Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of video new releases and audio news releases -- has announced that it has reached an agreement to been taken over by The NewsMarket. The takeover agreement, which will be submitted to a vote of shareholders at a meeting in August, was finalised on May 27. As part of the agreement, a subsidiary of The NewsMarket has offered to buy the company's shares for 20 cents, well above where it has traded for most of the last six months. As part of the agreement, Medialink's top three executives -- CEO Laurence Moskowitz, Chief Operating Office Larry Thomas and Chief Financial Officer Ken Torosian -- will step down. Medialink will also cease to trade on the sharemarket. As part of the deal, Medialink agreed to changes to the separation agreements for the three executives to "substantially reduce the change-in-control payments" owing to them on completion of the take-over.

The financial woes of Medialink Worldwide, the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), continue to get worse. In its report for the first quarter of 2009, the company states that revenues decreased by 34.5% or $1.7 million from the comparable period in 2008. With an operating loss of $1.3 million for the first three months of 2009, the company has restated its warning that if it is unsuccessful in obtaining further capital it "may not be able to continue as a going concern." Two weeks ago the Wall Street Journal reported that Michele Wallace, who was formerly Medialink's senior vice president of client services until she was laid off in May 2008, "lost family photos and every personal and business contact on her cellphone and computer" when the company's information-technology staff shut down her computer and BlackBerry. "Medialink did not return calls for comment," Joseph De Avila reported.

Despite the financial woes of the public relations firm Medialink Worldwide, which specializes in audio news releases and video news releases, PR Week claims that fake news is recession-proof. "For reporters covering breaking news, live broadcasts mean there's no lag time." In other words, sponsored video provided by PR firms "allows reporters to cover stories while cutting travel expenses." Videos can also help "companies with budget restraints, or corporate executives who want to deliver a message to employees," without traveling. Executives from the NewsMarket and On the Scene Productions -- PR firms that specialize in video -- told PR Week that video services really do help companies with tight budgets. Or maybe their firms are on tight budgets, and trying to appeal to potential new clients?

Medialink Worldwide, the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), reported that on April 20 it was notified by the Nasdaq Stock Market that shareholder equity in the company at the end of December 2008 was only $2,181,000 when the minimum requirement for listing on the exchange was $2,500,000. Nasdaq warned Medialink that it has until May 5, 2009 "to submit a plan to regain compliance." Medialink states that "upon review of Medialink's plan to regain compliance, the Nasdaq Stock Market may either grant an extension of time of no longer than 105 days to regain compliance or issue a notice of delisting."

Medialink Worldwide, the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), is teetering on the brink of collapse. In its latest annual report, the company reports that it had an operating loss of over $8.2 million in 2008 and "expects to incur operating losses in 2009 as revenues continue to decline in the current economic climate." The company states that it will continue cost-cutting measures and that is "is looking for "additional financing or investment from potentially interested third-party investors or buyers." However, it warns that unless it can raise additional funding it may not survive. O'Dwyer's PR Daily notes (sub req'd) that the company's external auditor, KPMG, stated that "these factors raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern.” Over the last year, the company's share price has collapsed from $1.21 to trade at around 13 cents.

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) turns 60 and some ask why the Cold War alliance still exists, NATO is launching new media and public relations efforts. The NewsMarket, an online source of b-roll and video news release footage, is providing NATO-produced videos to journalists. Not surprisingly, given Barack Obama's controversial plans to increase troops in Afghanistan, the NATO / NewsMarket channel features videos on "mentoring the Afghan Army" and "taking the fight to the Taliban," along with an interview of U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones, a proponent of NATO expansion. "NATO Public Diplomacy Division has developed a comprehensive strategy to engage with young audiences," according to the NATO / NewsMarket press release. NATO's youth outreach includes an "Internet TV" channel and "unconventional advertisement videos" posted to YouTube. NATO spent 500,000 Euros (U.S.$666,000) on the videos, which use the slogan "Peace and security. That's our mission."

A consumer group filed a complaint against the medical device company Medtronic, because an online video promoting one of the company's products "did not make consumers aware of the risks, warnings, precautions or side effects" associated with the product. The video, which was posted to the YouTube website, was produced for Medtronic by the broadcast PR firm VNR-1 Communications. After a consumer group, Prescription Project, filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Medtronic pulled the video from YouTube. The group also called on the FDA "to take action against YouTube videos promoting medical devices from Abbott Laboratories ... and Michigan-based Stryker Corp." The Prescription Project's director said the videos "raise serious questions about whether drug and device companies are using the Internet to skirt laws that safeguard consumers." In related (fake) news, Richard Edelman blogged that ABC News Now producer Jessica Guff told him that PR people should offer TV newsrooms "fully formed four minute segments, with visuals, spokespeople and news hook all conceived." She explained, "Don't just send me a pitch letter or a book which requires me to put together the piece," because "we are short staffed."

In its latest quarterly financial report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs) -- reports that revenue dropped by more than 28%, compared to the same three month period in 2007. From early 2008, the company's share price has dropped from a high of $4.50 to just 9 cents. In its report, Medialink notes (see page 11) that the company's stock has traded below "the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued listing" on the Nasdaq stock market and has been warned that it has until May 18, 2009, to "regain compliance."

Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) -- is in financial meltdown. Almost two years ago the Center for Media and Democracy reported that Medialink had placed its faith in selling off assets, trying to boost international income and investing in the digital watermarking system Teletrax. The company's latest quarterly report reveals that, faced with accelerating losses, the company has agreed to sell Teletrax to Philips Electronics and sold "certain assets of its UK-based media communications services operation" to World Television Group. Not surprisingly, Medialink's share price has collapsed to an all-time low of just 30 cents, down from $3.65 at the start of the year. PR Week reports that, according to industry sources, Medialink is "considering offering itself up for sale."