Signs of the Times: We reported in November 2016 President-elect Donald Trump was not a media fan. As you know, that turned out to be an understatement. As such, the President, in a Jan. 2 tweet, mocked journalists by announcing he’d be awarding prizes to The Most Dishonest & Corrupt Media Awards Of The Year the following week. That ‘ceremony’ has slipped to this week, Jan. 17. Not to be upstaged, Syracuse University’s prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ 12th annual Mirror Awards will include a special category for Best Story on Fake News. The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) took a slightly different angle, responding to the president’s honors show with its Press Oppressors Awards Jan. 8. Awards included Most Thin-skinned (Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked away with that one, he also took Most Outrageous Use of Terror Laws Against the Press); and Tightest Grip on Media(China’s president Xi Jinping). President Trump received the award Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom for blasting domestic media and failing to raise the issue of press freedom with leaders of repressive states. CPJ notes the number of imprisoned journalists globally (262) is at a record high. Another sign of the times, the Mirror Awards also will have another special category: Best Story on Sexual Misconduct in the Media Industry.
Fake News: Glad to see The Arthur W. Page Center is promoting research “that will contribute to the scholarly and public understanding of fake news." In addition, the Center is awarding grants on “general topics of ethical communication.” -- France is getting ready to see if it can legislate away fake news. Similar to the German law we told you about recently, the French regulation will look for fake news posted during election coverage. The law is set to be unveiled later this year. Again, similar to Germany, press freedom advocates are wary that the law will inhibit free speech. (Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT also has blasted the proposed law.) -- In a related story Democrats from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a 200-page report detailing Russian interference in elections in the U.S. and 19 European nations. The Jan. 11 report mentions cyberattacks, disinformation, clandestine social media operations, financing of political groups, corruption and assassination attempts in Ukraine and Georgia. Among the prescriptions are increased transparency from social media platforms.
M&A and Growth: Vested acquired Templars Communications of the U.K., its first acquisition. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kitty Parry, CEO/founder of Templars, will join Vested UK as a senior advisor. Arnold Hill & Co. advised Templars. -- Strategic advisory firm Vianovo is forming a philanthropy & causes consulting practice. – 17-year-old indie GLOBALHealthPR welcomed Johannesburg-based F/NE to its international network. – Evoke Group added Tonic Life Communications and nitrogen health to its collection of health marketing firms. – London-based Cognito opened its Hong Kong office. Dan Bradley will lead it.
Platform Prater:As we reported last year, Mark Zuckerberg was testing tactics to reduce branded posts on Facebook newsfeeds. His Jan. 11 announcement was the first concrete manifestation of those tests. While it’s early to offer prescriptives, it seems brands will need to ensure posts tell authentic stories that lead to engagement. In addition, based on what Facebook has said thus far, it seems videos, employee-generated content and user-generated content might become even more vital going forward.
People: Ruder Finn promoted Asia chairman Jean-Michel Dumont to head of international strategy and greater China MD Elan Shou to regional director of Asia. -- Congrats to PR News friend Jennifer Ball, named head of marketing at PromaxBDA, a new position. She’ll report to Steve Kazanjian, president/CEO. Ball comes from Univision, where she was EVP of marketing and content partnerships. Prior to that she was a VP at A&E. – Healthcare solutions firm AmeriHealth Caritas named Cora Lee Klena SVP and CCO (see middle photo, page 1). She’ll report to Mark Bullock, SVP and chief administrative and compliance officer. Prior to AmeriHealth, she ran Chubb’s marketing, communications and re-branding for the North American market. – Lippe Taylor signed Tracy Naden to fill the new role of consumer practice leader. Naden was at Weber Shandwick as an EVP. -- Communications firm kglobal appointed Noam Gelfond as director of business development and head of west coast operations. He recently served at Ketchum. -- Lauren Bernat (see last photo page 1) was named VP, advertising at rbb Communications and will lead account services for OutOfTheBlue. -- At our deadline Osborn Barr promoted Nicole Phillips to SVP of account management, insights and data; Adnan Sabic to chief creative officer; and Neil Caskey to EVP, client strategy. -- Prosper Group added Chevon Hicks to its roster of strategic advisors.