Corporate Damage Control Turns Tough

Source: Columbia Journalism Review, September/October, 2003 Alicia Mundy writes that "I was about to go live on the Today show to discuss my book on the fen-phen scandal when the host, Maria Shriver, leaned forward and very kindly said, 'I'm really sorry about the way we're doing this interview and the questions I have to ask. You understand, don't you?' ... It seems that the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth-Ayerst, had been calling. Wyeth, a major conglomerate, makes Dimetapp and Robitussin, as well as hormone replacement products and other drugs, and was a huge advertiser with NBC. They'd apparently been in negotiations with NBC's counsel over my pending appearance. ... I left satisfied, but remained curious about the dynamics behind the scenes. The answer came this summer in an extraordinarily revealing panel at the annual convention of Investigative Reporters and Editor,, in Washington. ... The panel, titled 'PR Attacks and Counterattacks,' was moderated by Mark Feldstein of George Washington University. With him was a former local TV news colleague, Kent Jarrell, who went over to the dark side to P.R. and 'crisis management' in 1996, and is now a senior vice president for litigation communications at APCO Worldwide. Jarrell was joined by Don Goldberg, a survivor of the Clinton White House, who toils for the government relations firm Navigant Consulting."