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and became the Society’s national president in 1995.

An early adopter of information technology, he is credited with putting PRSA on the Internet, giving members across the country ready access to PR tools.

Beardsley is survived by Sharon, his wife of 50 years; daughters Elizabeth Hlavac of Minnetonka, Alison Mezzenga of Hopkins and Leslie Yetka of Minnetonka ; grandchildren Justin Mezzenga, Lauren Hlavac, and Benjamin and Katherine Yetka; siblings Doug Foster, Ross Foster, Deborah Tinney and Sandra Barkman.

Plans for a memorial service are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Washburn Center for Children, 2430 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404.

MUSLIM FIRST RESPONDERS STAR IN PSAS

The Council on American-Islamic Relations Sept. 1 unveiled public service announcements featuring a Muslim firefighter and healthcare worker who responded to the World Trade Center attacks as the 9/11 anniversary draws near.

The PSAs, according to the group, are designed to challenge the “growing anti-Muslim bigotry in American society.”

That bias is evidenced by some critics lining up against the Islamic cultural center two blocks from the World Trade Center site and the plan of a Florida evangelical to host a bonfire of Korans on 9/11 this month.

The PSAs are themed “9/11 Happened to Us All.”

Synaptic Digital is handling satellite distribution. They are also available via Synaptic’s The NewsMarket unit.

A third PSA stars Muslim, Jewish and Christian clerics talking about common links between the faiths.

TOBIN BACKS CONSERVATIVE CLIMATE PUSH

Tobin Communications is working with a conservative group to reach right-leaning voters on environmental issues like global warming through Reagan cabinet member George Shultz.

Maryland-based Tobin’s work is on behalf of Climateconservative.org, a joint push from ConservAmerica and Republicans for Environmental Protection, and includes a series of audio and video podcasts with the former secretary of state.

In a 10-minute audio spot with Shultz, Tobin interviews him about President Ronald Reagan’s support of the Montreal Protocol and the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions and wean the U.S. off of a dependence on foreign oil.

“From all I can see, there is a real problem here that is potentially severe,” said Shultz, noting the national security and economic implications of the U.S.’s current energy dependence. “And the longer you wait to get going on doing things, the more difficult it's going to be.”

Shultz, who was Secretary of Labor during the Nixon administration and Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, said he reaches back to Reagan’s optimism to believe that a deal on greenhouse gas emissions can be reached.

Said TC president Maury Tobin: “He’s a respected figure among Republicans and conservatives and is a good choice to get some attention for issues not traditionally associated with those groups.”

ClimateConservative.org is touting Reagan as “one of our greatest climate champions.”

Universal Accreditation Board Chair Anne Dubois, breaking UAB policy that forbids it from interfering in the governance of member organizations, has come out strongly for defeating the bid to put non-APRs on the board of PR Society of America.

Dubois, who is with Dubois Betourne & Assocs., Palm Coast, Fla., was silent up to now on the issue that has generated a record number of postings for a Society e-group.

“Wow,” said her Sept. 2 entry. “So much passionate energy and time committed to this discussion.”

Like a number of other APRs taking part in the discussion, she is fed up with attempts to remove the APR rule for board/officer positions and says, “Let’s move on.”

She would rather see the Oct. 16 Assembly “address issues that affect the PR industry today rather than a governance issue that has already been decided several times earlier.”

Delegate Kathy Lewton responded to Dubois as well as others who have made the same comment that “decoupling” APR from board service has only been brought up once since was first proposed in 1999. The occasion was last year when a full bylaws re-write was also under discussion.

Dubois did not answer e-mails from this NL on her apparent breaking of UAB policy.

An intermediary said that Dubois was speaking, not as UAB chair, but as a delegate from the North Florida chapter. This NL e-mailed her and the intermediary to say that there is only one Anne Dubois and she can't take off her UAB chair title as though it were a coat.

Her e-mail to the e-group did not say she was only speaking as a delegate and not as a representative of the UAB.

APR Called ‘Mark of Distinction’

Dubois called APR “a mark of distinction” and asked, “Why wouldn’t we insist that our board members carry that distinction? No argument presented herein answers that question satisfactorily. If a professional is truly dedicated to PR-just follow the rules, take the test, and help lead the Society. It's really that simple. Let’s move on.”

Steve Cody of Peppercom, New York, last year called the APR designation “useless, useless” and said it had no relation to the realities of the PR industry.

The Society lost $2.9 million on APR from 1986-2002.

APR Debate Called "Ludicrous"

Bryce Campbell, who like Dubois is a member of the North Florida chapter of the Society, told the Aug. 18 teleconference that it was "ludicrous" to bring up the APR issue again when it was defeated just last year (by a vote of 142-111).

He said he was "very upset" at the revival of the APR issue and was also "concerned" that only a few people were on the teleconference.

He said non-APRs have not shown sufficient "commitment" to the Society.

APR's strongest supporters, aside from the Society itself, are in Florida.

Members of the Florida PR Assn. as June 30, 2010, had gained 75 APRs in the past six years, second only to the 904 gained by PRS members. The Southern PR Federation had gained 45 APRs during that period. In fourth place was the National School PR Assn. with 43 APRs and in fifth place was the Maine PR Council with 12 APRs.

PRS, FPRA, SPRF and NSPRA accounted for 1,067 of the 1,087 APRs won or 98%. Five other PR groups divided the other 20 APRs.

McCormick: Assembly Could Cut Debate

Chair McCormick said the Assembly could vote to cut off the APR debate.

The agenda calls for the issue to be discussed in the morning when a number of leader speeches and presentations are scheduled.

Four hours have been set aside in the afternoon for discussion of the current nature of PR and what the future holds for PR.

Lubetkin Wants Issue Buried

Steven Lubetkin, 2004-05 national director, in an e-mail posting, told another delegate that he was “right to be tired of this issue.”

Wrote Lubetkin: “I’d very much like to see the amendment's proponents consider doing something more productive to advance the profession than bringing this up year after year when it is obvious that our membership values the credential enough to keep the requirement in place, and has repeatedly rejected all the arguments about ‘democracy’ or 'barriers' that have been made over and over again.”

He said “It is time we stopped wasting valuable time on this narrow issue of governance and focus on what matters, getting respect for the professional development opportunities our Society offers, and getting respect for the professionalism our membership wants to demonstrate-and expects its leaders to support.”

Lukaszewski Calls it "Old, Old Ground"

James Lukaszewski, who puts on crises seminars for the Society, said PR is "maybe the only profession that is still debating its commitment to individual competency…and just who is outside the Society's door, waiting to ride in and save us with wisdom based on no APR?

"This is a phony argument waged by Jack O'Dwyer, the leader of the people of yesterday, and his old, old pals. We all know how much Jack has helped the Society. He's at it again."

Lukaszewski would like “an argument that focuses on the future, rather than a group of mostly anonymous individuals, whining because they lost a couple of votes or motions or whatever with the Assembly. And having lost, have now chosen this negative, destructive, accusatory route to regain entry.”

Delegate Thomas Duke of Duke PR, Copley, Ohio, e-mailed: “Let’s stop jawboning about this and discuss some more substantial issues about the future of our profession and not internal leadership. Isn’t that what the Assembly determined in 2009, or was I attending another Assembly?

Prof. Margalit Toledano, of the University of Waikato, New Zealand, said the APR issue “has been discussed in length and resolved in last year's Assembly. All arguments have been presented again and again.

“Personally, I would be disappointed if this year's Assembly would devote its limited time to this topic again. Can we please move on?”

— Jack O'Dwyer