PLUS Media

PLUS Media is a New York-based public relations firm that states its specialises in satellite media tours, radio media tours, radio news releases, video news releases, B-roll, product placement [and] brand integration".

PLUS Media was a founding member of the VNR lobby group, the National Association of Broadcast Communicators.

Fake news
In August 2007, the firm's website offered "an extended co-op in-city media tour calendar--most at the introductory price of just $10,500 per client. Our in-city media tour station lists feature most if not all of the 10 interviews in top 50 markets!!!" (emphasis in original)

In October 2007, the Miami Herald reported that PLUS Media was behind a satellite media tour sponsored by Florida's Broward County to promote Fort Lauderdale as a tourist destination. Travel writer Joel Widzer was paid $10,000 to mention Fort Lauderdale, "during a summer media tour that took him to 16 news stations in 37 days." Widzer "seemed to have little trouble finding stations willing to interview him and air the footage of Fort Lauderdale's coral reefs and spas that the public relations firm, Plus Media, provided producers. A follow-up report ... said Widzer mentioned the destination in 20 television interviews from Tampa Bay to Albuquerque, reaching an estimated 430,000 viewers."

One station that aired Widzer's pitch for Fort Lauderdale, WXIX-19 in Cincinnati, admitted to the Miami Herald that "the segment violated station policy," because while "the producer knew the destinations Widzer mentioned were also sponsoring his tour, viewers weren't told of the connection."

Personnel

 * Pier Paolo Piccoli	Co-President
 * Victoria Lang Co-President
 * Joyce Friedman Vice President, Media Relations
 * Natalie Weissman Vice President, Sales
 * Andrea Goldberg, Sales

Clients
An extensive - but partial - client list is on the PLUS Media website. Major corporate clients include:
 * American Chemistry Council
 * American Plastics Council
 * BBC Home Video
 * Bell Atlantic
 * CBS/Fox Home Video
 * Disney Co.
 * Johnson & Johnson
 * Kellogg's
 * Kmart
 * Mastercard International
 * Panasonic
 * Procter & Gamble
 * Revlon
 * SC Johnson
 * Sony
 * Target Stores
 * The Diamond Information Center
 * The Walt Disney Company
 * World Gold Council

Contact details
PLUS Media 20 West 23rd St., New York, NY 10010. Phone: 212/206-8160 Web: http://www.plusmedia.com

SourceWatch resources

 * Audio news releases
 * B-Roll
 * Branded Entertainment
 * Covert propaganda
 * Fake TV news
 * Federal Communications Commission, the FCC
 * infomercial
 * Media releases
 * National Association of Broadcast Communicators
 * Radio Media Tours
 * Public Service Announcements
 * Satellite Media Tours
 * Video news releases