Elias Buchwald, a founder of Burson Marsteller, recently ran a four-day training session for 17 high-level Israeli spokespersons from government agencies. The session was organized by 5W Public Relations, the American Jewish Congress and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "We want Americans to relate to Israel emotionally, not just impersonally," Buchwald said. "The point should be 'Israel has what you like' by using warm, evocative and colorful language." Reporter Gary Rosenblatt summarized Buchwald's advice as "keep it short, make it direct, and no matter what the question, know beforehand what message you want to get across and stick with it." The media consul at the Israeli consulate in New York, David Saranga, described Israel's PR problem as being that "Americans miss the human face of Israel, they perceive of us as militaristic and very religious but they miss the lens of culture [and] education".

Gazprom supplies a quarter of Europe's gas needs Photo: Gazprom

Gazprom, the Russian gas company that supplies approximately one quarter of Europe's gas needs, is planning a PR and lobbying campaign in Europe and the U.S. to improve its image, after it cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine in 2006 and Belarus in 2007. Kommersant reports that Gazprom Export, a subsidiary of Gazprom, is negotiating with a consortium comprising the PBN Company, Hill & Knowlton and the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates for a three-year contract worth $11 million. "In the West, Gazprom is closely associated with the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his political circle. The company wants to position itself differently," an anonymous source said. The Kremlin is also considering another PR and lobbying campaign to boost its credibility in the West. Short-listed firms include Patton Boggs, Hogan & Hartson, Weber Shandwick, Burson Marsteller, Barbour Griffith & Rogers, Ruder Finn and Hill & Knowlton.

"The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications for new full power non-commercial educational (NCE) FM radio station licenses sometime this year, perhaps in late spring," writes Carmen Ausserer. "Typically, the FCC gives between one and three months notice before opening the filing window, which will likely last only five days." The process will end a six-year FCC freeze on new full-power licenses. "The window is a rare opportunity for non-profits and educational institutions," notes Ausserer. Organizations including Prometheus Radio Project, Native Public Media, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and Radio for People Coalition are raising awareness about the opportunity and providing information to interested groups. But "the FCC can only accept applications for frequencies that do not conflict with existing stations, which, for the most part, no longer exist within 30 miles of the largest 100 cities in the U.S."

TV Marti logo

As noted in a previous Spin, the U.S. government-funded stations Radio and TV Marti will be broadcast in South Florida, in an attempt to reach Cuban audiences. Since domestic broadcasts of U.S. government-funded propaganda are illegal, Congressman Bill Delahunt is planning hearings on the matter. Delahunt "is the ranking Democratic member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' new Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee," reports PR Week. "While no definitive date has been set for the hearings, the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics ... has called for the Government Accountability Office to investigate" the broadcasts on the Florida commercial stations Radio Mambi 710 AM and WPMF-38. A spokesperson for the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Martis and other government-funded media, stressed that the Florida broadcasts are necessary to overcome "the jamming of Radio and TV Marti" in Cuba.