Public Relations

We've done our best to ignore the media's latest feeding frenzy over singer Michael Jackson -- until now, that is. The filing of nine felony counts against Jackson "was orchestrated by a Hollywood public relations company, Tellem Worldwide," reports Tim Rutten. Tellem "is providing pro bono services to the Santa Barbara prosecutors. As special correspondent Linda Deutsch and reporter Tim Molloy of Associated Press reported last week, the company's other clients include the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

"Comcast Corporation, the largest cable TV company in the U.S., announced that Victoria (Torie) Clarke will join the company as Senior Advisor for Communications and Government Affairs. She served most recently as Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Public Affairs. Clarke previously served as Press Secretary
for former President Bush's 1992 re-election campaign, as a close advisor to

Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon-authorized newspaper of the U.S. military, is blowing the whistle on Bush's Thanksgiving photo op in Iraq. The soldiers who cheered Bush were pre-screened before his arrival, and others showing up for turkey were turned away.

"Dan Klores Communications is helping to introduce Progress Media's plans for a liberal radio network to an intensely interested, but highly skeptical press," PR Week reports. The agency has been helping shape Progress Media's communications strategy. "The network has been billed as a way of balancing the strong influence of conservative talk radio, but so far media reporters have been wondering aloud why this would be different than other less-than-successful attempts at left-of-center radio programming, such as journalist Jim Hightower's show," PR Week writes.