Ruder Finn
Encyclopedia
Ruder Finn is an United States
public relations
firm founded in 1948 by David Finn and William Ruder
.
Ruder Finn is a privately held, family-owned company that employs more than 600 people. Its public relations cover healthcare, technology, consumer, interactive, media, arts and culture, and environmental programming.
Since 1978, Ruder Finn has maintained an executive-training program, which approximately 20% of Ruder Finn employees have participated in to date.
In the 1960s, Ruder Finn hired S. Neil Fujita
to create a design division, Ruder, Finn & Fujita.
, and was followed by celebrity clients such as Dinah Shore
, Frankie Laine
, The Mills Brothers, Jack Lemmon
and Rosalind Russell
. Other clients have included Philip Morris
, Novartis
, Travel Alberta, Twinings Tea, glaceau
, and Air France
.
(now Altria), Ruder Finn was instrumental in crafting the public relations campaign that disputed the evidence tobacco smoking is hazardous to health.
1998 - Caught in conflict of interest as discoveries of financial dealings of Swiss authorities post-World War II surfaced which involved some of their Jewish clients.
2005 - Pro bono work done for the UN raised speculation when Kofi Annan
's nephew, Kobina, worked as an intern at the firm.
In the first days of August 1992, the Long Island newspaper Newsday published reports from its Bonn correspondent Roy Gutman, based on interviews in Zagreb, telling of horrendous conditions in Serb-run internment camps in Bosnia. Seeing the potential impact of comparison with Nazi "death camps", Ruder Finn immediately contacted three major Jewish organizations, the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Jewish Congress, suggesting they publicly protest. They did. This launched the demonization of Serbs as the new Nazis. In 1993, Ruder Finn was awarded the Silver Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the category "crisis communication".
__________
See the facts:Franjo Tuđman,Ustaše
, Ante Pavelić,Jasenovac concentration camp
, Jadovno concentration camp, Operation Storm,Independent State of Croatia
, Ante Gotovina,Glina massacre
,
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm founded in 1948 by David Finn and William Ruder
William Ruder
William "Bill" Ruder was an American public relations executive and co-founder of Ruder Finn with David Finn.They started the firm in 1948 when both were 27. They originally called their company Art In Industry, Inc. Their first clients as Ruder & Finn was Perry Como...
.
Ruder Finn is a privately held, family-owned company that employs more than 600 people. Its public relations cover healthcare, technology, consumer, interactive, media, arts and culture, and environmental programming.
Since 1978, Ruder Finn has maintained an executive-training program, which approximately 20% of Ruder Finn employees have participated in to date.
In the 1960s, Ruder Finn hired S. Neil Fujita
S. Neil Fujita
Sadamitsu "S. Neil" Fujita was an American graphic designer known for his innovative book cover and record album designs.-Background:...
to create a design division, Ruder, Finn & Fujita.
Clients
Ruder Finn's first client was actually Perry ComoPerry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, and was followed by celebrity clients such as Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, The Mills Brothers, Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
and Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
. Other clients have included Philip Morris
Philip Morris
- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...
, Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
, Travel Alberta, Twinings Tea, glaceau
Glacéau
Energy Brands, also doing business as Glacéau, is a privately owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Company based in Whitestone, New York City that manufactures and distributes various lines of enhanced water. Founded in May 1996 by J...
, and Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
.
Controversy
1960s through late 1990s - While representing long-time client Philip MorrisPhilip Morris
- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...
(now Altria), Ruder Finn was instrumental in crafting the public relations campaign that disputed the evidence tobacco smoking is hazardous to health.
1998 - Caught in conflict of interest as discoveries of financial dealings of Swiss authorities post-World War II surfaced which involved some of their Jewish clients.
2005 - Pro bono work done for the UN raised speculation when Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
's nephew, Kobina, worked as an intern at the firm.
The former Yugoslavia, working against the Serbs
- On 12 August 1991, the Croatian government hired the American public relations firm Ruder Finn Global Public Affairs to "develop and carry out strategies and tactics for communication with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate as well as with officials of the U.S. government including the State Department, the National Security Council and other relevant agencies and departments of the U.S. government as well as with American and international news media". On 12 November 1991, Ruder Finn's contract was renewed to include lobbying in relation to diplomatic recognition, sanctions, and embargoes, as well as briefings for officials of the first Bush administration and preparation of special background material, press releases, both reactive and proactive articles and letters to the editors to appear in major newspapers, briefings for journalists, columnists, and commentators. In January and February 1992, Ruder Finn organized trips to Croatia for U.S. Congressmen. The United States recognized Croatia as an independent state on 7 April 1992
- On 23 June 1992, Izetbegovic's government in Sarajevo in turn signed a contract with Ruder Finn in order to promote a stronger leadership role for the United States in the Balkans. To this end, the agency undertook an impressive array of actions, notably setting up a "Bosnia Crisis Communication Center" in contact with American, British, and French media; media appearance coaching for Bosnian foreign minister Haris Silajdzic; sending press releases to U.S. Congressmen and "Fax Updates" on developments in Bosnia-Herzegovina to over 300 addresses, including the most important world media and parliamentarians; writing 17 letters to be signed by Izetbegovic and Silajdzic and addressed to top world representatives at international conferences; organizing personal contacts between Silajdzic and Al Gore, Margaret Thatcher, and other influential personalities, including 17 U.S. Senators; placing articles on in the editorial pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and so on.
- Eighteen months after taking the Croatian contract, Ruder Finn was able to boast to having "developed a reputation as the international public relations agency with the greatest experience and involvement with the crisis in the Balkans. Our work has helped put Ruder Finn on the map in Washington, DC, and internationally." The agency claimed to have gained "dozens of close contacts in Congress and among the news media".
- In October 1992, Ruder Finn took up the job of public relations for the ethnic Albanian separatists in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
- In April 1993, French television journalist Jacques Merlino visited the Washington headquarters of Ruder Finn Global Public Affairs to interview the man in charge of the Balkan contracts, James Harff. Merlino asked Harff what he considered his proudest achievement in this operation. The answer: "Having succeeded in putting Jewish opinion on our side." The image of both Croats and Bosnian Muslims risked being tarnished by their involvement in the persecution of Jews during World War II. "Our challenge was to turn that around", Harff told Merlino, and this had been done thanks to the "camps" story.
In the first days of August 1992, the Long Island newspaper Newsday published reports from its Bonn correspondent Roy Gutman, based on interviews in Zagreb, telling of horrendous conditions in Serb-run internment camps in Bosnia. Seeing the potential impact of comparison with Nazi "death camps", Ruder Finn immediately contacted three major Jewish organizations, the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Jewish Congress, suggesting they publicly protest. They did. This launched the demonization of Serbs as the new Nazis. In 1993, Ruder Finn was awarded the Silver Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the category "crisis communication".
__________
See the facts:Franjo Tuđman,Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
, Ante Pavelić,Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia and occupied Yugoslavia during World War II...
, Jadovno concentration camp, Operation Storm,Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, Ante Gotovina,Glina massacre
Glina massacre
The Glina massacre was the August 1941 killing of hundreds of Serbs by members of the Croatian fascist Ustaše movement in the town of Glina in Croatia. It was one of the largest single acts of mass murder to occur in Yugoslavia during the Second World War....
,
- Had Tuđman lived longer, he would have been possibly brought up on war crimes charges by the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Graham Blewitt, a senior Tribunal prosecutor, told the AFP wire service that "There would have been sufficient evidence to indict president Tuđman had he still been alive." The Tribunal's indictment of Croatian general Ante Gotovina lists Tuđman as a key participant in a "joint criminal enterprise" aimed at the "permanent removal of the Serb population from the "Krajina" region by killing, force, fear or threat of force, persecution, forced displacement, transfer and deportation, appropriation and destruction of property other minority belongings & means.http://web.archive.org/web/20080626174613/http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/got-jind070306e.pdf,[ http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=30]
External links
- Ruder Finn website
- Ruder Finn Israel website
- RFI Studios website
- Ruder Finn Interactive Blog
- The involvement in the former Yugoslavia, interviewhttp://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2009/06/03/for-those-still-confounded-by-the-balkans-a-40-minute-audio-visual/