Several Publicis Groupe executives, including CEO Maurice Levy, gave up bonuses this year as a "gesture of solidarity with the Groupe's employees."

In a statement, the company noted that employees "have made substantial efforts throughout the year 2009 to help our clients surmount the economic crisis, and have done so in spite of the fact that the Groupe had instituted a hiring and salary freeze."

Financial journalists believe the financial sector's biggest challenge this year will be proving its credibility, according to the second annual Backbay-Marketwire Financial Services Reputation Survey.

Eighty-two percent of journalists said credibility would be the biggest issue in 2010, an increase compared to the 66% of journalists who reported the same in last year's survey.

Not surprisingly, 83% of the reporters surveyed said the reputation of the financial services sector has declined over the past year. And 64% said they don't expect conditions to improve in the first half of 2010.

The journalists offered some tips for the sector, with 79% of journalists saying that firms that make their executives available for comment have a better chance of receiving positive coverage.

BackBay president Bill Haynes said in a statement: “Journalists are always looking for competent, trustworthy sources with fresh news and insights to share on their company and the industry, who are also willing to be honest and forthright when their companies are facing difficulties.”

As the April 3 release date for the Apple iPad nears, the company is scrambling for more content deals to go with the device, reports The Wall Street Journal .

Apple's original plan to focus on newspaper and other printed content outlets has taken a back seat as the company focuses on "negotiating with media companies for a price cut on TV shows that people can download onto the device," says the WSJ.

But nailing down the content has proven difficult as some potential collaborators weigh the advantages of working with Apple against the potential threats to their current sources of revenue, these people add.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

The last-minute discussions show the complexities that Apple and Chief Executive Steve Jobs are facing in creating a networked multimedia device, which has pushed the company to pare back some of its initial intentions for the iPad's release.

Officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the FDA will issue regulations for online drug advertising and communications in 2010, but will not provide differentiation between social media tools, according to Nextgov.

The federal agency held two days of hearings in November to gather information about how industry is using the Web to communicate on FDA-regulated drugs and devices.

Shelly Burgess, a spokesperson at the FDA, told Nextgov, the "forthcoming guidance will focus on Web-based approaches that would remain relevant for decades, rather than on specific applications...The regulatory areas that FDA expects to cover in its Internet promotion guidance include accountability, ownership, and responsibility."

Jim Edwards at BNET posted a wrap-up of several pharmaceutical company's stances on a guidance earlier this month.

A Wall Street Journal article looks at the impact social media is having on small businesses. While some companies share success stories, Larry Chiagouris, professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business, told the WSJ, "The hype right now exceeds the reality."

More and more small businesses are tackling social media, according to a recent survey, but the tactics are not always proving to be profitable. WSJ reports:

Meanwhile, a separate survey of 500 US small-business owners from the same sponsors found that just 22% made a profit last year from promoting their firms on social media, while 53% said they broke even. What's more, 19% said they actually lost money due to their social-media initiatives.

To gain positive results, entrepreneurs need to regularly interact with consumers through these sites and not simply create static profiles, says Jacob Morgan, co-owner of Chess Media Group Corp., a consulting firm in San Francisco that specializes in social media.

Some small businesses opt to hire outside firms to handle their social-media marketing or advise them on the best ways to use it, but such services can cost hundreds of dollars a month.

Kraft Foods is offering its apologies for going back on its promise to keep Cadbury's Somerdale factory open, following the food giant's acquisition of the British candy maker in January. EVP Marc Firestone said Kraft was "truly sorry," during questioning from members of parliament in London on Tuesday.

He went on to pledge that Kraft would not close any other British factories over the next two years, noting that the decision had damaged Kraft's reputation in the UK. The company had previously vowed to keep the Somerdale factory open, despite the fact that Cadbury had already begun proceedings to close the place down.

From the UK's The Independent:

In a heated session with MPs, [Firestone] claimed that after the takeover had been sealed in January, Kraft had days later found out that the equipment required for manufacturing at Somerdale had already been installed in Poland. "Tens of millions of dollars of new equipment were going into the factory during our takeover bid. We had no way of knowing," said Mr Firestone. But at least one MP laughed at his version of events and cried "nonsense."

Bausch & Lomb announced this week that former Schering-Plough executives Fred Hassan and Brent Saunders named chairman and CEO, respectively. Both Hassan and Saunders left the pharmaceutical company following its merger with Merck.

Under CEO Saunders, the private eye care company will focus on three areas: contact lenses and solutions, prescription eye medicines and surgical equipment, and intraocular lenses. Bausch & Lomb faced reputation issues, following a recall for a lens solution that "was blamed for a flurry of potentially blinding fungal infections."

Matthew Herper at Forbes writes:

The job is a perfect fit. Bausch needs its manufacturing cleaned up and its brand marketing improved. Those have always been strengths for both Hassan and Saunders.

Here at PRWeek, we've been following the ways that the entertainment industry is incorporating more social media elements into its outreach, whether at the Olympics, the Oscars, or the Grammy Awards. Mashable has an overview of that trend.

The piece looks at four ways the entertainment industry is embracing social, including making TV participatory and bringing live sporting events to life online. Author David Yovanno, CEO of Gigya, also looks at how each element is beneficial to fans and to TV networks. When talking about making TV participatory, Yovanno notes:

TV has historically been a “lean back” form of entertainment -– just sit back on your couch and let your eyes and ears take it in. Reality TV shows like American Idol broke new ground by making TV participatory -– fans can take action and influence the outcomes — and social technologies are now helping to make TV a “lean forward” experience.

A new study from the Pew Research Center shows consumers are reluctant to pay for their online news content, a serious issue for the media industry. The study, released March 15, found that only 7% of Americans would pay for online news content content, and 81% of those who reported having a favorite news site said they would look elsewhere if forced to pay for online access to that channel.

Amy Mitchell, deputy director at PRC's Project for Excellence in Journalism, told PRWeek: “This is going to be a big challenge this year. We're seeing a huge resistance from consumers against paying for online content, and without site loyalty it's going to be difficult for these news channels to charge for Internet subscriptions.”

She added: “That being said, news outlets are going to have to figure out some way to bring in revenue from this online content, and it will be interesting to watch how they tackle this problem.”

The study also showed some key findings on how consumers view online advertising. While 81% said they don't mind ads on Internet news channels, 77% say they largely ignore the ads. Forty-two percent said they “never” click on them, and only 21% say they “sometimes” do.

Any thoughts on how long these sites can survive with this type of pressure?

The State Department plans to create seven deputy secretary positions as part of an effort to counter negative media coverage of the US, said under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs Judith McHale. According to The Washington Times, one of the new positions will be an assistant secretary for international media support, a position that will report to PJ Crowley, assistant secretary for public affairs.

McHale spoke to the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on March 10:

In this information-saturated age, we must do a better job of framing our national narrative. We must become more proactive and less reactive ... Increasingly, our opponents and adversaries are developing sophisticated media strategies to spread disinformation and rumors, which ignite hatred and spur acts of terror and destruction.

... These officers will be responsible for ensuring that a public-diplomacy perspective is incorporated as part of senior policy deliberations and for coordinating all our public-diplomacy initiatives throughout their respective regions.