Public Relations

Entergy's Indian Point PR Reaches Critical Mass

by Diane Farsetta — April 7, 2009 - 12:34pm

The energy company Entergy has hired yet another public relations firm to promote its Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York. Entergy's new firm is the Breaux Lott Leadership Group, which will "deal with nuclear issues as the license of its Indian Point facility ... is up for renewal." The firm's leadership, former U.S.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), April 7, 2009

Wisconsin's Balance of Power: The Campaign to Repeal the Nuclear Moratorium

by Diane Farsetta — March 26, 2009 - 12:59pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, Nuclear Power, Lobbying, Public Relations

    • Wisconsin law sets two conditions that must be met before new nuclear power plants can be built in the state. One is that there must be "a federally licensed facility" for high-level nuclear waste. In addition, the proposed nuclear plant "must be economically advantageous to ratepayers."

    It's a law that the nuclear power industry doesn't like. Given the near-death of the planned waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, and the estimated $6 to $12 billion cost (pdf) of building one nuclear reactor -- not to mention the lack of interest from private investors and the tanking economy -- Wisconsin's law effectively bans new nuclear plants in the state, for the foreseeable future.

    Earlier this year, the major U.S. industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) registered four lobbyists in Wisconsin.

    Australian Police Unspun

    by Bob Burton — March 26, 2009 - 4:56am

    After pleading guilty to counts of perjury and three of disclosing a confidential hearing, the former media director for Australia's Victoria Police, Stephen Linnell, has been fined $A5,000 and sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. Linnell, a former journalist, became a friend of the then-assistant commissioner, Noel Ashby, after being appointed media director in 2003. In May 2007, Ashby was a suspect in an investigation by the Office of Police Integrity (OPI) into the leaking of confidential information.

    Main Source: 
    The Age (Melbourne), March 26, 2009

    Army Continues Anti-Explosive PR in Afghanistan

    by Diane Farsetta — March 19, 2009 - 12:47pm

    The U.S. Army, which recently canceled PR work in Iraq, is looking for a firm to do media campaigns in Afghanistan. The contract is worth $10 million a year, for up to four years.

    Main Source: 
    O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), March 19, 2009

    Wal-Mart Buys PR in Bulk

    by Diane Farsetta — March 12, 2009 - 2:12pm

    Wal-Mart Stores plans to hire a few outside public relations firms to develop "fresh, emotional PR programming" promoting its grocery, health, clothing, home, hardware, auto and entertainment products, along with Wal-Mart's events, financial services and website. Edelman, which has been Wal-Mart's main PR firm for three years, is among the five or six finalists for the major account.

    Main Source: 
    Advertising Age, March 10, 2009

    Industry Seeks to Shape U.S. Healthcare Reform

    by Diane Farsetta — March 12, 2009 - 12:22pm

    After "President Barack Obama revealed a $634 billion plan for healthcare as part of his proposed budget," the healthcare industry and its PR firms sought to secure "a seat at the table." The head of Burson-Marsteller's U.S.

    Main Source: 
    PR Week, March 4, 2009

    Before Blackwater Had Xe, PM Had NewCo

    by Anne Landman — February 27, 2009 - 5:14pm
  • Topics: Crisis Management, Public Relations, Tobacco

    • After years of bad press over no-bid contracts and massacres of Iraqi civilians, the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide has changed its name to the cryptic "Xe" (pronounced "Zee"). In an eerily similar move, disgraced sub-prime mortgage lender Countrywide announced that its new name is the smooth-sounding "Bank of America Home Loans." Rounding out the triumvirate of chameleons, Baghdad's Abu Ghraib Prison, made infamous worldwide for the torture and abuses perpetrated inside its walls by both Saddam Hussein and the U.S. government, is changing its name to "Baghdad Central Prison."

    Freddie Mac Interrogates Itself

    by Diane Farsetta — February 26, 2009 - 2:29pm

    U.S. mortgage giant Freddie Mac, now under government control and receiving federal aid, is conducting an internal investigation into its $2 million "stealth lobbying campaign." Freddie Mac hired the Covington & Burling law firm to conduct the investigation, which is being headed by former Justice Department prosecutor Stephen Anthony.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, February 23, 2009

    GM Looks for a PR Bailout

    by Diane Farsetta — February 26, 2009 - 1:46pm

    General Motors has hired Michael Whouley, among the Democratic Party's "most respected organizers of grass-roots politics," in "a sign the company's fight for survival has become as much about politics and public image as business acumen," reports the Detroit News.

    Main Source: 
    The Detroit News, February 20, 2009
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