- Yahoo! will bar press from covering its annual shareholder meeting. The decision, contrary to industry practice, comes on the heels of an 85% drop in the portal's stock
price last year and the first layoffs in the company's history.
- Burson-Marsteller has named Cynthia Hudson as chair of the company's global Public Affairs Practice. Hudson is a former principal of BSMG.
- Fleishman-Hillard has grown to be the world's largest PR firm, according to the Council of Public Relations Firms. The St. Louis-based agency grew nearly 61 percent to
$342.8 million in revenues during 2000. With 79 offices on six continents, the agency announced a new acquisition this week, Stratcom Communique (Australia).
- Washington Redskins majority owner Daniel Snyder, age 36, is recuperating from surgery to treat thyroid cancer. Last year, the PR man cum sports tycoon sold Bethesda-based
Snyder Communications for $2.1 billion to French firm Havas Advertising. The company is settling a $3.1 million claim in Fla. for "slamming," i.e. improper marketing practices
that switchedcustomers' long-distance phone service, one of the largest payments ever made to resolve a slamming conflict.