The environmental issue · OVER HERBALIFE WAR Weight management and nutritional ... corporations to the dangers posed by cli-mate change. 16 CHANGES AT …

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 | w w w . o d w y e r p r . c o m

Communications & new media Feb. 2013 I Vol. 27 No. 2

WHY ANTI-ENVIRONMENT PR IS LOSING THE BATTLE PG. 14

REMEMBERING DAN EDELMAN:A TRIBUTE PG. 9

The environmental issue

Special report: inside Obama’s drone warEPA changes revive policy debates

Why companies are finally paying attention to climate change

How to succeed (and fail) at cleantech

Why investing in Sandy clean-up makes economic sense

Febmagazine_Layout 1 1/29/13 12:11 PM Page 1



www.odwyerpr.comDaily, up-to-the minute PR news

January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s GuideFebruary: Environmental & P.A.

March: Food & BeverageApril: Broadcast & Social Media

May: PR Firm RankingsJune: Global & Multicultural

July: Travel & TourismAugust: Financial/I.R.

September: Beauty & FashionOctober: Healthcare & Medical

November: High-TechDecember: Entertainment & Sports

Vol. 26, No. 2Feb. 2013

ADVERTISERS

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COLUMNS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTFraser Seitel

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTRichard Goldstein

OPINIONJack O’Dwyer

PR BUYER’S GUIDE

32333438

EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2013

Butler Associates.........................................13Communicator Awards...........INSIDE COVERDavies..........................................................11Finn Partners.................................................5KEK Media....................................................3Live Star.......................................................25Log-On........................................................17

Ogilvy.......................................BACK COVEROmega Travel..............................................29Rasky Baerlein............................................18Ruder Finn...................................................13Stanton Communications..............................7TV Access....................................................35

O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mail-ing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published monthly.

PROFILES OF ENVIRONMENTALPR & PUBLIC AFFAIRS FIRMS26

31WASHINGTON REPORT36RANKINGS OF ENVIRONMENTALPR & PUBLIC AFFAIRS FIRMS

PR COUNSEL BROUGHT INOVER HERBALIFE WARWeight management and nutritional

supplement company Herbalife is locked in a PRwar with a man who says the company is apyramid scheme.

21EDITORIALOn shooting oneself in the foot. 6

OBAMA FAVORS BIG THREENETWORKSA study shows the President took morequestions from ABC than any other newsoutlet at conferences during his first term.

8

PR GIANT DAN EDELMANDIES AT 92A eulogy for Edelman founder andPR pioneer Daniel Edelman, who diedJanuary 15 at age 92.

9

INVESTING IN NATURE IN APOST-SANDY WORLDAn immense investment in timeand money is needed to rebuild in thewake of hurricane Sandy. But these effortsmake good business sense.

10

WHY MANY COMPANIESFAIL IN CLEANTECH For many companies, the transi-tion to cleantech entails risk, which oftenarouses the fear that enacting such achange will result in failure.

12

ANTI-ENVIRONMENT PR ASCOURGE ON THE INDUSTRY Even today, many PR pros stillknowingly champion industriesthat pollute, and promote false claimsagainst clean energy.

14

COMPANIES SEEING RISKIN CLIMATE CHANGENonprofits and science organiza-tions play an important role in educatingcorporations to the dangers posed by cli-mate change.

16

CHANGES AT EPA POSENEW CHALLENGESEPA Admin. Lisa Jackson’s exitsignals changes for the Obama administra-tion’s environmental policies.

18

PR PRO SUES MEDIABISTROBLOG FOR LIBELA D.C.-based PR pro has suedFishbowlDC, alleging the site intentionallyset out to sully her reputation.

8PR’S EVOLUTION LEAVES BALLIN THE WRONG COURTWhen corporate PR reports to mar-

keting, it finds itself answering to executiveswith little or no PR experience.

22

PUBLIC AFFAIRS: ARE WEON THE SAME PAGE?Why don’t more companies todayintegrate their government relations andcommunications functions?

20

OBAMA’S DRONE PROGRAMRALLIES PR FUROR AT HOMEObama’s intensive drone initiative in

the Middle East has produced a grassrootsopposition movement not seen since the arrivalof the Patriot Act.

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O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mail-ing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published monthly.


FEBRUARY 2013 4 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM6

EDITORIAL

Unless you don’t have access to a television — or a nutty uncle who forwards everyemail he receives — you’d know America is currently ensnared in yet another rowover gun control.

In January, President Obama signed 23 executive orders to address a growing spat ofsenseless gun violence. As Machiavellian as a term like “executive orders” sounds, in truththese actions were relatively benign. They force law enforcement officers to trace firearmsfound in criminal investigations, require the Attorney General to submit reports on “gun safe-ty technologies,” and call on the Centers for Disease Control to research the potential caus-es of gun violence. They also ask for the national launch of a “responsible gun ownershipcampaign,” and suggest the nomination of a full-time ATF director.

Obama simultaneously called on Congress to update our nation’s gun laws: he suggestednational background checks on guns sales, stricter penalties for those who sell guns to felons,and, controversially, to ban “military-style assault weapons” and guns with magazines thathold more than ten rounds. Don’t count on any of these ideas taking traction. A standard def-inition for what constitutes an “assault weapon” is tenuous at best, and the Republican Houseis sure to laugh down any proposed legislative changes to our laissez-faire gun culture.

In other words, Obama’s overtures were little more than empty gestures. In classic fashionhowever, the event has served as one big confirmation bias to the gun enthusiast communi-ty: namely the NRA, various tentacles of the conservative media and our nation’s legions ofarmchair pioneersmen. These people seriously believe any proposed changes to our nation’sgun laws, no matter how insignificant, are somehow a slippery slope to mass gun reposses-sions, home invasions, even full-scale tyranny. We’re witnessing the largest onset of irra-tional paranoia since the Red Scare.

Gymnastic routines in fatuous logic from pundits like Sean Hannity and Eric Bolling havecited recent “statistics” claiming violent crimes in the United States have gone down becausegun sales have gone up. Numbers are fun, but only when their correlation reveals causation.There is no data linking lower national trends in violent crime to the increased market viabil-ity of firearms, just like there is no corollary linking my ability to finally quit smoking andObama being elected President, even though they both occurred in late 2008. The same laps-es in logic have been used to attack history with an eraser, suggesting genocides in Poland,Turkey and the Soviet Union at the hands of military dictators could have been prevented iftheir citizenry had been allowed access to firearms, as if Warsaw ghetto residents armed withLugers could have fended off the SS. History, apparently, is now a B-grade action film.

Nevertheless, the Second Amendment, we have been told, was written to protect us fromthe talons of a tyrannical government. One might say the Amendment was written in a differ-ent time, and is woefully outdated in its language. So, in order to ensure their arguments main-tain relevance, gun diehards have to claim we’re being besieged by the threat of tyranny today.Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Obama. A connection is clear — albeit not the one these nut jobs werehoping for.

A salient trait of conspiracy theories is that, even though the most powerful governments inthe world ostensibly orchestrate them, they’re invariably first decoded by the world’s biggestmorons. Which scenario is more likely: that updating regulations to federal firearms laws is anopen invitation for the Feds to storm our homes and take our guns, or that these regulationsare an affront to our fragile identities and the issues we use to express them by proxy? Peoplehave invested so much of their lives in this topic they abjectly refuse to compromise one iotaon what they know is a far more nuanced issue than what their arguments suggest; they feelthat by acquiescing to oversight and regulation into the sales of certain weapons we are some-how opening the floodgates to mass home invasions, a full repeal of the Second, or givingObama a green light to “take away our guns.” It’s a logical framework made to reinforce indi-vidual identity, not to contribute a meaningful conversation about the wellbeing of our chil-dren, the very subjects these arguments are ostensibly constructed to address.

Incidentally, these very people offered nary a peep when Americans’ rights were legiti-mately threatened in the past; they said nothing about the Patriot Act, pre-Civil Rights Actracial segregation, or when the rights of gay Americans were trampled on again and again.But I digress. You’ll never win an argument with people who are convinced the governmentis out to get them, just like you’re not going to convince some that we went to the moon, thatKennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, or that the earth is round.

In the meantime, I’d like to reflect on a deeper irony here. The modern patriot is now some-one who professes a love of country, yet irrationally believes his country is out to get him.Only in America. £

— Jon Gingerich

On shooting oneself in the foot

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFJack O’[email protected]

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERKevin [email protected]

EDITORJon [email protected]

SENIOR EDITORGreg [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSJohn O’DwyerFraser SeitelRichard Goldstein

ADVERTISING SALESJohn O’DwyerAdvertising Sales [email protected]

Sharlene SpinglerAssociate Publisher & National Sales [email protected]

O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016.(212) 679-2471Fax (212) 683-2750.

© Copyright 2013J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc.

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MEDIA NOTES

Gordon, former Corporate Directorof Food and Beverage PR for TheRitz-Carlton Hotel Company, filed

the civil action in D.C. superior court onJan. 17 against the blog, Mediabistro, par-ent WebMediaBrands, and writers PeterOgburn and Betsy Rothstein, chargingdefamation and invasion of privacy.

She seeks at least $2 million in punitiveand compensatory damages.

She alleges an “unprovoked, onlinesmear campaign” by the blog, allegingpublication of “false, defamatory, mali-cious, nasty, and tasteless statements”which harmed the PR pro’s reputation,business and “overall well-being,”according to the suit.

FishbowlDC did remove some of thecontent after a complaint by Gordon’slawyer last October, but the suit says notall of the pieces were removed and theblog declined to retract the series or apol-ogize.

“While we cannot comment on the

specifics of pending litigation, we do notbelieve that there is any merit to theclaims and plan to defend against themvigorously,” WebMediaBrands EVP andgeneral counsel Mitchell Eisenberg toldLegal Times, which firstreported the suit.

The blog published one ofher letters to the site inNovember.

The complaint stems inpart from a weekly series bythe blog called “WendyWednesday,” which featuredphotos Gordon posted to herFacebook page. Gordonclaims the site never contact-ed her for copyright consentor comment.

One FishbowlDC post cited in the com-plaint reads: “It’s our weekly look at D.C.publicist Wendy Gordon and the insanepictures that she posts of herself on theInternet. Today, we have a classy Wendyat a party. That is, if your definition of

classy is wearing a low cut a dress thatallows your boobs to to spill out …”The post later suggested Gordon waslooking for sex.

Gordon, who says she is a PR profes-sional and not a public figure, claims theblog continued the alleged attacks despiterequests from her and others to stop andrebuffed a demand for a retraction,“despite their knowledge that what theyhad written about her was completelyfalse.”

Gordon says she lost busi-ness opportunities because ofthe coverage.

Gordon has responded tothe FishbowlDC posts in thepast. In November 2011 shewrote on her Facebook wall:“I’m a little perplexed as towhy you seem to find me sointeresting to the point ofconstantly cannibalizingphotos … from my personalFacebook page? … Just for

clarification, the term ‘cougar’ neither fitsnor describes me at all. I happen to preferthose my own age or above in my person-al life, just so you know — since appar-ently you don’t know me at all and arehell bent on presenting a false representa-tion.” £

PR pro sues Mediabistro blog for libelWendy Gordon, who runs Flash PR in Washington, D.C., hassued Mediabistro news and gossip blog FishbowlDC for libel,alleging it intentionally set out to portray her as a “self-pro-moting, attention-seeking, loose party girl/cougar” at theexpense of her reputation and business. By Greg Hazley

Study: Obama favors ABC News at press conferences

ABC got the call from Obama 29times, according to the study, fol-lowed by CBS (28), the

Associated Press (27), NBC (26) andBloomberg (20).

The New York Times was tops amongnewspapers at No. 7 (16 questions), whileFox News was at No. 9 (14 queries).

Fifty news outlets have received atleast one question at Obama news confer-ences, according to the study.

Ostermeir found that NBC’s politicalchief Chuck Todd and ABC News WhiteHouse correspondent Jake Tapper got themost chances to question Obama with 23times each.

The analysis noted that Todd was able

to parlay his time into 52 series of ques-tions and follow-ups.

Meanwhile, Politico, citing a tally byMartha Joynt Kumar, reported thatObama held fewer press conferences – 79— than Presidents George W. Bush, BillClinton and George H.W. Bush duringthe same span. The study included jointappearances with foreign leaders.

George H.W. Bush held 143 pressers,followed by Clinton’s 133 during his firstterm. George W. Bush had 89, butReagan appeared for only 27.

Obama drastically cut down on shortQ&As with reporters, by comparison,holding only 107 such sessions comparedto Clinton’s 612, George W. Bush’s 354and George H.W. Bush’s 313. £

President Barack Obama took more questions from ABC Newscorrespondents than any other outlet during the 36 solo newsconferences of his first term, according to a study by the Univ.of Minnesota’s Eric Ostermeier. By Greg Hazley

This ranking shows ABC as the news outletmost often selected for questions atPresidential news conferences between2009 and 2013.


Edelman, a native New Yorker bornin Brooklyn, worked PR forEdward Gottlieb & Associates after

serving in the Army analyzing Germanpropaganda during World War II, and fol-lowing stints at CBS Radio and MusicraftRecords, where he publicized artists likeDuke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie.

Gottlieb hired Edelman to work on thehair styling brand Toni, which was asponsor of a CBS radio show Edelmanworked on and wanted a PR rep near itsChicago base. “Since I was the only sin-gle man at Gottlieb, I went,” Edelmanrecalled at his 90th birthday party inChicago in 2010.

He later moved in-house at Toni andthen opened up the firm in a small officein Chicago’s Merchandise Mart onOctober 1, 1952 with Toni as its firstclient.

Edelman kept the firm as a family-owned enterprise, fendingoff overtures from advertis-ing agencies and marketingconglomerates, and recruit-ing son Richard in the late1970s to work for the firm.

Richard marked the firm’s60th anniversary in Octoberwith a tribute to his father inChicago, noting Dan broughtPR, traditionally associatedmostly with corporate repu-tation, to the product side.

Dan essentially created the first prod-uct media tour with six sets of twins tout-ing Toni products on a 71-city sojourn.When a set of twins was arrested inOklahoma for practicing cosmetologywithout a license, Dan called theAssociated Press and made it a nationalstory.

Speaking of his father in October,Richard said, “it is a rare gift to find workthat sustains you, and keeps you curiousfor a lifetime. But it is rarer yet to sharethat gift for 34 years with your father.”

The Chicago operation expanded toNew York, Los Angeles, Washington,D.C., and London in the 1960s, beforewider expansion across Europe and, laterin the 1980s, into Asia.

Edelman’s pioneering tactics, foresightand management led him to become oneof the most respected leaders in the field.

Asked in 1968 by O’Dwyer’s to outlinehis thoughts on the future of PR, Edelmansaid:

“For many years, public relations peo-ple felt that they were on the periphery ofcorporate affairs. They found their way tothe front of the class in financial publicrelations and, more and more in market-ing public relations. In the field of socialresponsibility, they are out in front carry-ing the banner. It is their responsibility todefine the problem, relate their companyto it to help establish the company’s posi-tion on it and to communicate this view-point to all concerned. The emergence ofthe new public relations has ended for thepublic relations man the isolation of thepast, and he represents the interdepend-ence of many elements in our society.Here is perhaps the greatest challengeever issued to public relations people.”

At age 11, Edelman and a friend pro-duced a community newspaper. He grad-

uated Phi Beta Kappa fromColumbia College in 1940and earned an MS degreefrom Columbia UniversityGraduate School ofJournalism. He was a sportseditor and reporter for aPoughkeepsie, N.Y., newspa-per before being drafted intothe Army in 1942.

The Army wasEdelman’s introduction toPR. He produced a daily

newspaper for his fellow soldiers, report-ing on developments in the war gleanedfrom the ship’s radio and later moved intopsychological war operations in London.“My job was to write an analysis ofGermany propaganda,” he said. “I pro-vided information about what they wereclaiming, so we could answer it with ourown broadcasts.”

In addition to his son, Richard, of NewYork, Edelman is survived by his wife of59 years, Ruth Ann Rozumoff Edelman, amental health advocate and member ofthe firm’s board of directors; a daughter,Renee, of New York, an Edelman SeniorVP; a son, John, of Chicago, theManaging Director of Edelman’s GlobalEngagement and Corporate SocialResponsibility initiative, and three grand-daughters, Margot, Tory and AmandaEdelman.

Edelman eulogies include belief in PRA memorial service was held Jan. 18 at

Temple Sinai in Chicago.Edelman received many eulogies at his

services, but among those was by daugh-ter Renée, who said “Dan felt PR is ahigher form of communications … theconscience of a corporation.”

The remarks by Ruth, his wife of 49years, and sons Richard and John, provid-ed details of a life devoted to serving oth-ers.

Renée said one of the bedrock beliefsof her father was to remain independent.“He was never going to work for anyone,never sell to an ad agency, he had to behis own boss,” she said.

Among people he admired the mostwere entrepreneurs, she noted, addingthat the Edelman firm has representednumerous people who started major busi-nesses from scratch.

Richard, who succeeded his father asPresident and CEO, said that he talked tohis father every day no matter where inthe world either one of them was.

After Richard had spent 15 years withthe company, Dan told him it was timefor Richard to take the helm but added,“I’m still here, call me every day,”Richard recalled.

The company ran a full page ad in theNew York Times Jan. 16 with a picture ofEdelman above the inscription, “Therewill never be another Dan Edelman —indomitable, ever modest, alwaysresilient, ready for the next challenge. Hisstory inspires us all.”

The Times story noted that Edelman isthe world’s largest PR firm with net feesof $660 million in 2012, a gain of 9.2%over 2011, employing 4,600 in 63 officesin 26 countries.£

FEBRUARY 2013 3 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 9

PR giant Dan Edelman dies at 92Daniel Edelman, PR pioneer and founder of the companythat bears his name, died January 15. He was 92.

By Greg Hazley and Jack O’Dwyer



FEATURE

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Investing in nature, in a post-Sandy world

I’m proud to have served on GovernorCuomo’s NYS 2100 Commission,which released its report on January 6.

The governor has shown great leadershipat a critical moment, and at his urging thecommission has developed wide-rangingrecommendations, including expresslyrecognizing that infrastructure includesnot only man-made structures such asroads and bridges, but also the natural sys-tems that provide key protection from thechanging climate. My experience on thecommission has convinced me that NewYork can now be the champion of invest-ments in natural capital that benefit humanand natural communities alike.

The key to those investments is under-standing how we use land, our most basicresource. The Land Use and EnvironmentCommittee on which I served examinedthat fundamental issue and developed rec-ommendations for three areas: protectingcoastal communities; reducing damagefrom flooding and drought in inland areas;and protecting and upgrading wastewaterinfrastructure.

New York’s coastal regions — includingthe Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River, andGreat Lakes — account for only 12 per-cent of its land mass, but 90 percent of thestate’s population lives and works here.On the fringes of New York City, commu-nities that not so long ago were small, sea-sonal escapes like Totenville, ConeyIsland, the Rockaways, and Long Beachhave become year-round home to thou-sands of people.

Communities like these up and downthe Atlantic seaboard depend on naturalfeatures that serve as green infrastruc-ture — beaches, dunes, barrier islands, andwetlands — for their survival. Sandychanged the profile and location of theseecosystems, and in turn exposed thefragility of much of the critical infrastruc-ture that we have built, like roads, bridges,floodwalls, and storm drains. Catastrophicconsequences of severe storms are notinherent in nature, but rather are a directfunction of the decisions we have made inthe past about where we build, what webuild, and how we build. And our futureresilience will depend upon the decisionswe make now with respect to both our

built and natural infrastructure.The built infrastructure needed to sup-

port dense coastal development threatensthe natural processes that, when intact,protect coastal communities. Naturallyfunctioning beaches, dunes, barrier islandsand wetlands rely on the flow of sediment,water quality that promotes ecosystemhealth, and the necessary space to moveand change over time. Poorly thought outdevelopment of our shores does notaccount for the realities of such an inter-connected and dynamic natural coastalsystem. This destructive cycle will onlyincrease as climate change and sea levelrise continue.

Hurricane Sandy has made it clear thataddressing coastal resiliency and protect-ing coastal communities is fundamental topublic safety, health and economic well-being. The commission’s recommenda-tions recognize that a capital investment innatural coastal systems is cost-effective,provides permanent protection, offers sig-nificant co-benefits, and is an essential partof a solution which will ultimately be theright mix of natural and built approaches.

Sandy may be a harbinger of new andchallenging weather patterns. Suchextremes will have impacts far beyond thecoast. Droughts hit communities across thecountry last year, so millions of people sawfirst-hand the damage they do to drinkingwater, agricultural production, top-soilresources, water-based transport, and waterdependent industrial and recreationaleconomies. Many of those same communi-ties know the devastation that delugesbring as well, including damage to publicand private infrastructure, threats to publicsafety, and the release of toxic chemicals,petroleum, debris, sediment, nutrients, andsewage. Together, the cycle of drought anddeluge poses significant challenges forevery part of our landscape and infrastruc-ture.

As with our coastal areas, investing innatural capital can help here, too.Conserving our natural defenses includeprotecting and restoring critical featuressuch as wetlands and flood plains. Naturalengineering systems include green infra-structure such as green roofs, street trees,and parks. Both of these nature-basedoptions are designed to keep more rainwa-

ter where it falls and away from infrastruc-ture. These systems also provide multipleco-benefits such as cooling urban areas,habitat preservation, and open space pro-tection. Engineered systems include dams,levees, and floodwalls that should be hard-ened and re-sized to serve as critical pro-tections during large floods. The naturaland engineered systems approaches in tan-dem will help to re-establish the naturalwater-cycle on urban and rural landscapesto protect people and infrastructure.

The final component of the commis-sion’s land-use recommendations concernprotecting and upgrading our vulnerableand outdated wastewater treatment infra-structure — the pipelines, treatment plantsand pumping stations that together makeup a fundamental pillar of the state’s publicand environmental health. This infrastruc-ture transports wastewater from homes,buildings, and factories to treatment plants,which treat sewage and discharge effluentto New York waters, directly impactingupon water quality and the health of ourcommunities. As we focus on ensuring thatthese facilities will survive severe weather,we also have the opportunity to upgradethe systems to meet water quality standardsthat protect public health.

New York is not the only place facingthese challenges. On the strength ofGovernor Cuomo’s commitment and therecommendations of the NYS 2100Commission however, it can be a leader.The expertise the state is developingmatches or exceeds that found anywherein the world, including the Netherlands,rightly praised for its foresight in planningfor environmental change. That expertisewill help New York adapt to the changingclimate and will also bring new businessopportunities as other cities and states lookto New York for guidance. A partnership— among governments, financial and aca-demic institutions, businesses, and theenvironmental community — that findsinnovative ways to invest in and benefitfrom our natural capital can offer abrighter future for a post-Sandy world.Mark Tercek is President and CEO of

The Nature Conservancy. His forthcomingbook, “Nature’s Fortune: How Businessand Society Thrive by Investing inNature,” will be published in April. £

As the images of the devastation caused by Sandy finally begin to lose their painful edge, twothings are becoming clear. The first is the scale, in both time and money, of the rebuildingeffort. The second is the equally enormous opportunity that comes with such rebuilding.

By Mark Tercek


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REPORT

We’ve already seen more than afew failures, and we’ll nodoubt see many more.

As long as the successes outweigh thefailures, that’s all that ultimately mat-ters. Indeed, sometimes failure actuallyenables later successes.

As Thomas Edison has been quoted, “Ihave not failed. I’ve just found 10,000ways that won’t work.” And, then finally— ta-da! — he discovered an approachthat worked for the incandescent light-bulb, thereby changing the world forever.

But, sometimes failures can get in theway of success — particularly, if they’rethe wrong kind of failures.

Edison failed quickly, cheaply and —perhaps most importantly — invisibly.Some of cleantech’s most painful failureshave been anything but.

Consider two prominent examples:Solyndra and A123. The technologiesbeing developed by the two companiesactually work well enough, but couldn’tcompete effectively in the marketplace.

The management teams and the back-ers of these companies promised greatthings with premature hype in innumer-able press releases. The companies blewthrough lots of capital — including sub-stantial government funding.

Then, they fly off the cliff and go bust,and the media and blogosphere — muchof which is adverse to cleantech — reporttheir demises with barely-hiddenSchadenfreude.

OK, so it’s not like a mass shootingspree: no-one got killed in these failures.But equity holders lost every dollar, cred-itors took a deep haircut, taxpayer moneywas wasted, and pretty much everyoneactive in the cleantech sector gets taintedby extension.

As bad as economic failures, worse iswhen technologies fail because they sim-ply don’t work.

The earliest windfarms of the mid-1980s in California became an eyesore ofinoperative machinery, because the tur-bines were deployed in mass quantitybefore many engineering and manufac-turing problems had been fully resolved.In the wake of this debacle, the U.S. windindustry took more than a decade torecover. By the time wind energy hadregained credibility in America,European wind turbine manufacturersdominated the market.

These visions returned to me during arecent trip to Oahu, where my lodgingprovided me an ongoing view of theKahuku windfarm standing idle in theface of a week of strong trade-winds. Myfirst thought was a serial failure of theturbines — a relatively new 2.5 megawattdesign from Clipper, a manufacturer withknown technical issues.

However, as this report indicates, theroot cause of the shutdown was unrelatedto the wind turbines, but rather someproblem with a set of grid-scale batteriesbeing developed by Xtreme Power, andbeing piloted at the site to test the abilityof such batteries to buffer the variableoutput of a windfarm. The pilot deploy-

ment had caused not one but three firessomehow involving the interconnectionbetween the windfarm and the HawaiianElectric grid, thus causing the windfarmto be idled while sorting out the batteryissues.

Why weren’t these batteries tested insmaller scale and in aless obvious setting?Not only is the imageof Xtreme Power(and grid-scale ener-gy storage) beingadversely affected,the long shutdown ofKahuku is dampen-ing enthusiasm forwind energy inHawaii.

It is these kinds of visible economic ortechnical failures that give the cleantechsector a black eye. The bad reputationdiminishes civic goodwill, support forfavorable public policies, and appetite forprivate capital to be allocated to the sec-tor.

Unlike Edison’s failures, largely unno-ticed by the rest of the world while hereturned again and again to the drawingboard, visible cleantech failures are dis-tinctly unhelpful.

Such episodes are very painful forthose of us on the sidelines workinghumbly to maintain forward progress inspite of the setbacks that inevitably occurin this long and challenging cleantechtransition.

In the venture capital world, it isaxiomatic to fail fast, so as to minimizecapital at risk. For cleantech, this adageshould be modified: fail fast, andstealthy.

The implication: cleantech ventures —and their investors — are well-advised tomaintain a low profile for a long time,until their success is reasonably assured.It’s far better to underpromise and overde-liver than vice versa. Humility is essen-tial. Premature bragging is very easy toeviscerate by the pundits hungry for a tus-sle when things later go bad.

The more that cleantech entrepreneurscan avoid shooting themselves in the footwhen the spotlight is on them — first andforemost, by not encouraging the spot-light to be shined upon them — the better. Richard Stuebi is a founding Principal

of NorTech Energy Enterprise. He is alsoa Managing Director in charge of clean-tech investment activities at Early StagePartners, a Cleveland-based venture cap-ital firm. £

How to fail in cleantech

Richard Stuebi

People in PR

GAMBLIING INDUSTRY’S PRREP FOLDS

Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American GamingAssn. since its 1995 start-up and one ofWashington’s most powerful lobbyists, is steppingdown on June 30.

The 71-year-old has agreed to remain on as con-sultant through the end of the year to help guidethe leadership transition.

Fahrenkopf has been an aggressive spokesper-son on gambling and political issues on high-profileoutlets such as “Meet The Press,” “Hardball,”“Face the Nation,” “ Today Show,” and “GoodMorning America.”

The Brooklyn native and University of Reno grad-uate began his career representing Nevada casinosand heading the Republican party in the SilverState.

Fahrenkopf rose to Chairman of theRepublication National Committee, serving for sixof Ronald Reagan’s eight years in office and contin-ues to serve as Co-Chair of the Commission onPresidential Debates. He joined the AGA from theHogan and Hartson law firm.

Richard Haddrill, Chairman of the AGA and BallyTechnologies, said in a statement that Fahrenkopfhas been a “has been a steady, thoughtful leaderthrough a period of great change for our industryand has steered us through some of its most diffi-cult challenges.”

The AGA counts among Fahrenkopf’s achieve-ments the creation of the National Center forResponsible Gaming, success of the Global GamingExpo and G2E Asia shows, and the set-up of theAGA Diversity Task Force and Global GamingWomen program.

Companies’ transition to cleantech inevitably entails change,which implies risk. Of course, it also implies some companiesmaking this transition will fail.

By Richard Stuebi




FEATURE

Many of today’s “environment”and energy agencies employthe same tactics used by the

tobacco industry to defend cigarettesfrom public health claims, keepAmericans addicted to nicotine, andthwart liability and smoking’s factuallink to lung cancer. Similarly, well-funded misinformation campaigns andefforts to malign all environmental reg-ulations are working to help fossil fuelspush our survival to the brink.

PR agencies can often face this dilem-ma: whether to represent clients thatpoliticize science and blur reality inrelation to public safety. But thereshould be no dilemma. When the factsare unimpeachable, PR has a responsi-bility to do the right thing. For example,the book “The Cigarette Century: TheRise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of theProduct That Defined America” byHarvard Medical School professorAllan M. Brandt, details the “culture,science, politics, law and global spread”of cigarettes. The industry’s public rela-tions arm, Brandt writes, was “adept attaking a single dissenter and assuringwidespread media coverage of hisviews.” This purposeful agnosticism,which served the tobacco industry well,will sound eerily familiar to anyone fol-lowing the global warming “debate” —another case in which a few pedigreedskeptics, whose views align with thoseof a powerful industry, are framing con-sensus as controversy. “The industry,”Brandt writes, “insisted on scientificcriteria that it knew full well could notbe attained then, or ever.”

After all, the climate impacts andpublic safety costs are far too high torisk what we convey to trusted presscontacts. Considering all the scholar-ship and evidence linking pollution toexacerbating climate change, to remaina global warming skeptic someonewould either have to work for the dirtyenergy lobby or be in complete denial ofscience. The League of ConservationVoters and other environmental propo-nents are demanding answers from Big

Oil and gas companies that continue toraise doubt while they benefit from bil-lions in taxpayer subsidies annually,special accounting rules, and drillingwithout paying royalties for exploitingour natural resources. They are alsoexempted from the federal SafeDrinking Water Act, which leaves regu-lation up to states, many of which haveinadequate laws. Claiming to protect“trade secret” formulas, drilling compa-nies are not required to publicly dis-close the types of chemicals used infracking and the total amounts of toxinsbeing injected thousands of feet under-ground. Before the natural gas boomarrives in your hometown, the industryowes communities an explanation.

The dangers of denialWhether or not you subscribe to glob-

al warming, severe droughts, flooding,wildfires, extreme heat, rising sea lev-els, super storms, and fierce amounts ofprecipitation are resulting and puttingus all at risk. Our warming climatemakes millions of Americans more sus-ceptible to respiratory diseases likeasthma and allergies that result fromexposure to ozone, soot,air pollution, smog, pollen andsmoke from wildfires.

According to the Asthma and AllergyFoundation of America (AAAFA), anestimated 20 million people in theUnited States have asthma and, it is thecause for almost 500,000 hospital stayseach year. AAAFA says asthma is achronic, debilitating condition that hasno cure. It keeps kids out of school andsidelines them from physical activity.Employers lose 12 million work daysevery year when asthma keeps adultsout of the workplace. The disease is alsoresponsible for nearly two million emer-gency-room visits a year. In recentyears, scientists have shown that air pol-lution from cars, factories and powerplants is a major cause of asthmaattacks.

Rejecting human caused globalwarming and ignoring its correlation tosevere public health dangers and short-ened lives, fossil fuel companies are

denying their real energy burden onAmerica. Frankly, burning coal anddrilling gas and oil releases mercury,particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sul-fur dioxide, and dozens of other sub-stances known to be deadly to humans.Describing fossil fuel pollution’s effectson the human respiratory, cardiovascu-lar, and nervous systems, AlanLockwood, MD, a former President ofPhysicians for Social Responsibilityand author of “The Silent Epidemic:Coal and the HiddenThreat to Health”said, “Coal is amajor contributingfactor to the top fourcauses of death inthe U.S.: cancer,heart disease, respi-ratory disease andstroke, but” Dr.Lockwood contin-ued, “I think peopleare completely unaware that pollutionfrom coal is responsible for huge num-bers of deaths.”

Why regulations matterDue to climate change, there is a

direct link between deaths and failure toenforce environmental laws; the NaturalResources Defense Council (NRDC)says heat-related deaths are escalating.According to NRDC’s report titled“Killer Summer Heat; Projected DeathToll from Rising Temperatures inAmerica Due to Climate Change,” esti-mates a rising death toll through the endof the 21st century in the most populat-ed U.S. cities. The findings suggestthree with the highest number of totalestimated heat-related deaths through2099 are Louisville, KY (19,000deaths); Detroit (17,900 deaths); andCleveland (16,600 deaths). Other cities’estimated death tolls through the end ofthe century include: Baltimore (2,900deaths); Boston (5,700 deaths); Chicago(6,400 deaths); Columbus (6,000deaths); Denver (3,500 deaths); LosAngeles (1,200 deaths); Minneapolis

Anti-environment PR a scourge on the industry

Aric Caplan

0Continued on next page

Why do some public relations professionals knowingly champion industries that pollute air,contaminate vital water supplies, circumvent protective regulations and make false claimsagainst clean, renewable energy? Would it be an indictment of our industry to recognize thatPR agencies working to advance petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy are part of theproblem? By Aric Caplan


Anti-environment PR a scourge on the industry


(7,500 deaths); Philadelphia (700deaths); Pittsburgh (1,200 deaths);Providence, R.I. (2,000 deaths); St.Louis (5,600 deaths); Washington, D.C.(3,000 deaths).

“This is a wake-up call. Climatechange has a number of real life-and-death consequences. One of which isthat as carbon pollution continues togrow, climate change is only going toincrease the number of dangerously hotdays each summer, leading to a dramat-ic increase in the number of lives lost,”said Dan Lashof, Director of NRDC’sclimate and clean air program. “To pre-vent the health impacts of climatechange from getting even worse, weneed to establish a comprehensive pro-gram to reduce heat-trapping pollutionfrom all sources, by building on theEnvironmental Protection Agency’sproposals to limit carbon pollution fromnew power plants and cars.”

Science versus punditryThe Climate Reality project estimates

that 90 million tons of carbon (i.e.greenhouse gas pollution) enters theatmosphere every day. Accordingly,maintaining current levels or burningmore fossil fuels will cause the Earth tooverheat as 97% of scientists and othersagree that humans are the cause. TheNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA) foundDecember 2011-November 2012 to bethe sixth-warmest consecutive year thatthe contiguous U.S. has experiencedand the warmest November-October12-months on record.

According to the report, “Sick ofSoot: How the EPA Can Save Lives byCleaning Up Fine Particle Pollution,”released by the American LungAssociation, Clean Air Task Force andEarthjustice, as many as 35,700 prema-ture deaths can be prevented in theUnited States every year if theEnvironmental Protection Agency mod-ernizes and strengthens the health stan-dards for fine particulate matter — alsoknown as soot.

Regrettably, some media outletseither selectively report on globalwarming’s impacts or neglect to take itseriously. In December, Media Mattersfor America exposed the 10 “dumbest”things that Fox News said about climatechange in 2012. Among them, FoxBusiness reporter Tracy Byrnes claimedthat “the temperature basically hasn’tchanged much since the Ice Age,”before she confused global warmingwith the depletion of the ozone layer.Then, during the third warmest summeron record in the U.S., David Asman —

who hosts programs on Fox News andFox Business — claimed “it’s gettingcolder.” Fox Nation, a section ofFoxNews.com, linked to a story aboutthe study with a headline declaring thatwind farms “cause global warming.”When, National Review Online’s DeroyMurdock, a Fox News contributor,argued that NASA shouldn’t explain thefacts about global warming because thescience is still up for debate, claiming“there are scientists on both sides —there are hundreds of thousands on bothsides debating” the causes of climatechange. All such so-called reportingwas a bunch of malarkey.

A “conspiracy” that doesn’t existNot all conservative commentators

and writers manipulate the facts. InNovember, a former speechwriter forPresident George W. Bush, David Frumappeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe toassess the GOP’s post-election 2012agenda. He insisted that, “Republicanshave been fleeced and exploited andlied to by a conservative entertainmentcomplex.” Just days earlier, Mr. Frumtweeted, @davidfrum “Let’s just saythat you’re more likely to get the truthabout climate change from the geeksthan from the editors of the WSJ.”

Last fall in Slate, astronomer andauthor Phil Plait said he consideredwriting a lengthy climate change pieceto deconstruct climate denial argumentsas “completely unscientific nonsense”when geochemist and National ScienceBoard member James LawrencePowell beat him to it. He concludedthat, “If global warming isn’t real andthere’s an actual scientific debate aboutit, that should be reflected in the scien-tific journals.” So, Powell researchedhow many peer-reviewed papers hadbeen published in professional journalsabout climate change, and comparedsupportive ones about the planet warm-ing against challenges to that premise.Out of 13,950 articles that disputed thereality of climate change, guess howmany Powell discovered? “Twenty-four. Yup. Two dozen. Out of nearly14,000.” The only disagreement withinthe scientific community is among sci-entists working for the fossil fuel indus-try.

As TV host, actor and comedian JohnFugelsang says, “Climate Change” is aconspiracy by the World ScientificCommunity to brainwash people intobelieving pollution is bad. You mightbe surprised at today’s profile of thetypical American working to mitigatethe effects of a rapidly warming planet.They are no longer just “crunchy” envi-

ronmentalists and scientists shrouded insterile, white lab coats conducting testswith bubbling beakers. In reality, theyare the U.S. military, family farmersand ranchers, small business owners,hunters, anglers, clergy, and many otherprofessional-types making some prettystrong arguments and every effort tocombat the effects of climate change.

Truth, in the public interestYou don’t have to be a person of faith

to grasp that we are burning the prover-bial candle at both ends. Of “creationcare,” the stewardship and sustainableuse of natural resources including cleanair and water, public lands, oceans,forests, rivers, lakes, and our wilder-ness, the Rev. Richard Cizik describedhis greatest fear would be failing “to beobedient to the command that God hasgiven me and my role here inWashington. That given the authority Ihave, entrusted by 54 denominationalleaders and church pastors from aroundthe country, that I fail to heed God’scall to effectively influence our nation’spublic policies. That is the mandate Ihave been given and entrusted with.That is the greatest fear I have.Because, God doesn’t intend to ask me,‘Rich, how did I create the Earth?’ Hewon’t ask me that. He’ll say ‘Rich,what did you do to protect that which Icreated?’ And that is an awesome ques-tion that deserves a good answer.”

The public relations industry has beengrappling with declaring an official def-inition of PR for years. As it is impor-tant to know what the profession standsfor, it is equally worth mentioning whatthe profession is not. Maybe a journalis-tic code or license should be put in play.Otherwise, what standard of fairness,truth, accuracy and completenessshould PR represent? That standardcould be corrosive to some agency folkswho have never worked in a newsroom,been accountable to a readership or anaudience and held responsible for theircontent by advertisers. For that reason,PR should be advocating in the publicinterest instead of creating obstaclesand unreasonable doubt about peerreviewed, scientific rationale and more.I guess it’s plausible for some politi-cians to deliberately manipulate thefacts to polarize the electorate or raisemoney to become reelected. Thoughthat’s a pretty low bar for PR when aswriters, messaging consultants, cam-paign strategists, media trainers, andspecial event planners daily endeavor tomake a difference in the world. Aric Caplan is President of Caplan

Communications in Rockville, MD. £



Several months after the 2006 launchof the Stern Review on theEconomics of Climate Change —

considered by many to be the most com-prehensive review ever carried out on theeconomics of climate change — JohnLlewellyn, a longtime top economist withthe Organization for Economic Co-opera-tion and Development (OECD) and thenan economist with Lehman Brothers,released another seminal report. Llewellynnoted that “In the world of business andfinance, climate change has developedfrom being a fringe concern, focusing onthe company’s brand and its Corporate andSocial Responsibility, to an increasinglycentral topic for strategic deliberation anddecision-making by executives andinvestors around the globe.”

He further said, “Businesses are likelyto be affected both by climate change itselfand by policies to address it through regu-latory exposure, physical exposure, com-petitive exposure and reputational —including litigational — exposure.”

Nonprofit organizations like the CarbonDisclosure Project (CDP) play an impor-tant role in bringing a focus to the risksthat corporations are incurring from cli-mate change. The first step in managingthese risks is measuring the greenhousegas output of a business’s operations,“because in business what gets measuredgets managed.” CDP gathers this datafrom 3,000 companies worldwide andpromulgates the information to govern-ments, investors and other businesses, aca-demics, think tanks and NGOs.

The Climate Registry is another non-profit doing similar work with a focus onNorth America. In order to create a globalstandard for this sort of reporting, theClimate Disclosure Standards Board wasformed in 2007 at the World EconomicForum. Two of the members of the found-ing board said “Climate change and theimplications on business process and dis-closure are finally becoming the topic ofdiscussion that they deserve to be.” MindyLubber, another founder of the CDSB,said at the time: “This initiative is a keystep to improving and standardizing com-pany disclosure on the risks and opportu-nities from climate change, whether fromnew regulations, physical impacts or

growing global demand for clean technol-ogy products.”

Lubber is the head of Ceres. Ceres, likethe U.S. Climate Action Partnership and somany other highly effective organizationsdedicated to sustainability, is a coalition ofscores of groups from the public interestsector as well as investment institutionsand foundations. Ceres works on a numberof fronts, but one of its principal jobs ismaking sure that corporations know thatinvestors are watching and concerned. Itworks to promote awareness in the invest-ment community of the risks and theopportunities presented by climate change.The 90 institutional investors and financialfirms of the Investor Network on ClimateRisk (INCR) (launched by Ceres) havesome juice: The members collectivelymanage nearly $10 trillion in assets. WhenINCR talks, Wall St. and corporate boardslisten.

Are Wall Street and industrial and com-mercial enterprises getting the message?Echoing John Llewellyn, Lubber notes:“There is no question in my mind that weare no longer debating the issue of whetheror not climate change is real and has a realfinancial impact within the corporate com-munity.”

For example, the interest in and atten-dance at climate and sustainability sessionsat the World Economic Forum have contin-ued to mushroom over each of the past sev-eral years. “It is seen as a world class envi-ronmental, national security, public healthand financial issue within the financial andcorporate sectors. It is radically differentfrom five years ago.”

One way to pressure a company is tobring shareholder proposals calling forgreater attention to climate risk to a vote atannual general meetings. As the numberand strength of these proposals have growneach year, many more of them are beingaddressed by the companies by their agree-ing, without the actual vote, to meet theterms of the proposals.

Other groups like Ceres keep the focuson climate change with public statements,shareholder activism, conferences and byengaging directly with companies. TheInstitutional Investors Group on ClimateChange (IIGCC) has over sixty-five mem-bers in Europe managing around €6 trillion($8 trillion). In November 2010, Ceres,

IIGCC and others issued a call to worldgovernments: “Take action now in the fightagainst global warming or risk economicdisruptions far more severe than the recentfinancial crisis.” The statement was signedby 259 investors from the United States,Europe, Asia and Australia with collectiveassets totaling over $15 trillion.

Even with all the focus and energy that isbeing brought to bear, the news is not allpositive. A survey of top investment man-agers by Ceres revealed that they are notadequately seeing and addressing the risks,many going so far asto say they don’tbelieve that climatechange is financially“material” to theirinvestment decisions.

Al Gore refers tofossil fuel and relatedinventory and invest-ments as “subprimecarbon assets.” Withthe advent andadvance of the movement toward putting aprice on carbon, Gore thinks “the owners ofthese assets will soon face a reckoning inthe marketplace. They are in roughly thesame position as the holders of subprimemortgages before they realized the awfulmistake they had made.”

The great renewable-energy seer andactivist Herman Scheer described our post-industrial economies as being in transitionfrom being based on fuels to being “tech-nology-based.” If we are able to successful-ly effect this change, and rapidly emergingeconomies are able to “leapfrog” to this par-adigm, then the pressures on the environ-ment, public health and the climate systemwill be radically diminished.

If major corporations from sectors asdiverse as manufacturing, insurance, retailand finance — and even some of thebiggest energy and fuel companies — fullyrecognize and embrace the opportunities inthis transformation (and the risks in notmaking it), then we have considerable hopefor the future. Bill Hewitt has held public affairs posi-

tions with the NY State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation, and workedon environmental issues for mayoral andpresidential campaigns. He teaches atNYU’s Center for Global Affairs. This arti-cle is an excerpt from his book “A NewerWorld: Politics, Money, Technology, andWhat’s Really Being Done to Solve theClimate Crisis.” £

Companies, investors seeing risk in climate changeNonprofits and science organizations play an important role ineducating corporations to the dangers posed by climate change.

FEATURE

Bill Hewitt

By Bill Hewitt


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FEATURE

The announcement that Jacksonwould step down prior to PresidentObama’s second term was not a

total surprise. As one of the ObamaAdministration’s most polarizing figures,Jackson aggressively pressed thePresident’s environmental agenda, earn-ing the ire of energy producers, manufac-turers and other commercial interests aswell as some Democrats and state envi-ronment departments across the country.

Jackson was so effective at pushingthe President’s agenda that the WallStreet Journal referred to her as “… hisrepressed green id.” She was a leader inthe Obama Administration’s first-termefforts to legislate through regulationand as a result enjoyed a great degree ofleeway in steering the President’s envi-ronmental agenda. Her influence wassuch that when the President delayed an

EPA rule on ozone in 2011, it’s saidJackson went ballistic and threatened anugly public resignation, a move sure toanger environmental advocates just asthe campaign was heating up.

While Jackson may have won thatround, ruffling the White House’s feath-ers during a campaign is not a good wayto secure a second term as an agencyhead or cabinet secretary. It’s no secretthat myriad regulations were put on holdduring the campaign. Many believe thepent up internal tsunami is about tobreak on several intensely controversialissues such as hydraulic fracturing,greenhouse gas emissions, clean water,soot and the expected return of theKeystone Pipeline debate. To pursuethese wide ranging and controversialgoals, the White House must have confi-dence its EPA Administrator is a teamplayer and Jackson’s blowup likely

undermined that trust. The Green Lobby surely views

President Obama’s re-election as reasonto believe they are free to press their pri-orities even more aggressively.Certainly, a lame duck term gives a pres-ident the latitude to open the throttle onthe more controversial elements of hisagenda. Still, envi-ronmentalists areleaving nothing tochance. They havemade clear theirwillingness to usethe courts to compelaction on issuessuch as power plantemissions, dieselfuels in hydrofrac-turing and similarpriorities not only to force EPA’s hand,but to amplify its efforts. Whomever thePresident nominates as Jackson’s suc-cessor, the new administrator will findthe green groups ready simultaneouslyto help and threaten. Emboldened asthey are by the election outcome, envi-ronmental activists are further energizedby the EPA’s own success in court rul-ings that affirmed the agency’s preroga-tive to declare greenhouse gas emissionsa significant public health risk, perhapsJackson’s most prominent legacy. Theyexpect the agency to wield that authorityand are breaking new ground to ensure ithappens.

Already, there is evidence of this strat-egy. The Natural Resources DefenseCouncil threw down the gauntlet byhanding the EPA a draft regulation andplan for going after greenhouse gasemissions saying essentially, take it orelse. The plan calls for using the CleanAir Act and the powers that law grantsthe EPA as a means for circumventingCongress where the Republican Housesurely would take the “ghost-written”draft regulation to task.

As such, industry groups and theiragency partners are wasting no timeconsidering how to rebuff these effortsand make their case. The play book willsurely include the following:

Changes at EPA pose new series of challengesThe recent announcement that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jacksonwould step down signals forthcoming changes for the Obama administration’s environmentalpolicies, as well as a surge of renewed environmental debates.

By Peter V. Stanton

Peter V. Stanton




It’s still about jobsThe energy, chemical, technology

and transportation industries facedaunting regulations in the new term.While sympathetic congressional lead-ership in the House will help, chal-lenges from an activist EPA and a pres-ident prone to Executive Order policyremain. That said, those industries holda vital and valuable card. They areinvesting and creating jobs. The unem-ployment crisis did not fade away withthe election. It’s real. It’s persistent.And the public considers it a priority.

A 2009 study from the University ofCalifornia found that as unemploymentrises, interest in the environment andclimate change declines. A few yearshave passed since the study was issued,but unemployment remains inordinate-ly high and seemingly intractable.Beyond that, it is unlikely any electedofficial at either the state or federallevel will argue against job creation andincreased employment opportunities forhis or her constituents.

The more a direct correlation can bemade between new regulations and adeleterious effect on job growth, themore likely a fair and balanced hearing— if not an outright win — by industrycan be achieved. The need is to makeemployment arguments real and per-sonal. By putting a face on the issue,showing the folks working and beinghired in these industries, the argumentsbecome more than a numbers game.Jobs matter, but people count. Theindustries would do well to humanizetheir story.

Keep it simpleThe default posture for industry com-

munication on environmental regulato-ry policy is a discussion of sound sci-ence. This remains imperative as noless than the National Academies ofScience have taken the EPA to task forfailing to provide satisfactory scientificevidence to support certain conclu-sions.

The challenge, however, is to makethose arguments clear in layman’sEnglish. Hard scientific data are oftendifficult to explain in terms that areboth meaningful and compelling to theaverage consumer. As any PR profes-sional in the business of discussingparts-per-quadrillion knows, the battleis lost if the media and consumers lapseinto jargon-induced narcolepsy.

When we talk instead about risk, wehave a greater opportunity to put com-plex information into context for con-sumers bombarded with technical infor-mation. Americans are pragmatic. They

want to do what is best for themselves,their families and the environment, butthey also strive to be reasonable. It isthe rare consumer that goes through thepantry tossing all canned food and bev-erage products because of a vague sus-picion about the purported effects ofbisphenol-A. They may opt instead toreduce the potential for consumption bythe infant in the family, but still enjoy acold can of Budweiser at Sunday’s tail-gate party.

Put risk into meaningful perspectiveand consumers will thank us for helpingthem cut through the hype and para-noia.

Power remains in the statesJackson turned the EPA into a formi-

dable force on regulatory policy. Shefought tenaciously on key issues andwon legal battles the agency and greenlobby view as authority to do evenmore. The next wave is certain toimpact the states where environmentalpolicy is still influenced by local con-cerns and economic priorities.Administrator Jackson was known forher adherence to the concept of federalsuperiority over state environmentalissues. The new administrator no doubtwill be measured by activist groups onhis or her willingness to maintain thatposture.

A key example is hydrofracturing fornatural gas extraction. In states such asPennsylvania, endorsement of this tech-nology has led to a jobs and economicboom. Much the same is occurring inOhio where long dormant manufactur-ing towns are coming back to life on thestrength of this new activity. These andother states have drawn a clear line inthe sand against federal interference inlocal matters. Pennsylvania’s DEPSecretary Michael Krancer, an outspo-ken advocate for state control, has beensuccessful in creating a coalition ofRepublicans and Democrats in thePennsylvania congressional delegationopposed to EPA overreach in the frack-ing debate. He is not alone. Others areunlikely to take lightly any attempt bythe EPA to curtail hydrofracturingthrough regulatory fiat. They must andwill bring pressure to bear on their rep-resentatives in Congress to challengethe EPA should the agency attempt toimpose onerous restrictions on drilling.

If the Green Lobby has proven any-thing, it has shown it can turn peopleout to express support for restrictivepolicies. This was on full display duringthe Keystone pipeline debate in whichJackson, at minimum, won a stay duringthe election. The next round will be

even more contentious. Industry groupswill need to play by the same set ofrules and bring out the ground troopsthat can give congressional delegationsand state leadership essential cover topush back against what they character-ize as EPA overreach.

The Jackson departure signals noth-ing if not a moment when both sides ofenvironmental policy debates are meas-uring the challenges ahead and prepar-ing their plans. For industry communi-cators and their agency partners, thetsunami can be countered with soundstrategy. Such strategy must be framedin terms that resonate with an Americanpublic genuinely concerned about pro-tecting the environment, but equallyconcerned about their economic wellbeing. Now more than ever, there seemsto be an opportunity to balance thoseconcerns in practical real-world terms.Peter V. Stanton is President & CEO

of Stanton Communications, Inc. £

News Briefs

INSIDER TRADING HASBECOME ‘SOCIALIZED’

Insider trading has entered the age of theFacebook generation and become more complexand “socialized,” according to a study to be pub-lished by New York-based Montieth & Co.

President Montieth Illingworth, a former finan-cial reporter, said the forthcoming analysis of 76insider trading cases since 2009 shows relation-ships between individuals charged, and their pat-terns of communication, appear to be a socializednetworking model as evidenced by expert net-works.

While social networking didn’t cause thosecharged to engage in insider trading, Illingworthsaid the research shows the behavior was similarto that seen on social networks.

“Every generation commits crimes in its own,unique way and when you look at the people whoengaged in insider trading today you can see thatpatterns of what we term intra-social networking,”he said. “This is insider trading in the age of the‘Facebook Generation.’”

The study analyzes the 76 cases brought sincethe appointment of U.S. attorney for the SouthernDistrict of New York Preet Bharara, including thelarge cases involving Galleon and individuals con-nected to SAC Capital.

Illingworth, who is developing a social-basedcompliance solution with digital firm EchoDitto,noted that while the insider cases of the 1980swere focused on investment banks, the studyshowed 11 different types of organizes involved inthe recent cases — hedge funds, banks, corpora-tions, and expert networkings, among other enti-ties.

Illingworth said the 1980s cases were driven byindividual “masterminds” while the recent insidertrading cases show a greater level of complexityinvolving numbers of people across multiple corpo-rate affiliations.

He said social networking tools can be used toeducate employees and the business partners theyineract with to avoid running afoul of securitieslaws.



REPORT

Natural synergies exist amongthose who manage relationshipswith government, the media, local

communities, employees and other stake-holders. It seems inefficient — and evendangerous — to build “silos” that sepa-rate people and programs with similargoals.

Twenty years ago, it was common inthe U.S. for these two functions to reportto the same person. In Europe, Asia andAustralia, it is still customary for a glob-al head of public affairs to be responsiblefor both reputational and policy matters.Yet, according to a 2011 study by theFoundation for Public Affairs, only halfof large American companies currentlylocate communications and governmentrelations functions in the same corporateunit. Why the disconnect? Here are fourreasons:

1. Management consultants told U.S.corporate leaders they needed to decen-tralize. Remember the mantra that weneeded to move employees in corporatefunctions “closer to the customer”? Backin the 1990s, many firms shifted respon-sibility for communications, governmentrelations, marketing and other functionsto the business units. It’s ironic that manyof these same consultants brought in todecentralize leading companies are nowrecommending a more centralizedapproach.

2. Maintaining separate functions wassupposed to allow each department tofocus on what it does best. Some compa-nies, generally brand firms that focusmore on marketing than public policy,have favored single-mindedness oversynergy.

3. Many companies said they lacked anexecutive qualified to manage both com-munications and government relations. Ina 1999 Public Affairs Council survey, thisfactor was mentioned as a major road-block preventing greater integration.Fourteen years later, because firms havepersisted in their decentralized approach,it has become even more difficult to findtop executives with the needed range ofexperience.

4. Employees have been recognizedand rewarded for “owning” issues. Many

U.S. firms have sought to improve per-formance by making individual staffresponsible for company-wide issues.But most issues are not purely reputation-based or policy-related; they are both.While the common approach does cen-tralize expertise and accountability, itdoesn’t encourage collaboration. Ideally,the company itself should “own” all of itsissues, and those issues should be man-aged by cross-functional teams.

In recent years, the arguments for join-ing forces — or at least coordinatingforces — have become stronger thanever. First and foremost, public percep-tion and public policy are closely related.News travels fast, and bad news travelsfaster. Companies that take an unpopularstand on an issue may find themselvessubject to protests and boycotts. Firmsthat are frequently criticized in the mediahave a difficult time advocating a legisla-tive agenda.

If the smallest business unit in a largemultinational makes an unethical busi-ness decision, the entire enterprise suf-fers, including the communications andgovernment relations functions.

It’s also important to remember that ascorporate brands become more valuable,they become more vulnerable. A brandmay be an intangible asset, but some areworth billions. (Apple’s brand has an esti-mated worth of more than $130 billion.)Growing anti-brand activism, however,has placed many global brands at risk. Infact, the more well-known your brand is,the more likely it is to be a target.Companies must have a well-coordinatedresponse to these campaigns.

The Internet and social media havemade the world smaller, and thatdemands consistency. Smart companiesdon’t give one message to Wall Street andanother to employees and consumers.They don’t fund activist groups throughcorporate contributions and then opposethose same groups on public policyissues. Journalists and congressionalinvestigators are on the lookout for exam-ples of corporate hypocrisy and inconsis-tency.

Taking an integrated approach to pub-lic affairs can create efficiency and effec-tiveness. Having said that, some of the

leading corporations in America don’thave integrated public affairs depart-ments — but they do have strategic issuesmanagement systems. These systemshelp companies prioritize issues andstrategies. In the 2011 Foundation forPublic Affairs study, 30% of large com-panies said they maintained a formal sys-tem for setting priorities and coordinatingactivities, and another 44% said theymaintained informal systems. More than60% had formal or informal systems forcoordinating government relations withthe firm’s corporate social responsibilityfunction.

It is much easier, of course, to operatean effective issuesmanagement systemwhen all parties arehoused in the samedivision. Scanningthe environment, set-ting priorities, defin-ing objectives, exe-cuting plans andmeasuring outcomesrequire cooperation.If one senior execu-tive is accountable forthis entire process, the company is morelikely to stay focused on the right chal-lenges and opportunities.

Every corporation is different, and afirm may have good reasons for not want-ing to blow up its org chart or add a majorline of responsibility to a busy execu-tive’s plate. But, sooner or later, everyonewill face an angry public, a suspiciousnews media, disenchanted employees, askeptical financial community or a nega-tive climate for public policy. If you havebroken down internal barriers and haveeveryone collaborating on commonissues, you will be better able to respondquickly and effectively.

If you are the top government affairsand communications executive at yourfirm, your goal should be to have everymanagement employee throughout theentire company understand the implica-tions that business decisions have on bothpublic policy and corporate reputation.When you achieve that level of aware-ness, you have begun reaping the benefitsof integration.Doug Pinkham is President of the

Public Affairs Council, a nonpartisan,nonpolitical organization that providestraining and advice on public affairsethics, laws and strategies. £

Understanding today’s public affairs disconnect

By Doug Pinkham

Why don’t more companies integrate their communicationsand government relations functions?

Doug Pinkham



Ackman, who runs PershingSquare Capital Management andis betting heavily against

Herbalife, holding a widely reportedand lengthy investor conference presen-tation where he called the company outon its sales practices.

Now, at least four PR agencies areengaged to help with the daily skir-mishes between the two parties that areplaying out in the press. The PR push,which includes help from GlobalStrategy Group and Edelman, includesa Website, factsaboutherbalife.com,outlining Ackman’s criticismsof its multilevel marketingbusiness model of selling tosales reps.

Herbalife, which operatedoverseas for years beforegrowing its U.S. operationsand is based in Los Angeles,has blasted Ackman’s “mali-cious attack” as misinformedand inaccurate. BarbaraHenderson is Senior VP of CorporateCommunications for Herbalife, whichis working with Joele Frank, Wilkinson

Brimmer Katcher andGFBunting.

The company says its operates at thehighest ethical and quality standards, hir-ing outside experts to ensure its operationscomply with laws and regulations.“Herbalife is not an illegal pyramidscheme,” said a statement responding toAckman.

Herbalife offered a nearlypoint-by-point rebuttal ofAckman’s December 20presentation with its owninvestor pitch on January 10in New York.

Joele Frank hastussled with Ackmanbefore. It helpedProcter & Gambleand Canadian PacificRailway in proxybattles against thehedge fund titan lastyear, and backedTarget in a similarbattle in 2009.

Slate dubbed the show-down the “Great HerbalifeWar of 2013,” after another

hedge fund, Third Point Capital, enteredto fray last week to back Herbalife bytaking a more than eight percent stake.Writes Matthew Yglesias, “Herbalife’svarious accounting and business prac-tices are now being put under the micro-scope in a way that doesn’t happen tomost companies. If the company sur-vives, it’ll be by withstanding scrutinyrather than flying under the radar —exactly the way it should be.” £

PR counsel brought in over Herbalife war

The ‘yes man’ has no value, novalue whatsoever in PR,” saidone of 30 veteran PR executives

who participated in the study.Marlene Neill, a Ph.D. and lecturer

on journalism, PR and new media atBaylor, and Minette Drumwright,Ph.D. and assoc. professor of advertis-ing at UT, interviewed 30 PR pros inthe U.S. and Australia with an averageof 27 years of experience in the fieldfor the report. They spanned corpora-tions, non-profits, government entities,and PR agencies.

Neill said participants acknowledgedthat they were often in a “kill the mes-senger” situation, making it difficult tomake a case to or criticize executivesabove them. A few said they were firedor demoted for refusing to do some-thing “blatantly unethical,” while twosaid they resigned when their advicewent unheeded, include one exec whorefused to put false information in apress release.

As one study participant noted: “Ican’t afford to lose my credibility … AsPR professionals, it’s all we have. Andif I lose my credibility here, it’s not like

I can just go start over with someoneelse, somewhere else.”

While PR’s migration to marketinghas broadened the field, it has also hadconsquences, according to the research.PR pros noted a common misperceptionamong senior executives that PR is sim-ply a tool of the marketing department,limiting its role in strategic counsel at acompany or organization.

Two approaches cited for communi-cating with management without seem-ing judgmental were mock news con-ferences and the “headline test,” wheremanagers are asked to imagine a goodheadline and a bad headline that couldresult from an approach they champi-oned.

The study has been published in theJournal of Mass Media Ethics. £

Weight management and nutritional supplement companyHerbalife is locked in a PR war with hedge fund manager BillAckman, who says the company is a pyramid scheme.

By Greg Hazley

PR pros who counsel senior management on ethics issues seea duty to the public interest, not just the organizations theyserve. This is a role that can have repercussions, according toresearch by professors at Baylor Univ. and the Univ. of Texas atAustin. By Greg Hazley

A slide from Ackman’s presentation that seeks to discred-it the practices behind Herbalife. On January 16, NationalPublic Radio featured a story that interviewed Ackman,titled “Is Herbalife A Pyramid Scheme?”

Study: ethical PR counsel often comes at cost

“



FEATURE

Last year, my firm completed anextensive global study of how cor-porate public relations activities

were developed, managed, staffed, fund-ed and evaluated at multinationals acrossover a dozen industries and on three con-tinents.

Over the past 25 years or so, we haveconducted more of this kind of bench-marking and best practices research formore clients in more sectors than anyother consulting firm.

But the findings of this particularresearch helped us to connect more dotsacross disparate PR functions we hadexplored separately before. Here are afew things we learned:

Most public relations activities atover one third of the 100 largest corpo-rations in the world today report to theirmarketing functions.

Our analysis shows that at currentrates, more than half will adopt this asan operating model by next year.

We have seen earlier waves of con-solidation between marketing, sales andPR functions, of course — followed byan unbundling later.

In the past, these moves were typical-ly driven by top management and/orportfolio changes and significant mar-ketplace tumult.

But calls starting in the early 1990sfor more well-integrated, targeted andcost-efficient marketing and sales sup-port communications this time aroundwere aided and abetted to some extentby a parallel transformation ofagency/supplier and related media busi-ness models.

This integration trend was furtheraccelerated by the evolution of theInternet and a range of new web-basedtools.

Indeed, several client studies we con-ducted in recent years found that someof the fastest growing line items of cor-porate communications budgets inrecent years have been earmarked toactivities that didn’t exist a decade ago.

Many of these activities have beenassociated with the advent of so-called“social media.” The notion that theseare “media” in the classic sense of the

word is something of a misnomer thatmerits more scrutiny and discussion.

But our research has shown thatsocial media activities were one of thefirst cases in memory where most“early adopter” multinationals failed tobenefit from being first.

More striking: a surprisingly highshare we tracked continued to be pun-ished for their early gaffes, in somecases for years afterwards. In a morerecent study, we also found that far toomany corporations were following inthe footsteps of these pioneers — with-out learning from their mistakes.

The assimilation of marketing andPR (along with at least some activitiesonce managed out of IT) plus parallelshifts in recruitment have only exacer-bated this situation.

More corporate communicationsactivities are following the path forgedby investor relations and governmentaffairs over the past four or moredecades, reporting in to executives withlittle or no PR training or experience.

As Advertising Age predicted inDecember, we are also seeing “moreoutsiders in the CMO suite,” includinga handful hailing originally from publicrelations but with no formal training inmarketing.

Where does PR fit in?Our latest study found that not just

social media but also employee com-munications, traditional media relationsand philanthropic efforts, among oth-ers, were increasingly getting lost inthis shuffle. More often than not, theseefforts lacked a cohesive internal strat-egy, focus and ownership — and theyfrequently conflicted with alreadyexisting efforts carried out throughother channels. As more firms out-source more different kinds of work,this has represented something of abonanza for agencies, with one handoften not knowing what the other is upto, until something goes awry, typicallyvia the Internet.

Interviews we conducted with execu-tives at a cross-section of these compa-nies further revealed that the intrinsicbenefits of public relations-centricknowledge, expertise, skills, etc. were

being sublimated at best and ignored atworst by many organizations. Thisperceptible shift away from clear “corecompetencies” — what differentiatestheir capabilities from all other busi-ness functions — is also making corpo-rate communications teams more vul-nerable to disinter-mediation. Thisoften happens insubtle ways. Forexample, see onesurvey of PR exec-utives cited in aJournal of PublicRelations Researcharticle last year, inwhich a majority ofrespondents:

• Placed qualities like “strategic deci-sion-making capability,” “ability tosolve problems and produce results”and “communication knowledge andexpertise” ahead of their “relationship-building abilities,” “ethical values andorientation” and “team collaborationability” when it came to identifying“qualities of excellent PR leadership.”

• Deemed “a clear and compellingvision of how communications con-nects the organization to its publics,”“comprehensive understanding ofmedia and information systems” and“ability to strategically construct mes-sages,” among others, as being featuresthey most associated with PR leader-ship, behind other more differentiatingcharacteristics like “comprehensiveunderstanding of the needs and con-cerns of diverse publics” and “an unwa-vering belief in the importance of hon-est and ethical organizational commu-nications and actions.”

It seems clear from our work withclients in recent years that part ofwhat’s behind the widespread integra-tion underway is that CEOs as well assenior management teams at too manycorporations today don’t appear to fullyappreciate that PR is not the same thingas marketing — or vice-versa, for thatmatter.

While they have always shared some

PR’s evolution often leaves ball in wrong courtPR and marketing have fundamentally different objectives, but most corporate PR — nowincluding social media — reports to marketing, following a path forged by IR and governmentaffairs in answering to executives with little or no PR training or experience.

By Byron Reimus


Byron Reimus


of the same strategies, goals and evenmessaging, PR and marketing have his-torically been distinctly different butcritical business functions. This is inpart because they have fundamentallydifferent objectives and attract/developtalent with demonstrably differenttraining, skills, capabilities, interests,expectations, etc.

Bottom line: the benefits that havehistorically accrued to organizationswhich took a cross-stakeholderapproach to communications andengagement are at risk at a time whenmore multinationals need to take thisvery kind of platform-view, perhapsmore than ever.

“Conscious businesses consider theneeds of all their stakeholders — whichis to say everyone touched by the busi-ness: employees, suppliers, customersand affected communities, as well asinvestors,” observes Alan Murray stat-ing the no longer necessarily obvious,in a Wall Street Journal op-ed review ofa new book, “Conscious Capitalism.”

The authors, John Mackey and RaySisodia, simplistically single out twoindustries — financial services andpharmaceuticals — which they claimhave failed to follow this mantra evenas they hold up Google, SouthwestAirlines and Whole Foods, among oth-ers, as better stewardship models.

Our research suggests that there’s adifferent, more compelling way to lookat this phenomenon.

A renewed sense of perspectiveRegardless of industry, among the

most all-around vulnerable insofar astheir reputations are the “mostadmired” corporations (as ranked by theFinancial Times and Fortune) of thepast five or more decades. These arealso many of the companies held up asmodels followed by others for their bestpractices, and a striking percentage ofthem have all but stopped differentiat-ing marketing from public relationsstrategically and organizationally.

It’s hard to write any of this and notsound like a pie-in-the-sky purist, pin-ing for “public relations the way it wasonce practiced.”

However, this is not a genie that canbe put back in the bottle and I’m notadvocating that it should be, even if thatwas possible. But I do believe that all ofour trade associations (PR Society,IABC, Arthur Page et al.) are falling allover each other and yet short on leadingan intelligent, free-flowing discussionabout these and other significant shiftsunderway that are reshaping the prac-

tice of PR.The irony here is that even as the PR

business is deemed to be “booming”overall and spending more resourcesyear after year than ever to help identi-fy an updated raison d'être for the pro-fession, the resulting research, confer-ence agenda topics, books, college cur-ricula and such seem to move furtheraway from marketplace realities.

This is no longer a conversation thatcan be dominated by a handful of thesame stalwarts. I would argue that moreof today’s senior corporate communica-tions leaders — including more of thosewho are not members or active in anytrade groups — need to pick-up thisbaton and carry it forward.

Collectively, they have the most togain (as well as lose under the statusquo) from any such endeavor. The veryfuture of public relations is at stake.Byron Reimus, former director of cor-

porate communications of BostonConsulting Group and VP of corporatecommunications at New EnglandMutual Life Insurance Co., has runByron Reimus & Associates since 1989.He was a senior VP at Ruder & Finn,director of public and community rela-tions at Consumer Credit CounselingService, and director of PR of theadvertising agency of Kamp PaisteHammer & Beaudrot. He started out asa general assignment reporter withGannett Newspapers. £

PR services briefs

FTI PLAYS ATARI CHAP. 11FTI Consulting is handling the Chapter 11 bank-

ruptcy filing of Atari, the videogame pioneer thatproduced the classic “Pong” game.

The move follows the failure of key shareholderand lender BlueBay to find a buyer for its owner-ship position that had been up for sale in October2010.

Though Atari reported operating profit for thepast two years, it says that BlueBay’s decision topull the plug on future outlays has made it “starvedfor funds.”

CEO Jim Wilson said in a statement: “In light ofthe current situation with BlueBay, we have decid-ed to take what we think is the best decision toprotect the company and its shareholders.”

He expects the sale of the company or Chapter11 reorganization to be completed within threemonths.

Founded in 1972, Atari bills itself as the “origi-nal innovator of video gaming.” Its portfolio ofmore than 200 games include Asteroids,Centipede, Missile Command, Test Drive, BackyardSports and RollerCoaster Tycoon.

FTI senior VP Guillaume Granier and media rela-tions consultant Nicolas Jehly are handling theAtari chapter 11 filing.




President Obama in Januaryannounced U.S. troop reduction inAfghanistan would commence

months sooner than previously planned.Beginning in spring, the U.S. would relievesome of the 66,000 military personnel cur-rently stationed in the country; after 2014,when the U.S. mission in Afghanistan isformally slated to end, Obama saidAmerican forces would retain “a supportrole” in Afghanistan along with NATOforces. According to a January 8Washington Post report, this could nowmean as few as 2,500 troops, a far cry fromthe 30,000 figure discussed only a yearago.

It’s an anti-climatic end for theAfghanistan conflict, America’s lengthiestmilitary engagement and a war that hasgrown astronomically expensive andincreasingly unpopular. After the with-drawal update, the Obama administrationmade another announcement, one thatequally forebodes the future of our con-flicts abroad. The U.S. military is nowpreparing for the construction of a dronebase in northwest Africa that would gatherintelligence on Al-Qaeda and other terroristgroups in the region. A January 28 NewYork Times article posited its locationwould probably be Niger, and would beused to aid French-led skirmishes in neigh-boring Mali, where Al-Qaeda-backed mili-tants now control the northern part of thatcountry.

Taken together, an accurate picture offorthcoming U.S. military engagementsmight include increasingly global areas ofcoverage, with fewer bodies on the ground.It’s an oddly Orwellian take on both war-fare and foreign affairs. Soldiers arereplaced by dots on a screen, increasedobservatory power effectively elevates theU.S.’s role in monitoring the world — andenforcing international law — from theconfines of control rooms.

The effects drone technology has had onthe rules of modern combat cannot be over-stated. Unmanned aircraft — like the MQ-9 Reaper — prowl war-torn corners of theMiddle East and Africa, controlled remote-ly from control centers thousands of milesaway, in clandestine locations near

Syracuse, or at military bases in Nevadaand New Mexico. Insurgents can be killedwith the push of a button, not unlike a videogame.

There’s little doubting the program’sefficacy. The State Department claimsdrones are responsible for eliminating 22of Al-Qaeda’s top 30 leaders. During acounter-terrorism strategy announced tothe public in June, Counter TerrorismAdvisor John Brennan said the administra-tion now views drones as the most effec-tive way to fight terrorism, and cited thetechnology as a future staple of U.S. mili-tary engagement. Not surprisingly, droneuse has proliferated, not only in countrieslike Afghanistan where the U.S. isengaged in military conflict, but also bythe CIA in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and,if the headlines are accurate, possiblyMali.

It also saves American lives. Theunmanned aircraft — which require nocockpit, control panels or ejection seats —not only allows greater payloads andincreased maneuverability, but puts nopilots at risk. In many cases it removes theimpetus to put any physical troops on theground.

Instead, the increased power of dronesand their prevalence in the skies havesparked an international debate regardingtheir legality and ethical fortitude.

Silent weapons for quiet warsThe first drone killing occurred in 2002,

against an Al-Qaeda cluster stationed inYemen. Soon after, it became a regular fea-ture in CIA operations during strikes inPakistan under the Bush Administration.

Bush may have introduced the world todrones, but Obama has made it his signa-ture weapon in the U.S. war on terror. BySeptember 2012, Obama had authorized283 strikes in Pakistan alone, six timesmore than the total number of strikesauthorized during Bush’s tenure. Droneshave been responsible for 35 deaths inPakistan alone since January 1, with sevenstrikes in the first 10 days of 2013 (2012,by contrast, saw 40 total drone deaths inthat country). According to The Long WarJournal, a Website that tracks drone activi-ty, there were more than 40 strikes inYemen in 2012, a huge increase from two

years prior — when there were only four. No one knows exactly how many insur-

gents have been killed by drones since theywere introduced a decade ago. Accordingto a January Council on Foreign Relationsreport titled “Reforming U.S. Drone StrikePolicies” by Micah Zenko, drones havebeen responsible for as much as 95% ofU.S.-led targeted killings since 9/11. Somegroups, like the Bureau of InvestigativeJournalism, estimate the total to be some-where between 2,562 and 3,325 killed inPakistan, as well as 655 killed in Yemenand 114 killed in Somalia.

Yet, the program’s failings have beennotorious. Last September in Yemen, aU.S. drone strike targeting Al-Qaeda sus-pects accidentally killed 13 civilians,including three women. In March 2011, asingle drone strike in Pakistan killed 42people, most of them civilians. In February2010 a drone strike in Afghanistan’sUrozgon Province killed 10 civilians trav-eling by car, who had been misidentified asterrorists.

It’s practically impossible to know thetotal number of innocent people who havebeen killed by drone strikes, not onlybecause news reports vary in reliability byregion, but also because, according to aMay 2012 New York Times report, the U.S.military “ … in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants,according to several administration offi-cials, unless there is explicit intelligenceposthumously proving them innocent.”

The Bureau of Investigative Journalismreports that since 2007, U.S. covert actionsin Somalia — including drone strikes, aswell as foot and manned aircraft operations— have resulted in deaths of which 19% to34% were non-combatants. In Yemen, theNew America Foundation reported thatcivilians have so far comprised a casualtyrate between 4% and 8.5%. In Pakistan,The Bureau of Investigative Journalismreported a civilian kill rate between 18%and 26%, or somewhere between 474 and881 civilian deaths.

Other reports suggest the numbers couldbe higher. A recent study by Stanford LawSchool and the New York University

Obama’s drone war bombs in popularityFEATURE

The U.S.-led global war on terrorism has evolved, and so have its rules of engagement. Unmannedcombat air vehicles, or drones, have become the de facto tool in fighting enemies in the Middle Eastand Africa. As the use of drones escalates in foreign conflicts, the internal protocols and clandestinemethods used to select targets are now being called into question.

By Jon Gingerich



School of Law found that drones may havekilled as many as 700 innocent peoplesince 2004, including about 200 children.All together, a compilation of news reportsassembled by the New AmericaFoundation estimated about 20% of peoplekilled in drone strikes have been non-mili-tants.

Brennan in June 2011 claimed drones’precision and protocol had improved, somuch so that there had not been “a singlecollateral death” during U.S. drone strikesthat year. He later amended this statementslightly to account for the event thatoccurred months prior in Pakistan.

The hazards drones pose for civilianpopulations and the reactions that mayresult from accidental drone deaths, criticscontend, is a colossal deterrent to their effi-cacy. Many experts believe drone strikescan have a deleterious effect on the War onTerror because they effectively increasetensions in already volatile regions, and areat least partially responsible for reignitinganti-American sentiment in these areas,possibly resulting in renewed recruitmentfor terrorist organizations.

The September drone strikes in Yemensparked large protests in that country.Drone strikes have become so unpopular inPakistan its government in early 2012demanded an immediate end to the activi-ty, stating in a letter read during the UNgeneral assembly that “no overt or covertoperations inside Pakistan shall be permit-ted” (drones strikes continue in Pakistantoday). A 2012 Columbia Law Schoolreport titled “The Civilian Impact ofDrones: Unexamined Costs, UnansweredQuestions,” claims rising anti-U.S. senti-ment in some areas may be the result ofincreased drone campaigns. “Since thedrone program in Pakistan began, there hasbeen an increase in deaths due to terroristincidents, peaking at 2,500 civilians killedin 2011,” the report reads. “Civilians havebeen caught in a dangerous positionbetween local militant groups and U.S.drones.”

The Zenko report claims the practicemay be creating a “blowback” effect ofradicalizing local populations. JamesTraub, Fellow of the Center onInternational Cooperation, concluded in aForeign Policy report that civilian outrageover drone strikes in Pakistan has “made italmost impossible for the United Statesto achieve its long-term goals of helpingPakistan become a stable, civilian-runstate. Short-term success has jeopardizedthe long-term goal.”

Culture of secrecyThe United States government essential-

ly has two drone programs. The first, theone run by the military, is a matter of pub-

lic record, and operates in Afghanistan andIraq. The CIA runs the second. Regardlessof their prevalence in the skies overSomalia, Pakistan and Yemen, almost allofficial documents related to this programremain classified. According to ColumbiaLaw School’s “The Civilian Impact ofDrones” report, “the existence of a CIAdrone program remains classified, althoughgovernment officials have repeatedlyleaked information to the media.”

Drone strikes in the Middle East andAfrica are carried out not only by the mili-tary and the CIA, but also by special oper-ations forces like the military’s JointSpecial Operations Command, a secretiveunit within the Department of Defense (theJSOC was responsible for killing OsamaBin Laden). JSOC has grown from 1,800troops prior to 9/11 to as many as 25,000today. Drone strikes by the JSOC are car-ried out from a network of remote bases,like Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, whichwas described in an October WashingtonPost report as being a place where “aroundthe clock, about 16 times a day, drones takeoff or land.”

Drones target individuals from a culleddatabase known colloquially as a “kill list,”which also includes targets to be killed bymeans other than drones. No one has pub-licly said how many people are on the list,

or how it’s compiled. Indeed, the NationalSecurity Council, the CIA and the militaryeach assemble their own “kill lists,” andthe process for adding targets to these listsapparently differs by agency, though manyof the individuals on these lists apparentlyoverlap, according to “The CivilianImpact of Drones” report.

The National Security Council investi-gates potential targets in tandem with themilitary, and allegedly proposes its select-ed targets to the President. A May 2012New York Times report interviewed sever-al current and former Obama advisors,who detailed weekly White House video-conferences — dubbed “Terror Tuesday”— where potential target individuals arereviewed and then recommended as addi-tions to the President’s “kill list.” ThePresident still allegedly approves mostmilitary targets, however, according toJane Mayer’s essay “The Predator War” inthe October 2009 issue of The New Yorker,at least some CIA drone strikes in Pakistando not require Presidential approval. Inother words, there are some planned assas-sinations that require no input from theWhite House.

There are “personality strikes” — wherethe U.S. targets someone whose identity is

Obama’s drone war bombs in popularity


0Continued on page 35


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Thomas F. Coyne, CEORich Lukis, President

Coyne Public Relations is aleading independent public rela-tions agency, representing someof the world’s most well-knownbrands in categories includingAutomotive, Beauty & Fashion,Food & Nutrition, Health &Wellness, Media & Publishing,Pet & Animal, Retail &Restaurant, Sports, Technology,

Toys & Juvenile Products andTravel. From traditional to socialmedia, we combine strategy andcreativity to generate the bestpossible results for our clients —taking each and every clientexactly where they want to be,and beyond.

Coyne PR specializes in arange of services, including brandbuilding, product launches,events & promotions, sponsor-ship activation, corporate com-munications, cause marketing,social media, corporate socialresponsibility and crisis manage-ment. Recently named a finalistfor PRWeek’s 2013 MidsizeAgency of the Year, Coyne PRboasts an employee retention rateover 90 percent, an internal digi-tal design studio to support ourclients’ needs and always pro-vides a best team approach toevery account. Recent experienceincludes work with UPS on theirsustainability initiatives as wellas Sealed Air Corporation’sSmartLife platform.

DAVIES

808 State StreetSanta Barbara, CA 93101 805/963-5929 [email protected] www.DaviesPublicAffairs.com

Los Angeles: 310/395-9510 Washington, D.C.: 202/580-8930

John Davies, CEORobb Rice, EVPTaylor Canfield, EVPLisa Palmer, SVPJoshua Boisvert, VPSasha Boghosian, VPCaitlin Bidwell, CorporateAdministrator

Those who need to win thehighest stakes matters, the tough-est crises, and the most difficultregulatory problems increasinglyturn to Davies Public Affairs.

Since 1983, Davies has grownto become the nation’s thirdlargest dedicated public affairsfirm. This success is based onresults across multiple industries,for clients including Fortune 100companies and top names in 47states.

From traditional outreach tohighly structured online cam-


ADVERTISING SECTION 3 FEBRUARY 2013 3 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 27

PROFILES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PR & PUBLIC AFFAIRS

paigns, Davies builds and imple-ments integrated grassroots pro-grams to shape public opinionand build genuine support.

For Davies, nothing is toocomplicated, too political, toocontroversial, or too tough.

Starting with a research-basedapproach, Davies crafts strategiesdesigned not just to move thepublic opinion needle, but to win.This drive to win is what manyclients say sets Davies apart.

Impeccable tactical executionis the starting point, but is not suf-ficient. Success requires the abili-ty to articulate why. That is, fromthe standpoint of the public, whyshould a client succeed? Mostpublic affairs fights are lostbecause that question is neveranswered.

Davies not only knows how toanswer the all-important why, thefirm knows how to use that mes-sage to motivate individuals tostand up, speak out, and takeaction.

GIBBS & SOELL,INC.

60 East 42nd Street, 44th FloorNew York, NY 10165212/697-2600Fax: 212/697-2646www.gibbs-soell.com

Luke Lambert, President & CEOJeff Altheide, Executive VicePresidentRon Loch, Sr. Vice Presidentand Managing Director,Sustainability Consulting Practice

Gibbs & Soell is a businesscommunications firm that servesas a trusted adviser to top-tierclients seeking effective reputa-tion management and leadershippositioning on sustainability, cor-porate social responsibility andrisk management issues.

With headquarters in NewYork, offices in Chicago, Raleighand Basel, Switzerland, and affil-iates in 40 countries, G&S speaksthe language necessary to educateand prompt action among keystakeholders.

Our team of senior counselorscollaborates with clients to devel-op and implement strategies thatcommunicate the business valueof their sustainable development.Our portfolio encompasses abroad array of media, content,creative and digital services.Also, Gibbs & Soell and Centrefor Sustainability and Excellencecombine communications and

measurement expertise to offerGreen Assure Product Marketingprograms, which include messagecreation, green verification, influ-encer engagement and marketingcommunications.

Media and subject matterexperts rely on insights from ourannual Sense & Sustainability®Study for unique research intoconsumer and business opinionson the corporate commitment toenvironmental, social and gover-nance responsibilities.

From marketing green prod-ucts and technologies to manag-ing ESG issues, we combine solidstrategy and creative thinkingwith tactical know-how to impactyour business.

MARX LAYNE & CO.

31420 Northwestern Hwy., #100Farmington Hills, MI 48334248/855-6777, x105Fax: 248/[email protected]

For more than 20 years, subur-ban Detroit-based Marx Layne &Company has provided outstand-ing, results-oriented communica-tions counsel to a broad spectrumof clients in the business, govern-ment and non-profit sectors. Ourproven ability to design andlaunch successful public rela-tions campaigns, develop cre-ative communications solutionsand exceed client expectationshas earned us a reputation as avalued partner and an industryleader.

Our public affairs profession-als customize high impact strate-gies to deliver clients’ messagesand influence opinion on legisla-tion, regulation and appropria-tions at the state and local levels.

We’re routinely engaged bylobbyists to reinforce their effortsby generating constituent mes-sages, news coverage and talkshow appearances, editorial com-mentaries, expert testimony andresearch studies.

Our clients include publiclytraded multinational corpora-tions, mid-sized companies andsmall private practices.

We’re knowledgeable in manyindustries including environmen-tal services, energy, financialservices, healthcare, higher edu-cation, hospitality, legal, manu-facturing, nonprofit, real estate,retail and telecommunications.

OGILVYEARTH

111 Sutter Street, 11th FloorSan Francisco, CA 94104415/[email protected]@[email protected]

Eddie Fernandez, ManagingDirector, OgilvyEarth WestKabira Hatland, Director of ClientServices and Internal Relations,OgilvyEarth WestGil Jenkins, Director of BusinessDevelopment and ExternalRelations, OgilvyEarth West

OgilvyEarth’s unique expertisein public relations is rooted in ourdeep, multi-disciplinaryapproach. We combine strongclean tech and sustainabilityindustry expertise with best prac-tices from Ogilvy PR’s corporate,consumer marketing, socialmedia, technology PR and publicaffairs teams to bring a level ofinsight unparalleled in our indus-try.

OgilvyEarth specializes in con-ducting strategic communicationsprograms that reach media, influ-encers, consumers, employees,policymakers and investors tomeet clear objectives for clients.We help both entrepreneurialstart-ups and major corporationstell a credible and compellingstory about how products, servic-es, and processes either harnessrenewable materials and energysources, reduce the use of naturalresources and/or cut emissionsand waste. Businesses needstrategic communications to nav-igate the complex regulatory, leg-islative and reputational chal-lenges facing the industry — andensuring that brands compete andprevail in today’s market is whyour clients selected OgilvyEarth. Our staff have worked as businessjournalists, former entrepreneurs,authors, academics, technolo-gists, environmental advocates,non-profit leaders, politicalstrategists and managers for someof the world’s largest brands. Ourteam has represented clientsacross multiple environmentaland energy sectors, includingsolar energy, wind power, biofu-els & biomaterials, water, air &environment, green transporta-tion, energy storage, green build-ings, smart grid, mobile technolo-gies, recycling & waste, agricul-ture, renewable energy finance,materials and more.

As agency leaders for one of

the country’s largest green PRcampaigns, OgilvyEarth has suc-cessfully established Ford as themost environmentally-friendlyU.S. automaker in the eyes ofconsumers. This has beenachieved through a pioneering PRapproach of online and traditionalmedia outreach, thought leader-ship and consumer engagementactivities focused on translatingniche, environmental innovationsand achievements into main-stream media campaigns.

POWELL TATE

733 10th Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20001www.powelltate.com

Pam Jenkins, President

Powell Tate, based inWashington, D.C., is one of themost respected names in publicaffairs. Established in 1991 as abipartisan firm, Powell Tate staffinclude top communications andpolicy experts from both partieson Capitol Hill, the WhiteHouse, federal agencies, tradeassociations, advocacy organi-zations and the media. No matterwhich party controls Congress,Powell Tate professionals helpcraft and deliver powerful mes-sages and activate advocates toachieve results.

While Powell Tate can helpclients reach top opinion leadersin Washington, the agency alsospecializes in state and localpublic affairs campaigns andgrassroots outreach, especiallythrough digital communicationsand social media advocacy.Major areas of expertise includehealthcare, nonprofit advocacy,financial services, education,energy and environment, tech-nology, international communi-cations and defense. The firm’sleading crisis and litigationcommunications practice helpsclients prevent, proactivelyrespond to and recover fromsevere threats to their organiza-tion, reputation or brand. PowellTate is a division of WeberShandwick.

The March issue of O’Dwyer’s will fea-ture a company profiles section on foodand beverage PR. If you would likeyour firm to be listed, contact EditorJon Gingerich at 646/843-2080 [email protected]




RASKY BAERLEINSTRATEGIC

COMMUNICATIONS

70 Franklin Street, 3rd FloorBoston, MA 02110617/391-9646Cell: 781/[email protected]: @Rasky Baerlein,@GreentechPR, @RBSC_Health,@RBSC_nonprofit

Rasky Baerlein StrategicCommunications is a nationallyrecognized public and govern-ment relations firm with morethan a decade of experience pro-viding exceptional client serviceto organizations that operate atthe intersection of business, pol-itics and media. With offices inBoston and Washington, D.C.,the firm offers a comprehensiverange of services, includingpublic affairs, government rela-tions, public relations, corporate& marketing communications,crisis & reputation manage-ment, international representa-tion, and media & presentationtraining.

Rasky Baerlein’s PublicAffairs practice has extensiveexperience representing multi-national clients’ interests beforelocal, state and federal govern-ments, and can help you takeadvantage of the strong relation-ships we have built with electedofficials in both New Englandand on Capitol Hill.

The Energy and Environmentpractice, led by 12- year EPAVeteran, Jim Cabot, excels inhelping clients achieve theirbusiness objectives throughintegrated communicationsstrategies, working with compa-nies ranging from large utilitiesto clean tech start-ups and a bur-geoning roster of renewableenergy companies.

The firm has served and isserving a broad range of clientsincluding: the AmericanCouncil on Renewable Energy,Ameresco, Eli Lilly &Company, Fidelity NationalFinancial, First Wind, GDFSuez Energy North America,

Mascoma, Toyota and VeoliaEnergy North America.

Rasky Baerlein. Results.Expertly Delivered.

ROGERS &COWAN

PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER8687 Melrose Ave., 7th FloorLos Angeles, CA 90069310/854-8117Fax: 310/854-8106www.rogersandcowan.com

Tom Tardio, CEO

Rogers & Cowan is the lead-ing entertainment marketingand PR agency with U.S. officesin Los Angeles and New York.We offer clients a provenapproach to building awarenessand support for their environ-mental and public affairs initia-tives by leveraging the powerfulinfluences of the entertainmentindustry coupled with a strongcorporate and trade PR strate-gy.

Our team manages and exe-cutes environmental PR and PAcampaigns for clients in thetechnology, entertainment, foodand beverage, automotive, avia-tion and non-profit industries,including Fortune 500 compa-nies, philanthropies and organi-zations, trade associations, film-makers and distributors andinternational celebrities andrecording artists.

Whether we are supportingthe launch of the EKOCYCLEbrand, a partnership with Coca-Cola and will.i.am; the launchof Hangar 25, the world’s firstsolar-powered aircraft facility atthe Burbank airport; raisingawareness for the GreenBusiness Roundtable, apublic/private green event fea-turing former President BillClinton and Los Angeles publicofficials; building excitementfor the eco-documentaries; orsecuring media coverage forenvironmentally-friendly auto-mobiles, we provide our clientswith the PR and marketingstrategies, access and relation-ships to secure the right print,broadcast and social media cov-erage with the right messagingto help clients’ promote theirvarious initiatives.

Some clients/projects haveincluded EKOCYCLE, DasaniPlant Bottle, Shangri-LaConstruction: Hangar 25 and302 Carson in Las Vegas, Green

Business Roundtable, FiskerKarma, eco-doc The Age ofStupid, Cabo Sao Roque Resort,Natural Resources DefenseCouncil, Children’s HealthEnvironmental Coalition featur-ing Olivia Newton-John andKelly Preston, Rolling StonesBenefit Concert for NRDC,Bloomberg News White HouseCorrespondent’s Dinner AfterParty, and Texas InstrumentsLED TV.

RUDER FINN, INC.

301 East 57th StreetNew York, NY 10022212/593-6400

Kathy Bloomgarden, CEORachel Spielman, Global Headof Corporate Communications Heather Gartman, Director,Washington DC HealthcareSarah Coles, Senior VicePresident, Corporate SocialResponsibility

Ruder Finn, a leading inde-pendent global communicationsagency, has vast experiencedeveloping and deployingstrategic public affairs pro-grams. The firm’s expertise liesin working with clients to shapeopinions, create awareness andmobilize audiences around cor-porate social responsibility andenvironmental initiatives acrossour four pillars of Corporate &Public Trust, Health &Wellness, Technology &Innovation and ConsumerConnections.

At Ruder Finn, we believethat corporate responsibility andcorporate citizenship should beengrained in the businessmodel. Through comprehensivecommunications programs, ourdedicated Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) practicehas counseled clients on how tocreatively and strategically inte-grate CSR into their businessmodels and core values, result-ing in initiatives that are a natu-ral extension of what the com-pany already stands for. RuderFinn has extensive experiencein creating and implementingplans that increase visibility,mobilize audiences to takeaction, drive discussion andinfluence policy makers, themedia and the general publicaround causes such as recycling,solar energy, water usage andenvironmental protection.

Ruder Finn takes a multi-dis-ciplinary approach to public

affairs, specializing in crisiscommunications, lobbying andinfluencer engagement. Withstrong beltway and media rela-tionships, we have created andimplemented strategic publicaffairs programs to help educatepolicy makers, build support forregulatory and legislativeactions, manage critical issuesand drive bottom line results forour clients. Ruder Finn’s publicaffairs experts are well-versedon legislative and regulatoryissues facing a range of indus-tries and have cultivated high-level personal and professionalrelationships with key playersand influencers in the US andacross the globe.

SCHNEIDERASSOCIATES

2 Oliver Street, Suite 901Boston, MA 02109617/536-3300www.schneiderpr.com

Joan Schneider, President andCreative DirectorPhil Pennellatore, ChiefOperating Officer/Partner

At Schneider Associates, wedefine public affairs as anythingthat impacts public opinion anddrives behavior. That covers alot of territory, especially intoday’s complex communica-tions cycle where missteps canresult in crisis situations instan-taneously. Whether you’re fac-ing a media crisis, securingTown Meeting approvals,advancing social or environ-mental causes, or need to per-suade decision-makers at alllevels of government, SchneiderAssociates can help. We imple-ment a proprietary processknown as Community Launch™to develop campaigns and gov-ernment relations strategies forpremier commercial, retail, andresidential real estate develop-ers as well as corporations, non-profits, and municipalities. Webuild support to drive initiativesthrough the public process, andexecute campaigns for clientssuch as Patriot Partners, EquityOffice, The Gutierrez Company,National Development, CassidyTurley, Nordblom Company,Campanelli Companies, ComarReal Estate Trust, and GeneralChemical. Learn more about

0Continued on page 30

View and download entire issues of O’Dwyer’smagazine in PDF format, as well as hundredsof company profiles in our searchable onlinedatabase.

WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

888-333-3116

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Leading the Travel Industryby Providing ProfessionalTravel Services Since 1972

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how Schneider Associateslaunches products, services,companies, and communities atwww.schneiderpr.com

STANTON COMMUNICATIONS

INC.

1150 Connecticut Ave., NWSuite 810Washington, DC 20036202/223-4933www.stantoncomm.com

Peter Stanton, PresidentCatherine Imus, ManagingDirector/Public Affairs

To provide effective advoca-

cy and communication on com-plex environmental issues, theStanton CommunicationsEnvironmental Public AffairsGroup brings together a special-ized team of skilled profession-als who know the subject.

Our team offers the right mixof experience and capability toenable clients to successfullyaddress challenges and contro-versies. From climate changeand the introduction of newtechnologies, to project permit-ting, chemical safety and com-munity health concerns, ourprofessionals have experiencedealing with the full spectrumof scientific and sensitive mat-ters.

Based in Washington, D.C.,our Environmental PublicAffairs Group offers supportnationwide through media out-reach, ballot initiatives andmaterials development. Ourprograms encompass strategic

traditional and social mediarelations, coalition building andcommunity engagement, issueadvertising and spokespersonpreparation.

For more information visitwww.stantoncomm.com or callus at 800/426-1887.

TREVELINO /KELLER

949 W. Marietta St., Suite X-106 Atlanta, GA 30318 404/214-0722 [email protected]@trevelinokeller.comwww.trevelinokeller.com www.wheelhousetk.com

Recognized as one of the 30best firms to work for in NorthAmerica, Trevelino/Keller fea-tures a GreenWorks practicewhich serves as its environmen-tal strategy for its protecting,preserving and promoting thereputation of B2C and B2Bcompanies. Working withemerging and established com-panies who position themselvesas environmental or non-envi-ronmental companies seeking agreen strategy, the firm issought after for corporate posi-tioning, industry relations,product and company launchesand crisis communications. Itsservices include public rela-tions, social media and market-ing communications.

Relevant experience includesthe launch of the first carbonneutral zone in America, work-ing with early stage company,Verus Carbon Neutral. The firmmanaged the launch of theworld’s first biodegradablefoam cup, branded Vio, workingclosely with the PlasticsEnvironmental Council (PEC)and other industry authorities toensure that Vio’s brand identityand messaging were on pointwith the FDA’s strict GreenGuidelines. Its work withKleiner Perkins-backed LehighTechnologies, recognized inno-vative Micronized RubberPower (MRP) products, utilizedthe firm’s full suite of services.Trevelino/Keller executed thecompany’s rebranding with newlogos, new websites and newmessages, followed by anaggressive media relations cam-paign which generated signifi-cant national businesspress. Other manufacturingexperience includes the launch

of Wheego, an Atlanta-basedelectric car company.

WEBER SHANDWICK

Social Impact733 Tenth Street, NWWashington, DC 20010www.webershandwick.com

Cleantech600 Battery St. San Francisco, CA 94111

Paul Massey, Executive VicePresidentCindy Drucker, Executive VicePresidentWilliam Brent, Executive VicePresident

Weber Shandwick is one ofthe world’s leading and mostinnovative communicationsfirms with 126 offices in 81countries. Through our special-ized Social Impact andCleantech offerings, we bringclients a full-range of strategic,integrated communicationsservices along with in-depthsubject matter expertise neededto navigate the complexities ofthe sustainability, social respon-sibility, environmental andenergy-related arenas.

Weber Shandwick’s globalSocial Impact team partnerswith major corporations, non-profits and foundations to driveengagement with key stakehold-ers, thought leaders, consumersand media. Our team bringsexperience working in senior-level sustainability positionsacross sectors to build best-in-class, award-winning integratedsocial responsibility and sus-tainability programs. Our globalCleantech practice is a trustedpartner to leading and emergingrenewable energy companiesproviding strategic, integratedcommunications services toleading and emerging compa-nies in the Cleantech andRenewable Energy sector.

These teams counsel clientson sustainability and environ-mental public affairs strategy inpartnership with the agency’sspecialized public affairs divi-sion, Powell Tate, based inWashington, D.C. Powell Tatestaff include top communica-tions and policy experts fromboth parties on Capitol Hill, theWhite House, federal agencies,trade associations, advocacyorganizations and the media. £

SCHNEIDER ASSOCIATES0Continued from page 28


© Copyright 2013 The J.R. O'Dwyer Co.

O’DWYER’S RANKINGS OFENVIRONMENTAL PR & PUBLIC AFFAIRS FIRMS

Edelman New York

APCO Worldwide Wash., D.C.

Davies Santa Barbara

Cerrell Associates Los Angeles

MWW Group E. Rutherford, NJ

Levick Strategic Comms. Wash., D.C.

Development Counsellors Int’l New York

Rasky Baerlein Strategic Comms. Boston

Finn Partners New York

Singer Associates San Francisco

Moore Consulting Tallahassee

Crosby Marketing Comms. Annapolis

Nyhus Communications Seattle

Ruder Finn New York

Allison+Partners San Francisco

Jackson Spalding Atlanta

Butler Associates New York

rbb Public Relations Miami

Gregory FCA Ardmore, PA

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

McNeely Pigott & Fox Nashville

CRT/tanaka Richmond, VA

French | West | Vaughan Raleigh

Fahlgren Mortine Columbus, OH

Kaplow New York

Seigenthaler PR Nashville

Schneider Associates Boston

Standing Partnership St. Louis

Gibraltar Associates Wash., D.C.

Trevelino/Keller Atlanta

IW Group W. Hollywood

Padilla Speer Beardsley Minneapolis

Maccabee Minneapolis

Formula PR San Diego

Rosica Communications Paramus, NJ

Red Sky PR Boise, ID

Open Channels Group Ft. Worth

Coyne PR Parsippany, NJ

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

$55,391,301

30,360,000

8,253,463

4,467,127

4,395,000

3,393,489

4,332,188

2,944,355

2,254,000

2,004,948

1,560,000

1,444,955

909,014

905,586

750,000

661,078

614,060

534,711

1500,000

475,586

420,540

399,771

392,108

375,000

302,000

194,851

181,777

170,000

140,000

115,000

105,015

79,042

70,100

62,250

59,834

52,554

50,000



OPINION Professional Development

By now, most folks have heard thesaga of Notre Dame All Americanlinebacker Manti Te’o and his fic-

tional girlfriend.The story of

beloved LennayKekua, whomTe’o wooed forthree years, rightup until the dayshe was involvedin a horrible caraccident, diag-nosed withleukemia, anddied three daysbefore her devot-ed Te’o recorded12 tackles in anupset win overMichigan State,

was well known to every fan of theFighting Irish.

It was a love fable that not evenLance Armstrong could have concoct-ed. It was sweet, it was noble, it wasbrave, and, as we eventually learned, itwas baloney.

Since that beacon of investigativejournalism, Deadspin.com, spilled thebeans on Te’o and his university andhis imaginary girl friend, the scandal-seeking public has been fixated on onequestion, “What did Manti know and

when did he know it?” (Maybe that’stwo questions.)

In any event, Te’o and his advisors’fumbling of his ultimate choreographedKatie Couric “apology” is a text bookexample of what not do when yourimage takes a hit.

Even if you believe that Manti Te’owas telling the truth that he was“duped” by and not a willing partici-pant in the girlfriend hoax, here’s howTeam Te’o still fumbled the public rela-tions ball.First, Te’o lied. Lying, of course, is the cardinal sin of

public relations. Te’o, as he haltingly confessed to

Couric, lied in two interviews about hisimaginary girl friend, even after tellingNotre Dame Administrators the wholething was a hoax.

“Katie put yourself in my situation.Everybody knew that this girl I com-mitted myself to, died on Sept.. 12.You know, what would you do?”

How about this.First, if I was Notre Dame and I

agreed that we would prefer that noth-ing be said until after the Bowl Gamewith Alabama, I would have cancelledthe Te’o interviews. Of course,reporters would’ve been mad; butwhat’s worse, a couple of angryreporters or a lying linebacker?

Bad advice. Bad decision. Second, Notre Dame rushed out way

too early. As soon as the Te’o hoax was

exposed, Notre Dame Athletic DirectorJack Swarbrick conducted a press con-ference, tearfully vouching for theimpeccable integrity of his star.

Unfortunately, evidently nobodycued Te’o that his alma mater wasgoing public. He was nowhere to befound, so Swarbrick’s ringing defensewas followed up by silence.

Two days later, with Te’o still off theradar screen, a starting-to-get-a-bitticked Swarbrick, said the school had“encouraged” Te’o to come forward.

“Encouraged?”Why wouldn’t Notre Dame have

orchestrated Te’o — or at leastchecked with him — prior to its goingpublic.

Nature and reporters abhor a vacu-um, and they fill it – as they did in thiscase — with all sorts of rumor andinnuendo.

Notre Dame’s “ready, fire, aim”press relations backfired resoundinglyon the school’s silent star. Third, Te’o fumbled the timing.Crisis managers talk about the early

part of a crisis, as the “golden hour”that sets the tone. Sometimes the“golden hour” can be a day or even aweek.

But nobody heard anything fromTe’o until two weeks after theDeadspin “Blarney” piece.

One reason the Te’o team didn’t lettheir boy face the media in a more time-ly manner was that they were jockeyingfor just the right interviewer, reported-ly pitting Katie against Diane andOprah. (In the end, it was Couric —coincidentally represented by the samepublic relations advisor who represent-ed Te’o — who was selected.)

In the meantime, the advisors con-cocted a ridiculous, pre-Katie “off cam-era” interview with ESPN, where aninvisible Te’o claimed his innocence.

While the public waited for Te’o tocome forward, the linebacker’s credi-bility — and presumed position in theNFL draft — continued to wither. Fourth, Te’o fumbled the story.While Te’o and Notre Dame first

trumpeted that the Heisman runner upwas victimized by a hoax, it was laterrevealed that Te’o subsequently liedabout the phony relationship so as “notto distract the team” in advance of theAlabama game.

So right out of the box, Te’o soundedinconsistent.

And when the blessed day finallyarrived and Te’o sat down to tell hisstory to Couric, client Te’o was torpe-doed by client Couric.

The Couric program, eager to pro-mote its big “get” leaked early clipsthat Te’o admitted “lying” about fic-tional Kekua. Sure enough, the “lie”was what the media ran with.

The best thing that can happen toyoung Te’o is the story now dies. Ifwhat he says is true, then he was dumbbut not duplicitous. He was also ill-served by his university and his crisismanagement advisors.

If he succeeds in the NFL, then allwill be forgotten over time. But largelydue to this bizarre drama in which he,wittingly or un, has been centrally cast,he begins his NFL career as “damagedgoods.” £

Fraser P. Seitel hasbeen a communicationsconsultant, author andteacher for 30 years. Heis the author of thePrentice-Hall text, ThePractice of PublicRelations.

Crisis management: Manti Te’o fumbles apologyBy Fraser Seitel

PR services briefs

BLUNTZER TRADES ENERGYFOR PAWN GIANT

Rick Bluntzer, who led regulatory and govern-ment affairs for NRG Energy, has landed atAustin-based EZCorp, the publicly traded pawnshop and payday lending giant, in a top corporatecommunications and public affairs slot.

EZCorp runs 1,350 company-owns pawn(EZPawn) and payday loan locations in the U.S.,Canada and Mexico, and holds investments inU.K. lenders and pawnbrokers. It also providesservices like prepaid debit cards. Fiscal 2012 rev-enue was $987 million on net income of nearly$144 million.

Bluntzer takes oversight of the company’smessaging, PR and government affairs, reportingto president and CEO Paul Rothamel.

He was previously a managing director ofAustin-based Public Strategies, now mergedwith Hill+Knowlton Strategies, and held posts atthe the Lower Colorado River Authority afterstarting out in the Texas legislature.



Financial Management

Many employers have a gener-al understanding of theFamily and Medical Leave

Act of 1993, but the particulars can bea bit fuzzy.Because misstepsin FMLA compli-ance can lead toconflicts withemployees andeven costly law-suits, it is impor-tant to be familiarwith the require-ments. Here is aprimer that wassent to our clientsin our Focusnewsletter. (Pleasesend me an email if

you would like to be added to our mail-ing list.)

FMLA basicsThe FMLA requires covered employ-

ees to allow eligible employees to takeup to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave (orpaid leave if the employer’s policyallows for it) during any 12 months forcertain family or health related reasons,such as the employee’s own serioushealth condition or to care for a familymember with a serious health conditionor a newborn or newly adopted child.

The rules differ slightly when anemployee is caring for an injured or illfamily member who’s in the military.One of the differences is that theemployee’s leave may be allowed toextend to 26 weeks in a 12-month period.

Your PR firm generally will be con-sidered a covered employer if it’s had50 or more employees for each workingday in each of 20 or more weeks in thecurrent or proceeding calendar year.

To be eligible for FMLA leave,employees must meet several require-ments. Among them: The employeemust have worked for your companyfor at least 12 months. The monthsdon’t have to be consecutive; even sea-sonal work can count toward that 12-month minimum. However, theemployee must have worked at least1,250 hours in the last 12 months.

Definition of a “parent”While it is often assumed that an indi-

vidual using FMLA to take leave of

absence is the actual parent or legalguardian of a child, that is not alwaysthe requirement. An employee can takeleave if he or she has an “in loco paren-tis” relationship with the child. That is,the employee has the daily care andfinancial responsibilities of a parent,yet has no legal or biological connec-tion to the child.

An employee also can use the FMLAfor leave to care for parent who isinjured or ill. Again, the word “parent”can be defined rather broadly, includingbiological, step, foster, and adoptiveparents, as well as individuals whoacted as “in loco parentis” to theemployee.

Other requirementsEmployees can take their leave in a

single block of time, or, in certain cir-cumstances, in multiple smaller blocks.An employee using multiple blocks,however, must try to schedule them in amanner that minimizes disruption to theemployer.

If the leave is foreseeable (not anemergency), advance notice is required.You can require documentation aboutthe health condition that is promptingthe advance FMLA request in order todetermine whether the leave is coveredunder the FMLA. However, theemployee does not have to disclose thediagnosis.

While an employee is on leave, youmust allow his or her health benefits (ifyou provide them) to be maintained.But you can require the employee tocover more or all of these costs whileon leave.

When an employee returns fromleave, you generally must allow him orher to return to the same or an equiva-lent position, earning pay and benefitsequivalent to what he or she earnedbefore taking the leave. This does notautomatically hold true for what thedepartment of labor terms “key”employees, however.

Be in the knowMake sure your HR department has a

solid understanding of the FMLA.Doing so will help ensure you remainin compliance and minimize the likeli-hood of costly lawsuits.

More information on the FMLA canbe found on the Department of Labor’swebsite at dol.gov. (Click on the topic“Leave Benefits” and subtopic “Family& Medical Leave.”)

And moreI want to disseminate some informa-

tion supplied by ManagementStrategies in its January, 2013 issue. Iam using this space because I believethis information is important and donot want to wait until next month. AlCroft, the publisher, can be reached [email protected].

For 2012, the average income gener-ated per professional according to asurvey of independent agency princi-pals was $177,125. Benchmark thisagainst yours.

According to the survey, 2012 rev-enue increased over 2011. 84% ofindependent agencies increasedincome in 2012 over 2011 by 12.5% (Ihave no idea if this is organic or bymerger.)

Slightly more than half of the inde-pendent firms increased their operatingprofit in 2012 over 2011 by an averageof 17%. The remainder were down orflat over 2011.

Just under half of the firms reportedaverage productivity of at least 80%.

Average number of billable hours -1440. 57% of firms showed a higherbilled-hours average of 1,600 hours.

Principals spent an average of 32% of their working hours chasing newbusiness.

All of the survey respondents —100% — expect their 2013 revenue tobe up at least 12%. £

All in the family and moreBy Richard Goldstein

Richard Goldsteinis a partner atBuchbinder Tunick &Company LLP, NewYork, Certified PublicAccountants.

PR services briefs

BONNIER TAPS FIRST CHIEFCONTENT OFFICER

Special interest publisher Bonnier Corp. hasnamed its first chief content officer, promotingDavid Ritchie to the newly created post.

All editorial, digital, TV, audience developmentand web development teams now report toRitchie, who previously directed editorial opera-tions for the company’s active interest division,and now has responsibility for how content teamscreate, package, execute and optimize content.

Bonnier titles include Skiing, Field & Stream,Saveur and Babytalk, among others. It has closedCaribbean Travel + Life, Spa and Snow in the pastyear.

“For us to achieve audience growth in thismedia landscape, it’s essential to have a strongeditorial voice to oversee content,” said newlyminted Bonnier CEO Dave Freyand.

He started out at Marlin magazine before tak-ing a marketing post at Hatteras Yachts. Hereturned to Bonnier in 2008 as editorial directorfor its marine titles.

Bonnier on Jan. 13 announced the retirementof CEO Terry Snow, CEO.



OPINION

The removal of enforcement provi-sions from the Code of Ethics of PRSociety of America in 2000 was done

in defiance of the wishes of the generalmembership, Society leaders, and the advice

of the EthicsResource Center,Washington, D.C.

Details of how theCode was rewrittenare in two articlestotaling 45 pages byProf. KathyFitzpatrick ofQuinnipiac Univ. thatappeared in theJournal of Mass

Media Ethics in 2002.Fitzpatrick also authored a 1,070-word

essay on the Code moving from enforce-ment to “inspiration” that is on the Societywebsite.

ERC in January 2000 created and con-ducted a poll of the 20,266 Society mem-bers that drew a response from 2,099 mem-bers (10.4%). [There were 21,192 membersas of Dec. 12, 2012, a gain of 926 in 12years].

Ninety percent of the respondents “agreedthat the Society should deny or revokemembership for failure to meet Code stan-dards,” said the Fitzpatrick article that istitled “From Enforcement to Education: TheDevelopment of PRSA’s Member Code ofEthics 2000.”

Belief that a “formal mechanism shouldbe in place to resolve allegations of ethicalmisconduct” was expressed by 92%.

Half of the respondents said they “feel anextraordinary amount of pressure to com-promise their ethical standards,” said thearticle. One interviewee told ERC that “insome ways, lying permeates everything wedo.”

ERC recommended that the Code “berewritten and its enforcement provisionsrevised as part of a larger campaign to posi-tion the Society as the integrity leader in thePR field,” said the Fitzpatrick article.

Ethics Board members were pushing aCode that would be “aspirational” and“inspirational” and avoid accusing anymembers of wrongdoing. Fears that mem-bers might sue the Society were expressed

Ethics board ignored Society abusesMembers of the Ethics Board were think-

ing about long term ethics policy but wereignoring numerous ethical abuses and

wrongful practices at the Society itselfinvolving its governance, allocation offunds, relations with the PR press, reportingits finances, and lack of its own members onstaff.

The Society had a loss of $1,105,181 for1999-2000 and saved money by not printingthe 2000 members’ directory, a nearly1,000-page volume that was one of the mostvalued if not the most valued of memberservices.

Where had the money gone? Part of itwas lavished on the accreditation programthat lost $2,204,423 from 1986-99.

The yearly loss reached a record$441,467 in 2000 when it cost $1,794 to cre-ate each of the 246 new Society APRs.Spending on travel, meals and hotels forleaders and staff was excessive, totaling$3,272,162 for the seven years from 1994-2000.

Worst abuses came in 2000 when theboard met in London from April 5-8, its firstever meeting outside of North America. ItsJuly 13-15 meeting was at the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort. Travel, meals and hotels thatyear totaled a record $717,478. The boardfound plenty of money for meetings at high-ly desirable locales but not enough moneyfor the members’ directory. The printeddirectory was discontinued after 2005, adecision that was not run by the Assembly.

APRs go on rampageThe APR members, who had exclusive

control of the board since the mid-1970s,not only splurged on the APR program andboard expenses, but beat back all attemptsto place non-APRs in the board or even getthe topic discussed at the Assembly.

APRs twice over-ruled attempts by thenominating committee to place NewYorkers on the board who wanted the APRrule removed from the bylaws.

The APRs’ candidate for treasurer, JoannKilleen of Los Angeles, defeated officialcandidate Michael McDermott ofRiverside, Conn., at the 1999 Assembly.Killeen had some financial background butMcDermott was a financial specialist wholived about an hour from Society h.q.

The parliamentarian, noting that dele-gates were using electronic voting devicesfor the first time and many had not voted,called for a second vote onKilleen/McDermott but was over-ruled byArthur Abelman, the Society’s lawyer.Robert’s Rules are actually advice and canbe disregarded by an organization profess-ing to follow them.

Killeen, again as a write-in candidate in

2000, defeated Art Stevens of New Yorkwho was the official candidate for chair-elect.

Stevens, an ardent foe of the APR rulewho wanted Assembly delegates to bereachable via a single e-mail and for annu-al conferences to be in New York every sec-ond or third year, claimed “foul” sinceKilleen had the public support of nine sit-ting directors. Joining him in the same crit-icism were 1987 president Jack Feltonwhose committee on nomcom reform saiddirectors were not to elect fellow directors,and Mary Cusick, 1998 president and chairof the 2000 nomcom.

The strategic planning committee of1999, headed by Steve Pisinski, unani-mously urged dropping the APR rule. The1999 board expressed its opposition to thatand refused to put the topic on the agendaof the 1999 Assembly.

Leaders polled, assembly demursFrause in 2000 polled national directors,

chapter presidents, Assembly delegates andsection and district chairs (more than 300members) and received 20 responses.

Fitzpatrick’s 24-page article on Coderevision says respondents supported arevised Code “with most supportingenforcement and suggesting variousdegrees of punishment be used.”

Respondents also supported ethics edu-cation and said members “should be heldresponsible for the actions of non-Societymembers they supervise and should identi-fy employers, clients and front groups.”

Rank-and-file members, leaders andERC thus had lined up in favor of enforce-ment but the 1999 Assembly, all of whosemembers were accredited, thought other-wise. ERC and Society leaders discussed apossible new Code with the 240 delegatesin 1999 who were split into 18 focusgroups.

The focus groups “seemed to support” anERC preliminary finding that eliminatingenforcement would be “a step in the wrongdirection and would send the wrong sig-nal,” writes Fitzpatrick, but at the sametime they were “split in their views onwhether enforcement was desirable, possi-ble, or both.”

Frause had contended in a memo to lead-ers March 17, 1999 that it had become near-ly impossible to enforce the Code becauseof legal challenges by some accused mem-bers and the refusal of others to cooperate.“Our entire committee is frustrated power-less and unable to do justice to the spirit” ofthe Code, he wrote. £

“Toothless” PRSA code ignored member wishesBy Jack O’Dwyer

Jack O’Dwyer

Opinion


known — and “signature strikes” — wherethe person is allegedly unknown. Why aperson is a target if he/she is “unknown”remains a matter of question, but accordingto the Columbia Law School “The CivilianImpact of Drones” report, “Signaturestrikes make up a significant proportion ofthe covert drone campaign, constituting themajority of strikes in Pakistan … Indeed, anunnamed U.S. official said in 2011 that theU.S. has killed twice as many “wanted ter-rorists” in signature strikes than in person-ality strikes. U.S. officials have also report-ed that most of the people on the CIA’s “killlist” have been killed in signature strikes.”

In October, the Washington Post outlinedthe Obama administration’s developmentof a new “blueprint for pursuing terrorists,”with the use of an intensive targeting data-base it called the “disposition matrix.”According to the article, this “matrix” con-tains a wide sampling of terrorism suspectsculled from numerous classified sources,and is designed to go beyond existing “killlists.”

Program’s future uncertainMany have assailed the supposed ille-

gality of drone strikes occurring in coun-tries like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia,nations that are not currently at war withthe United States. At least some militantstargeted in Yemen or Somalia allegedlyhave had no known ties to terrorist organ-izations with which the United States is atwar; they seem to be individuals interestedsolely in committing crimes against theirown country. Some locals claim this prac-tice essentially makes the U.S. a surrogateof its domestic police force.

Then there’s the fact that some operatorswho work for the CIA’s drone programallegedly aren’t military personnel at all,but are contractors. In other words, theremay be American civilians paid by theU.S. government to kill. Moreover,according to a September 2011Washington Post report, the President hasnow allegedly given JSOC the authority toselect individuals for its “kill list” withoutapproval from the White House. Somecritics have claimed this practice is a vio-lation of U.S. law, as it is essentially tanta-mount to assassination.

Then there’s the fact that the programhas been used to target American citizens.A 2011 drone attack killed Anwar Awlaki,an American-born Muslim militant andknown terrorist. Several weeks later adrone also killed Anwar Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, also a U.S. citizen, who locals

claimed was not a militant and did notbelong to any terrorist organization. A fed-eral judge in January ruled the U.S. gov-ernment did not have to release secretmemos related to Anwar Awlaki’s killing.The U.S. government is also currentlyattempting to dismiss a lawsuit brought onas a result of the 16-year-old’s death.

Some studies suggest the U.S. is gettingbetter at avoiding civilian causalities. Datagathered by the New America Foundationshows non-militant deaths accounted forabout 10% of those killed by drones in2012, a sharp decline from theFoundation’s estimated 60% civilian deathrate in 2006.

There are also reports that PresidentObama, behind closed doors anyway, hasdiscussed with his closest advisers the pos-sibility of scaling back on the use ofdrones. Several senior officials toldNewsweek in a December feature thatBrennan has also discussed potentialchanges to the drone program. TheWashington Post in January reported thatthe CIA is close to finalizing a new seriesof guidelines on drone strikes.

Meanwhile, dissent and disapproval ofthe practice has grown palpable at home.At least one elected official, CongressmanKeith Ellison (D, MN) has been publiclycritical of the drone program. Ellison, thefirst Muslim to be elected to Congress,

called on increased transparency into theuse of drones in a January WashingtonPost editorial, asking the Obama adminis-tration to answer details on how the droneprogram selects its target individuals.Grassroots groups such as CodePink,Veterans For Peace and U.K.-based rightsgroup Reprieve have waged well-attendedpublic protests to voice their opposition tothe practice. During President Obama’sinauguration in January, one protest grouplay in bloody sheets in the streets nearCapitol Hill to raise public awareness onthe issue.

On January 24, it was announced thatthe United Nations plans to launch aninvestigation into drone strikes. Accordingto the New York Times, Ben Emmerson,Special Investigator for the United NationsHuman Rights Council, said the UN plansto conduct a nine-month study that wouldexamine “25 selected drone strikes thathad been conducted in recent years inAfghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somaliaand the Palestinian territories.” Theinquiry will be coordinated throughEmmerson’s UN office in Geneva, andEmmerson plans to report his finding tothe UN general assembly in New York thisfall. According to a January 23 Guardianarticle, Emmerson has previously statedthat some drone attacks could possiblyconstitute a “war crime.” £


OBAMA’S DRONE WAR0Continued from page 25



WASHINGTON REPORT

Five-year-old Washington-based PR and public affairsshop Gibraltar Associates has merged with D.C.research, lobbying and advisory firm McBee Strategic

Consulting, leaving Gibraltar as the strategic communicationsbusiness unit of McBee.

That unit, known as McBee|Gibraltar, is headed by Gibraltarco-founder and CEO, Eric Bovim, who takes a managingdirector title. Tom Pernice, another Gibraltar co-founder,takes a Senior Advisor role and remains in Los Angeles.

Bovim, a former Senate aide and journalist, said the move“is a way to stay ahead of the consulting trend lines and cap-ture a bigger share of the market.”

Gibraltar clients have included Teva Pharmaceuticals,GeoEye, Xe Services (formerly Blackwater) and Dole FoodCompany, among others.

Steve McBee, President and CEO of 10-year-old McBeeand a former aide to ex-Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), addedthat government risk is at an all-time high for business lead-ers, noting the “failure to anticipate, shape, and adapt toWashington trend-lines can cost billions of dollars.”

Gibraltar, which had revenue of nearly $5 million in 2011with about 20 staffers, has relocated its team to McBee’s D.C.headquarters at 455 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.

Gibraltar merges with DC shop

Bill Burton, the Obama press aide who left to advise a superPAC that supported the president’s re-election campaign,has landed at Global Strategy Group in a PR role in D.C.

Burton takes an executive VP role focused on strategic commu-nications and public affairsfor the firm, which workedwith the Priorities USAAction super PAC duringthe recent election cycle.GSG was the lead consult-ant to PUSAA, which hasbeen credited with inflict-ing early damage on theimage of challenger MittRomney in the campaign.

On the corporate side,GSG, based in New York,has worked with ESPN,IBM and A&E Networks. It is helping hedge funder Bill Ackmanin his campaign to discredit the nutritional products giantHerbalife.

Burton, a Hill PR aide and Communications Director for theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee when it was ledby then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel, was National Press Secretary forObama’s 2008 campaign. He joined the White House as DeputyPress Secretary before leaving to work on the re-election push forPUSAA.

Jen Psaki left her Senior VP/Managing Director role at GSG tobe Obama’s traveling press secretary during the campaign. JimPapa now heads the D.C. office of GSG. £

Obama press aide exits superPAC for GSG

Steve Bartlett, who retired late last year as President andCEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, has moved toLevick Strategic Communications in

an “of counsel” role.Bartlett, a former Congressman and Dallas

mayor, held the top Roundtable post since1999.

“We are thrilled to have Steve Bartlett joinour ranks,” said Richard Levick. “There arefew like him for expertise.”

Former Minnesota governor and presiden-tial candidate Tim Pawlenty took the reinson Nov. 1 of the Financial ServicesRoundtable, the D.C. lobbying group for theheads of large banks and financial institutions.

Levick said Bartlett counsels clients in public affairs, financialand other areas. £

Levick banks on Bartlett

Burton

AIG, which cut Washington lobbying activity after itsmassive federal bailout in 2008, has retained PattonBoggs to clear approval for its $5 billion divestiture of

the bulk of its International Lease Finance Corp. aircraft leas-ing arm to Chinese investors.

The New York Times (Dec. 9) called the transaction “one ofthe biggest acquisitions of a U.S. company by Chineseinvestors.”

The Committee of Foreign Investment in the U.S. is scruti-nizing the sale to the group that includes New China Trust andChina Aviation Industrial Fund.

PB is line for a $120,000 retainer from AIG. Tommy Boggsspearheads the push for clearance of the transaction.

He’s assisted by Jeff Turner, head of PB’s public policy,administrative and regulatory department. On its website, PBbills Turner the lobbyist who is most involved in “bet the com-pany” projects.

AIG claims U.S. taxpayers made a $22.7 billion profit on the$182.3 federal bailout of the New York-based insurer.. £

AIG returns to lobbying scene

McBee has worked with FedEx, Boeing, Solyndra,Citigroup and ViaSat, among others. £

Bartlett



International PR News

Dilenschneider Group Inc., New York, NY, registered January 11, 2013 for Government of Mongolia, Mongolia, to to provide PR and strategiccounseling services to Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

JWI, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered December 31, 2012 for Government of the Republic of The Gambia, State House, Banjul, TheGambia, to provide various professional, strategic advisory and PR services.

Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, D.C., registered January 15, 2013 for Government of the Republic of Albania, Tirana, Albania, to provideadvice and assistance on U.S.-Albania bilateral relations.

The Harbour Group, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered December 31, 2012 for Embassy of Libya, Washington, D.C., to provide consultingservices related specifically to the implementation of a public diplomacy program on behalf of the Embassy.

¸ NEW FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT FILINGSFARA News

Below is a list of select companies that have registered with the U.S. Department of Justice, FARA Registration Unit, Washington,D.C., in order to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, regarding their consulting and communications work onbehalf of foreign principals, including governments, political parties, organizations, and individuals. For a complete list of filings,visit www.fara.gov.

G NEW LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT FILINGSBelow is a list of select companies that have registered with the Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records, and the Clerkof the House of Representatives, Legislative Resource Center, Washington, D.C., in order to comply with the Lobbying DisclosureAct of 1995. For a complete list of filings, visit www.senate.gov.

National Health Advisors, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered January 22, 2013 for Coalition to Preserve Access to Cancer DiagnosticServices, Washington, D.C., to organize stakeholders and advocate for responsible policy for anatomic pathology.

Turner Pollard Strategies, LLC, Vienna, VA, registered January 21, 2013 for International Longshoremen's Association, Washington, D.C., forall issues relating to the Maritime Industry.

The Raben Group, Washington, D.C., registered January 21, 2013 for Council for Opportunity in Education, Washington, D.C., to further theexpansion of college opportunites for low-income students.

Aronnax Public Strategies LLC, Washington, D.C., registered January 21, 2013 for Cytimmune, Rockville, MD, for preparation of phase 2clinical trials for nano-technology.

Lobbying News

Saudi Basic Industries, the $50 billion petrochemical out-fit, has selected Interpublic Group as its global commu-nications agency of record for PR, advertising, media

buying, branding, design, events, sponsorship and web market-ing.

IPG edged holding company teams from incumbent WPP,Publicis and Omnicom in the six-month competitive pitch.Hill+Knowlton Strategies handled the bulk of the SABIC work.

Samir Al-Abdrabbuh, SABIC’s VP-corporate communica-tions, said IPG emerged victorious in the “fair and rigoroustechnical and commercial evaluation and procurement process”because it’s a “one stop shop and the team best positioned totake us to the next level; strengthening and leveraging ourbrand worldwide.”

Key staffers of Team Interpublic will come from WeberShandwick, McCann Worldgroup McCann Enterprise businessspecialist.

The government of Saudi Arabia controls a 70% stake inSABIC, which has 40,000 employees in 40 nations and totalassets of $85 billion. £

Saudis select InterpublicQorvis Communications is guiding PR for Al Jazeera in itsacquisition of U.S. cable network Current. The deal,pegged by news reports at around $500 million, kicks off

Qatar-based Al Jazeera’s latest plan to gain a foothold in the U.S.after failing to establish a significant presence here over the pastfive years.

Qorvis has extensive ties to the Middle East and senior directorSol Levine is a former producer for Al Jazeera English. The firmdeclined to comment on its relationship with AJ. Stan Collender,national director of financial communications at Qorvis, toldBloomberg that the network is carried by seven companies arching 4.7 million households in the U.S.

“By acquiring Current TV, Al Jazeera will significantly expandour existing distribution footprint in the U.S., as well as increaseour newsgathering and reporting efforts in America,” said Ahmedbin Jassim Al Thani, director general of the Qatar-based news network.

AJ, which has worked to shake a reputation for sympatheticcoverage of so-called terror groups and gained credibility with itscoverage of the 2011 Arab Spring, launched an English-languagechannel based in the Middle East in 200. But most U.S. viewershad to tune in over the Internet as cable providers declined to pickup the station.

“Our commitment to the voice of the voiceless, bringing stories

Qorvis works Al Jazeera-Currentdeal

from under-reported regions across the world and putting thehuman being at the center of our news agenda is at the heart ofwhat we do,” added Al Thani.

Al Jazeera English has previously worked with Brown LloydJames and Global Strategy Group. £



Monument Optimization, Washington,DC. 202/904-5763. [email protected]; www.monumentoptimization.com. John Stewart, President.

While we specialize in search enginemarketing, we are more than just anSEO firm. We blend a variety of mar-keting tactics to maximize the effective-ness and return on investment ofsearch engine campaigns.

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SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION MEDIA & SPEAKER TRAINING

Impact Communications, 11 Bristol Place,Wilton, CT 06897-1524. (203) 529-3047;cell: (917) 208-0720; fax: (203) 529-3048;[email protected]. Jon Rosen, President.

BE PREPARED! Impact Commun-ications trains your spokespeople tosuccessfully communicate criticalmessages to your targeted audi-ences during print, television, andradio news interviews. Your cus-tomized workshops are issue-drivenand role-play based. Videotaping/critiquing. Groups/privately. Face-to-face/telephone interviews/newsconferences. Private label seminarsfor public relations agencies. Make your next news interview

your best by calling Jon Rosen,Impact Communications. Over 30years of news media/trainingexpertise.

At Point, Inc., P.O. Box 361, Roseland, NJ07068. 973/324-0866; fax: 973/[email protected]; www.atpoint.com.Mick Gyure.

At Point provides the services ofdeveloping websites and managing theInternet operations of businesses, bothsmall and large, that do not have theexperience or the resources in-houseto perform these functions. Clients receive personalized and

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PR Buyer’s Guide To be featured in the monthly Buyer’s Guide,Contact John O’Dwyer, [email protected]

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

PR JOBS - http://jobs.odwyerpr.comDir. of Public Relations & Editorial

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at theUniversity of Michigan is a dynamic, distinctivelearning community that is consistently rankedamong the world's leading business schools.

The Director of Public Relations (PR) & Editorialleads and manages a team that is responsible forutilizing earned and owned media to achieve overallschool and client-specific goals for the Ross Schoolof Business. This person and his/her team will cre-ate and disseminate content that is meaningful, rel-evant, and compelling to a sophisticated and globalaudience of business leaders and decision makers(e.g., prospective and current students, alumni, cur-rent and prospective donors, corporate partners,and media).

He/she will be an expert in the utilization of publicrelations, search, and social media to create andshare compelling content that (1) organically reach-es audiences searching for the right information atthe right time, and (2) is available and distributed viaowned media, (e.g., website, blogs, brochures,magazines). This position will enhance the school'sreputation by presenting Ross - and its researchand intellectual capital - as the expert and go-tosource for help and information. This person willwork closely with the marketing communicationsteam to execute integrated communications that willdeliver on established strategies established by thebrand management team. He/she will work with themarketing analytics and research team to developand monitor success metrics to evaluate eachdeployed tactic.

To apply, please visit: http://umjobs.org and apply toposition 78191.


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The environmental issue · OVER HERBALIFE WAR Weight management and nutritional ... corporations to the dangers posed by cli-mate change. 16 CHANGES AT …

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