CALABASAS, CA: Countrywide Financial, the beleaguered face of the subprime mortgage meltdown, is working with Burson-Marsteller on an extensive internal and external communications effort to ferociously defend itself from its legion of critics.

The campaign, dubbed "Protect Our Home," was first reported in The Wall Street Journal. It aims to motivate both upper managers and regular employees in the company to soldier on despite the "attacks" on the company by competitors and the media.

In an e-mailed statement, Countrywide told PRWeek ...