Public Relations

WorldCom has hired APCO Worldwide to do damage control concerning the company's $3.8 billion accounting fraud reports PR Week. "The commitment initially was to being forthright, open and honest," APCO CEO Margery Kraus said referring to talks between WorldCom and APCO about a PR strategy before the crisis. "That commitment has certainly increased because that is an important way for the company to operate," Kraus said. According to PR Week, part of APCO's WorldCom strategy is "emphasizing that its current woes were the responsibility of the prior management team."

"Thanks to a loophole in the federal lobbying law, some companies and individuals - especially those pursuing controversial or potentially embarrassing causes - are using coalitions to conceal their identities," writes New York Times reporter Alison Mitchell. Examples of these "stealth coalitions" include the "Section 877 Coalition," which lobbied to help wealthy Americans evade taxes by giving up U.S. citizenship.

The latest bulletin from the Clearinghouse for Educational Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) features an elegant crique of the National Committee for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a right-wing front group that campaigns for tobacco and Republicans and against the environment.

"We've believed from the start that the perception of these negative items has been overstated," PR Week reports WorldCom CEO John Sidgmore telling shareholders at the company's June 14 annual meeting. "We must convince customers, employees, and investors of that fact." Sidgmore, who took the CEO job in April, was referring to WorldCom's growing debts, stock price plunge, and recent layoffs.