The Week in PR

The Cost of Crisis Work: As with many PR crises, the Dr. Larry Nassar-U.S. Olympic Committee-U.S.A. Gymnastics-Michigan State University (MSU) crisis seems to grow in new directions daily. In one of the venues, MSU, the smell grows as the onion is peeled. You might recall Nassar was a sports doctor at MSU. After his 2016 arrest, MSU portrayed itself as a victim of Nassar’s criminal behavior.  Yet, hours after Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison Jan. 24, 2018, MSU’s first female president, Lou Anna Simon, retired abruptly, though she maintained she was scapegoated (PRN, Jan. 30). Two days later MSU athletic director Mark Hollis left. It’s often bad news to be in the crosshairs of politicians when your brand is in crisis and an election is on the horizon. Ask former Wells Fargo boss John Stumpf, who was fresh meat on Capitol Hill on the eve of the 2016 elections. Similarly for MSU, the Michigan governor’s job is up for grabs. While the severity of what Nassar did is more than enough to warrant a high-profile investigation, an impending election raises the stakes. Attorney general Bill Schuette, who’d like to be governor, announced Jan. 27 an investigation of MSU’s handling of the Nassar scandal. The latest piece of news from that probe netted former MSU dean William Strampel March 26, arrested for allegedly sexually harassing four students and having porn on his MSU computer, among other charges. The additional ouch here is Strampel was Nassar’s boss. Another item last week, though apparently not directly related to the investigation, has PR firm Weber Shandwick caught in the thicket. A March 28 story by Matt Mencarini in the Lansing State Journal found Weber billed MSU $517,343 for more than 1,440 hours of work during January 2018. The paper characterized the work as monitoring social media accounts of Nassar’s victims, influencers, journalists and celebrities. Loaded with copies of Weber work products sent to MSU detailing social media trends, the article quotes Weber VP Kim Dixon saying a law firm working for MSU employed Weber for “communications support.” The PR agency no longer works for MSU. Late Friday, Weber, seeking to clarify what it felt were inaccuracies in the Lansing paper’s article, said in part, “The majority of our work involved crisis counsel...We were not hired to monitor victims’ social media accounts...The victims were and continue to be the most important voices in the conversation.” Perhaps the statement should have read, “We were not hired solely to monitor victims’ social media accounts.” Based on copious examples of work product shown in the article, Weber spent at least a few billable hours working on social listening as part of its crisis work. We asked Weber Monday to specify how much of its $500,000+ bill was devoted to crisis advice and how much to social listening. There was no response.

Data-Filled Newsroom: The More Things Change... We told you last week about the Tow Center study showing newsrooms being infiltrated with DAP workers—employees skilled in data, analytics and platform-oriented operations. The question then becomes, how should communicators pitch to these data-savvy staffers? It’s a mix of basics and new processes, say the PR pros we asked. Lauren de la Fuente, VP, marketing & communications, Boingo Wireless, emphasizes the basics: “Make sure you pitch to the right reporter…data is great, but reporters hate pitches that aren’t relevant to them and their beat. And no random pitches, she says. “Data or no data—newsrooms still want good story ideas…not client-forced pitches or pitches that are just inbox-filling junk.” Nisha Morris, executive director, communications and PR, Providence St. Joseph Health, also emphasizes knowing who the reporter is and the publication’s needs first. “If the publication produces news that’s more anecdotal, tailor your pitch to tell a story first and follow it with supporting data…if it’s a media outlet that heavily relies on data, lead with data.” And go beyond data, Morris urges. “Explain in your pitch…how the data is relevant.” Does it fit into a trend? What does it mean to the reporter’s audience? Make the journalist’s job easier by not only providing data but putting it into perspective. And provide a relevant, interesting infographic to tell the story. “There’s nothing quite like a great visual to accompany a data-heavy article.”

Growth: Marketing agency Superdream acquired UK-based film production company HIPSTER, providing in-house video and film capability. -- WE Communicationsmade a strategic investment in Avian Media and its sister public affairs consultancy Chase.

People: Jamie Smith,former White House deputy press secretary under President Obama, was named CMO of The Linux Foundation. -- Grasslands named Shawna Seldon McGregor managing partner, based in its new Denver office. -- Former veteran FX VP Dominic Pagone joined Showtime Networks as SVP, entertainment publicity. -- Former Sony Pictures VP Lauren Townsend  joins Starz as EVP, communications, replacing Theano Apostolou and reporting to CEO/president Chris Albrecht. -- Tunheim of Minneapolis added Sheila Green to its roster as a senior consultant in its corporate communications group. Most recently Green was a VP at The Castle Group in Boston. -- rbb named Abdul Muhammad II, Jeanine Karp, Josh Merkin, Laura Guitar, Lisette Loughner, Maite Velez-Couto, Rashid Saker, Sandra Fine Ericson and Shawn Warmstein partners.