Communications & New Media Nov 2015 Vol 29 No 11
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wASHINGTON REPORT<br />
Senate probes Obama ad, PR<br />
spending<br />
The Senate Budget Committee has launched a probe of federal<br />
government PR and advertising spending, noting the<br />
estimated $1 billion in spending on outside pacts.<br />
Sen. Mike Enzi, the Wyoming Republican who Chairs the committee,<br />
has asked the Office of Management and Budget for an accounting<br />
of executive branch spending for fiscal <strong>2015</strong>, following<br />
a Washington Post report about Edelman’s work for the Dept. of<br />
Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health<br />
Services Administration.<br />
“Agency spending on advertising, public relations and media relations<br />
is largely a black box ... it’s hard to tell how much is spent<br />
and where the money is going,” he wrote in a letter to OMB Chair<br />
Shaun Donovan.<br />
Enzi noted that federal law prohibits appropriated federal funds<br />
being used for publicity or propaganda purposes, or for lobbying<br />
Congress.<br />
“Legal issues aside, unnecessary media relations spending is a<br />
cost that the nation simply cannot afford,” wrote Enzi.<br />
Fiscal 2013 PR and ad spending approached $1 billion with<br />
$900 million on ad services and $87 million for PR, according to<br />
the Senate committee. <br />
Gallup to drop out of 2016<br />
Primary polls<br />
Gallup, the company synonymous with political surveys, said<br />
it would not participate in gathering Americans’ political<br />
opinions regarding the 2016 presidential primaries.<br />
The news came during an October feature posted at Politico,<br />
where Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank <strong>New</strong>port told the news site<br />
that the opinion poll giant has shifted its focus away from horserace<br />
polls and is now more interested in research regarding voters’<br />
issues. The only primary-related data it presently plans to gather<br />
involve asking how Americans feel about individual candidates.<br />
“We believe to put our time and money and brainpower into understanding<br />
the issues and priorities is where we can most have an<br />
impact,” <strong>New</strong>port told Politico.<br />
<strong>New</strong>port also informed Politico that he can’t confirm whether<br />
Gallup will participate in gathering polling data during next year’s<br />
general election.<br />
Gallup was lampooned in 2012 after research it gathered during<br />
that year’s Presidential election infamously gave a one-point win to<br />
Mitt Romney over President Obama. Competing polling organizations,<br />
meanwhile, arrived at wildly different — and, as it turned<br />
out, far more accurate — results. Obama ended up winning that<br />
election with a 3.9-point lead.<br />
The miscalculation resulted in an internal probe into the organization<br />
to discover what went wrong and how the company could<br />
improve its findings. <br />
H+K Strategies bolsters its<br />
D.C. team<br />
H+K Strategies has recruited from the political and cable TV<br />
precincts to bolster its Washington, D.C office. The PR agency<br />
on Wednesday named Matthew Felling, who previously<br />
worked for the U.S. Senate, as a VP, and Patrick Ryan, formerly<br />
with Fox Business Network and CNBC, as a Senior Account Su-<br />
pervisor.<br />
Prior to joining H+K, Felling was Strategic <strong>Communications</strong> Director<br />
for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). He ran her day-to-day<br />
and long-term messaging on policy areas including health care and<br />
military issues. Prior to that, he was anchor and Chief Political Reporter<br />
for KTVA-CBS (Anchorage, Alaska).<br />
Ryan most recently worked at Braithwaite <strong>Communications</strong>,<br />
where he was responsible for managing media relations and crisis<br />
communications. Before that Ryan worked at the Fox Business Network<br />
as Producer, as well as CNBC Thomson Reuters. <br />
Ex-White House, TPG PR exec to<br />
Mercury<br />
Adam Levine, the former communications exec for private<br />
equity giant TPG locked in a legal battle with the firm, has<br />
joined Mercury to set up a San Francisco outpost.<br />
TPG sued Levine in January, accusing the former Goldman Sachs<br />
and Bush White House PR staffer of leaking information to the<br />
press to harm the firm. Levine countered with a whistleblower suit,<br />
claiming TPG violated securities laws and made misrepresentations<br />
to investors.<br />
Levine takes a Managing Director role with Omnicom-owned<br />
Mercury. Partner Fabian Nunez said Levine brings “incredible talent<br />
and leadership” to the firm.<br />
In addition to the TPG post, he was VP and Spokeman for Goldman<br />
Sachs and Assistant White House Press Secretary and Director<br />
of TV news for President George W. Bush.<br />
He started out on Capitol Hill and moved into TV journalism<br />
with NBC <strong>New</strong>s and ABC TV. <br />
Ex-Cantor Aide advises Burson,<br />
Direct Impact<br />
John Murray, an advisor to former House Majority Leader Eric<br />
Cantor (R-Va.) who ran his own communications<br />
shop, has signed on as senior<br />
advisor to Burson-Marsteller and its Direct Impact<br />
grassroots operation.<br />
Murray, founder of JAM Strategies, is a former<br />
Deputy Chief of Staff and <strong>Communications</strong> Director<br />
to Cantor during his stints as Majority<br />
Leader and GOP Whip. He also led strategy and<br />
fundraising for the YG Network super PAC. He<br />
worked at B-M earlier in his career.<br />
Lepow<br />
Direct Impact also added Luke Albee, Chief<br />
of Staff to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), as a Senior<br />
Advisor. <br />
60 NOVEMBER <strong>2015</strong> | www.ODwyERPR.COM
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