NEW YORK: Volunteer service groups that sponsored a forum on September 11 in New York, attracting presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, planned to build on the grassroots interest from the event.

WASHINGTON: The presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain has hired Tucker Eskew, a founding partner of communications consulting firm ViaNovo and former aide to President George W. Bush, as a strategist for running mate Gov. Sarah Palin.

SAN FRANCISCO: Californians Against Hate are publicly outing companies whose employees have donated $5,000 or more in support of a November ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage in the state.

Obama takes a seat on The O'Reilly Factor; NEJM editors don't dismiss Vytorin cancer link; Apple's big announcement; and more

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently hired Hill & Knowlton to handle Middle East and Asian outreach on behalf of the organization's external relations team.

The goal of MedImmune's "Flu Vaccination: Choose Your Administration" campaign is to raise awareness about flu vaccinations and the options that healthcare consumers have.

NEW YORK: The municipal Board of Elections is working with Burson-Marsteller on a $6.5 million voter awareness campaign to educate New York residents about new voting machines.

What is the key voting bloc that both Obama and McCain should target with their messaging? Some pollsters say that, unlike previous presidential elections cycles filled with talk about "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads," the most important swing voters of 2008 may be women in their 50s or 60s without a college education, Bloomberg reports.

NEW YORK: Nearly 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with consumers via blogs, according to a study conducted by Burson-Marsteller.

NEW YORK: Burson-Marsteller worldwide CEO and president Mark Penn said the recent appointment of longtime Bush confidante Karen Hughes as vice chair marks the start of an effort by the agency to create a worldwide "bipartisan braintrust."