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.

Northern Iraq -- touted as "the other Iraq" in an advertising and public relations campaign by the Republican-leaning PR firm Russo Marsh & Rogers -- now has more PR help. The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) has hired Qorvis Communications for work on "strategic communications, internet consulting, media relations support, [and] writing / editing documents," according to the foreign lobbyist disclosure form (pdf). The firm says it will "educate and inform the American media and policy makers" and "work to change travel advisories or other statements from the USG [U.S. government] when they are inaccurate." KRG officials are happy that the U.S. State Department currently describes northern Iraq as "more stable than the rest of Iraq," with "fewer terrorist attacks," reports O'Dwyer's. The officials hope such language will "further encourage U.S. business to look into many investment opportunities available in the Kurdistan Region." KRG previously retained the Cassidy & Associates and BGR Holdings LLC lobbying firms.

"The Economist," bemoans Andy Rowlands, the director of corporate, issues and technology practice at the public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, "is one of the most influential, but also most difficult places to secure coverage." The former head of PR for the London-based magazine (now a PR consultant), Eileen Wise, suggests that persistence pays off. "It is beneficial for senior PR people to build up a relationship with some of the business and economic writers. Once they have built up a good rapport and the journalists understand about their company or clients they will find, in time, that the journalists may start coming to them when they need information or comment on a particular subject or industry," she said. Michael Gonzalez, a senior media consultant at Lewis PR, told PR Week that "it takes time, effort and understanding, but it will all be worth it if you crack The Economist."

At the launch of a public relations and marketing campaign in support of the United Nations' upcoming climate change conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, "We need a global movement that mobilizes real change." The UN's COP15 conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from December 7 to 18. The promotional campaign, which is led by the public relations firm Ketchum, is called "Hopenhagen." Other marketing and PR firms involved include Ogilvy & Mather, Colle & McVoy, Euro RSCG and Saatchi & Saatchi. "Hopenhagen" ads "are starting to run this week in Cannes, JFK Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport and London Heathrow," reports O'Dwyer's. "An 'aggressive' consumer launch" is planned for September, according to the Guardian. "The campaign will complement the UN's 'Seal the Deal!' campaign in support of a global treaty" to follow the Kyoto Protocol. "Hopenhagen" is "modeled as an 'open source campaign' which will include content from users generated online and off." The campaign website allows visitors to say -- in 45 characters or less -- what gives them hope. "We are happy to welcome the Hopenhagen campaign as part of our wide ranging communications efforts for the conference," said Danish Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy Klavs Holm.

In May, the Russian government "created a high-level commission to overhaul its image on the world stage as the first anniversary of Russia's war with Georgia approaches." The commission is chaired by President Dmitry Medvedev's chief of staff, Sergei Naryshikin, "underscoring how serious the Kremlin considers the problem, which it often blames on shadowy external enemies and ill-wishers," reports the Wall Street Journal. "Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also sit on the panel." A Kremlin official declined to discuss the commission, saying, "This isn't something we're keen to advertise." Over the past few years, Russia has increasingly sought to improve its international image. "In 2005, it set up an international English-language TV channel, Russia Today, to broadcast its views. Since 2006, Moscow has retained U.S. public-relations company, Ketchum, mostly to help it deal with foreign media." The Russian government has also hired the lobbying firm of Alston & Bird, and set up the "Institute of Democracy and Cooperation," a think tank critical of the U.S. and European governments.

"Well aware that their cause is in trouble and unpopular, purity proponents are revamping their image to appear more mainstream," reports Jessica Valenti. "Think tanks like the Independent Women's Forum and Concerned Women for America, abstinence-only organizations, religious leaders and legislators" are reacting to the Obama administration's "cutting most abstinence-only education funding from the 2010 budget." At the National Abstinence Education Association's (NAEA's) "annual lobby day in March, high on the list of priorities was developing a strategy for continuing to receive federal dollars." In April, NAEA director Valerie Huber told a Capitol Hill briefing, "This is not abstinence only, this is a holistic message that prepares and gives students all of the information they need to make healthy decisions." NAEA -- which hired the PR firm Creative Response Concepts in 2007 -- now calls its programs "abstinence centered," instead of "abstinence only." Huber said that "abstinence education talks about contraception." Valenti counters, "the only time abstinence-only classes will talk about contraception is when they discuss failure rates." WhyKnow, "a major provider of abstinence-only education curriculums," hired a public relations firm "to help recast its image," and changed its name to "On Point." The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, "a hard-core abstinence-only organization," renamed itself the Medical Institute, part of an attempt "to legitimize its message by rebranding itself as science-based."

Weber Shandwick UK counts among its clients Viking Energy, a company "seeking to build a 153-turbine wind farm in the Shetlands." But the PR firm's chair of public affairs, Jonathan McLeod, recently launched an anti-wind power campaign, using his Weber Shandwick email address. McLeod announced the formation of the "National Alliance of Wind farm Action Groups," or NAWAG, stating: "For too long, the 'greenwash' of the wind industry has gone unchallenged." Asked about the contradiction, McLeod said NAWAG is a personal campaign and he would, in the future, use a different email for NAWAG business. "It's true our company does specialise in community relations with these kind of projects," he added. As NAWAG's chair, McLeod criticized wind farm developers' efforts to "force turbines on communities." New Energy Focus notes that "such techniques, presumably, include hiring his own company to promote wind farm projects." NAWAG, which counts 30 anti-wind farm groups across Britain as its members, plans to lobby the Conservative Party's shadow cabinet for restrictions on wind farms.

From March 2008 to January 2009, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) spent $7.6 million on public relations and marketing, to "instill confidence in the stability of the insured banking system" and mark the agency's 75th anniversary. The Weber Shandwick and Porter Novelli firms worked on the FDIC campaign. "Both PR firms are still under contract with the FDIC," reports O'Dwyer's. While "the anniversary campaign wraps up at the end of this month," Porter Novelli "has received an extension to support the FDIC's 'EDIE the Estimator,' an online insurance deposit calculator that has been revamped."

After conducting "focus groups, a phone survey, an online survey" and other public opinion research, the PR firm ecoAmerica released a report on effective talking points "for speaking with the American public about energy climate change, climate solutions, renewable energy and carbon based fuels." As the New York Times noted previously, ecoAmerica's "research directly parallels marketing studies conducted by oil companies, utilities and coal mining concerns that are trying to 'green' their images." The difference is that ecoAmerica and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which helped fund the report, are trying to promote environmentally-friendly policies. EcoAmerica's report suggests using the phrase "our deteriorating atmosphere," instead of "global warming" or "climate crisis," to appeal to "environmental agnostics." It's also critical of the phrase "cap-and-trade," floating "Clean Energy Dividend," "Clean Energy Cash-Back," "Pollution Penalty" or "Pollution Reduction Refund" as alternatives. "Stay away from debating weather ... science or specific policies," the report cautions. Instead, use "values-oriented language," appealing to "American exceptionalism, American ingenuity," energy independence, jobs and "freedom."