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March 25, 2002 Issue of PRWeek

Poynter study finds increased media reliance on spokespeople

ANN ARBOR, MI: Research undertaken by Bob Williams, an ethics fellow at the Poynter Institute for journalism, has documented what he describes as "clear evidence that the ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Forrest Anderson has started his own firm

CHICAGO: Forrest Anderson, the former director of research with Golin/Harris International, has started his own firm, Forrest Anderson & Associates, to handle PR and research. Anderson has ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Linda Beech Cutler appointed by GenCorp

SACRAMENTO, CA: Linda Beech Cutler has been appointed VP, corporate communications for GenCorp, a manufacturer with holdings in the aerospace, chemical, and automotive sectors. Previously, she was ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Cyrus Jollivette joins Blue Cross Blue Shield

JACKSONVILLE, FL: Cyrus Jollivette has joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida in the newly created position of group VP of public affairs. In this role, he ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Rob Mancuso appointed by Combined Specialty

CHICAGO: Rob Mancuso has been named corporate communications officer for Combined Specialty, a unit of Aon, an insurance holding company. Mancuso will oversee PR, media relations, advertising, ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Wendy Burt has joined PR agency New School

MINNEAPOLIS: Wendy Burt, a former associate director of public affairs for the US Department of Transportation, has joined PR agency New School as client services director and ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: LaBreche Murray PR introduces packaged service

MINNEAPOLIS: LaBreche Murray Public Relations has introduced another packaged service, PRevent, a crisis communications planning offering.

NEWS IN BRIEF: Maria Gottschalt named as SVP at Kraft Foods

NORTHFIELD, IL: Maria Gottschalk has been named SVP, financial planning and investor relations, for Kraft Foods, and will report to Kraft's CFO. Maria Sceppaguercio has been named ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Bubble & Squeak opens a US office

BOSTON: Bubble & Squeak, a London PR firm specializing in the broadcast and graphics industries, has opened a US office. The Boston office will be lead by ...

Agency-resistant Gap may extend its relationship with Edelman

SAN FRANCISCO: Gap is in discussions with Edelman Worldwide about continuing media and IR support for the company's corporate PR department.

Ivers heads back to Warner Bros. to lead film publicity

LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros. has hired Stacy Ivers to head up publicity for the entertainment company's film division.

After years on the incline, PR salaries freeze in 2002

NEW YORK: After salary hikes of 7.9% in 2000 and 17% in 2001, average compensation for PR pros remained almost flat, down 0.2% in the last 12 ...

Cordiant moves to redefine muddled BCI agency brand

LONDON: Cordiant Communications has installed Charles Watson, CEO of Financial Dynamics (FD), to serve as CEO of its rudderless PR network, Business Communications International (BCI).

March of Dimes launches child-loss support efforts

WHITE PLAINS, NY: March of Dimes, the nonprofit voluntary health agency, has unveiled a three-years-in-the-planning media initiative to offer bereavement education to parents who have lost an ...

Golin buys FL firm Nixon to focus on social marketing

CHICAGO: Golin/Harris International is buying the Florida-based Nixon Group, and turning it to into a new social marketing practice.

Pressure causes NBC to back down on liquor ad plan

NEW YORK: Cowed by an intensifying public outcry, NBC has backed away from its controversial decision to broadcast ads for hard-liquor products.

PETA lauds Burger King's veggie option

MIAMI: People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hosted a series of free lunches last week - at Burger King.

Space station will soon have help of PR and ad shops

LONDON: The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently looking for agencies to help brand and promote the International Space Station (ISS).

Gatorade opts to revive its relationship with Burson

CHICAGO: After a brief flirtation with two Omnicom firms, Gatorade has decided to give a new PR task to its longtime agency of record Burson-Marsteller.

Genzyme hires HCC De Facto for European PR task

LONDON: Genzyme, the world's third-largest biotech company, has appointed HCC De Facto to handle its European corporate communications. US-based Genzyme has taken on the firm to assist ...

Ogilvy taps Brown for launch of new tourism practice

NEW YORK: Ogilvy Worldwide is establishing a travel and tourism division in the wake of a recent uptick in the leisure market.

Malibu environment lobby calls on ex-Clinton staffer

SIMI VALLEY, CA: An environmental group created by Hollywood power players has stepped up efforts to derail a proposed development in the Santa Monica Mountains by enlisting ...

Air Force charts new course by consolidating comms functions

WASHINGTON: PR at the US Air Force got a whole lot "leaner and meaner

IL power player to start own PR shop

CHICAGO: Jayne Thompson, wife of former Illinois governor Jim Thompson, has resigned as GM of Dilenschneider Group's Chicago office to open her own firm, Jayne Thompson & ...

Crisis shop C4CS enters DC market

WASHINGTON: C4CS, a Charlotte, NC-based crisis communications firm, is opening a Washington, DC office. The expansion is part of a plan to grow C4CS' practice beyond the ...

Kennedy spearheads new cancer support campaign

WASHINGTON: Childhood bone cancer survivor Ted Kennedy Jr. is the media spokesperson in a campaign to announce The Wellness Community, a new online cancer support group.

Establishing standards in relationship between an agency and its client

In today's corporations, procurement or purchasing departments are playing a greater role in agency selection and engagement. According to the Council of Public Relations Firms' Client Advisory ...

New Bizbash launch offers event planners another media venue

NEW YORK: Party planners who fail to claim gossip column inches will now have another option for scoring ink for their soirees.

Magnet adds HBC to its list of recent firm acquisitions

NEW YORK: A week after unveiling its plans to assume control of fellow Havas-network member Arnold Public Relations, Magnet Communications has swallowed up another PR shop.

GCI study stakes wireless tech future on PR rethink

NEW YORK: A new PR strategy is needed if the telecoms industry's multi-billion dollar investment in wireless technologies is going to pay off, according to a study ...

Hellmann's hires H&K for its latest marketing effort

NEW YORK: Unilever Bestfoods' Hellmann's mayonnaise has hired Hill & Knowlton to handle the PR component of a major integrated marketing program this year.

COMMENT: Thought Leader - Companies should welcome disclosure changes new FASB rulings will bring

Understandably, Enron's ugly tale dominates the business news these days. However, it is overshadowing the impact of some new FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) rulings whose quiet ...

EDITORIAL: Expect seismic shift in corporate comms

Executive recruiters aren't having an easy time at the moment. The recruitment merry-go-round had slowed before September 11, and all but ground to a halt afterwards. Some ...

PR takes hard hit as Miramax cuts 14% of total staff

LOS ANGELES: Miramax Films cut 75 employees - just under 14% of its total workforce - last week, with publicity being especially hard-hit.

ANALYSIS: War Against Terror - Silence puts Saudi Arabia in public affairs catch-22. The Saudis have said little since September 11. Is it a culture issue, or is the government torn between its people's loyalty and the US' thirst for oil?

America's relationship with Saudi Arabia is among the most crucial and most unintelligible in a post-September-11 world.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Corporations unprepared to acknowledge the benefits of transparency are truly blind

Like it or not, business today is operating in an Age of Transparency, a time when every action of the corporation is subject to the kind of ...

ANALYSIS: Client Profile - MLS goes on attack to reach its goal of US acceptance

If pro soccer is ever to be taken seriously in the US, Major League Soccer must win over sports fans and the media alike. And, as ...

MEDIA WATCH: '9/11' lauded by most, though some criticize CBS' haste to air it

CBS took a big gamble in airing the 9/11 documentary earlier this month.

MEDIA: HOME IMPROVEMENT - Media Roundup. Do-it-yourself media is building a diverse audience

While it's been around seemingly forever, home improvement journalism is still fine-tuning its audience. David Ward finds that a realistic project is a bigger sell than the ...

MEDIA PROFILE: Good relationships serve clients best in pitching Good Eating

The Good Eating section of the Chicago Tribune is the creme de la creme of food coverage, so PR pitches pile up. But John Frank finds ...

PROFILE: Aplomb carried Christian to the Oval Office and back

George Christian spoke for LBJ, while his work on countless Texas legislative issues and political campaigns speak for his true passion. Sherri Deatherage Green reports.

2002 Salary Survey

At the PR party that was 2000, giddy talk of huge salary increases turned some industry pros into career butterflies, flitting from one job to ...

MARKET FOCUS: MOVIE PR - Film stars and stripes. Hollywood is tapping into the flag, but with varying success

Name this movie: During a time of war, a military officer must find the courage and determination to beat insurmountable odds, leading him to risk his life ...

Commission cuts prompt travel agents to speak out

LEXINGTON, KY: The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) hasreacted forcefully to the news that Delta Air Lines decided to cutcommissions to travel agents for ...

CAMPAIGNS: Public Affairs - New citizens find help in Chronicle

CAMPAIGNS: Product Relaunch - Piaget Polo PR is ahead of its time

CAMPAIGNS: Crisis Communications - Town fights back to protect image

CAREERS: Pandora's Problem Page

Q: I am an account executive with a large multinational PR agency. When I interviewed for this job, I said that one of the reasons I ...

CAREERS: My Big Break - Ellen Blattel, the president of Blattel Associates in San Francisco

I fell into PR quite by accident. As a recent college graduate, I, like many of my peers, was contemplating my career path.

CAREERS: Where I Work - Jessica Pitrone, Assistant account executive, Grant - Jacoby

TALES FROM TINSELTOWN: Media tunes in to Dave's PR ploy, but America would rather sleep

If David Letterman hadn't found a way to sit around in a chair each night making an obscene amount of money, I suspect he would have ...

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Merrill Freund

He's a 4:30am-starting overachiever who would train full-time for the Ironman competition if he could only split himself in two. Meet Merrill Freund, VP of Schwartz Communications.

LAST CALL: Tom Cruise finds pushing religion is risky business

Tom Cruise turned lobbyist? The Church of Scientology scored some star-power PR when long-time member Cruise sidetracked from a European publicity tour to tout the benefits of ...

LAST CALL: Police media leak leaves Dear Abby wanting answers

"Dear Abby

TateAustin to help TX lure business

AUSTIN, TX: Homegrown PR firm TateAustin beat out several national agencies for a $100,000 state contract to help attract new business to Texas.

LAST CALL: Home-based firm is great marriage for PR newlyweds

Helga and Randy West seem to have found happiness, both professionally and personally.

LAST CALL: Trailers take lead role for one night

Tired of hearing about Oscar? The Academy Awards is the talk of Tinseltown for power players, but for those with a shorter attention span, the real excitement ...

LAST CALL: Note to lobbyists: your presents are not welcome in CA

Sign of the times? Lobbyists looking to garner goodwill in the halls of the CA legislature are increasingly being met by placards declining gifts, even those in ...

Thomson puts IR group up for sale

BOSTON: Financial information and technology service Thomson Financial (TF) is putting its global IR consulting business up for sale as part of a group-wide company reorganization.

Revlon will be incorporated into soap opera storyline

NEW YORK: Revlon has made product placement passe with a new deal to incorporate the makeup giant into the storyline of ABC soap All My Children.

NEWS IN BRIEF: Robert O'Leary appointed by Goodyear Tire & Rubber

AKRON, OH: Robert O'Leary is the new SVP of global communications at Goodyear Tire & Rubber, reporting directly to the chairman and CEO. O'Leary had been head ...

Technique

PR TECHNIQUE: MARKET RESEARCH - Public records: extensive and

PR pros rely on research to devise and implement plans. And, findsAimee Grove, public records are a highly economical, all-inclusiveoption for gathering information.