Sam Singer

Sam Singer is a San Francisco, California-based public affairs consultant and is the founder and CEO of [Singer Associates]http://singersf.com/. He is a former newspaper editor and television reporter.

Background
His public affairs webpage notes that he is a "former executive newspaper editor and television reporter" and "has extensive experience in news media relations, public policy issues, and political campaign management." Another biogrpahical note states that he "began his career as a newspaper reporter for the Richmond Independent and Berkeley Daily Gazette. He became a Washington-based television and radio correspondent with Medill News Service covering Congress for CBS News affiliates. Lastly, he served as editor of the Berkeley Daily Gazette and managing editor of the Berkeley Voice."

Singer was "Communications Director and Press Secretary to Nevada Governor Richard Bryan in his successful 1988 bid for the U.S. Senate" and worked as "State Campaign Manager of Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner's campaign for State Attorney General in 1990. Mr. Singer served as campaign manager for Miriam Shearing, the first woman to be elected to the Nevada Supreme Court in 1992 and as the campaign manager and chief strategist for the re-election of Judge Dorothy von Beroldingen in San Francisco in 1998.

Prior to starting his own corporate communications agency in 2000, he served as President and West Coast Manager of GCI Group. Singer had joined GCI in February 1999 "when his San Francisco agency Kamer-Singer & Associates was acquired by GCI, a division of Grey Global Group advertising". Singer stated that he looked forward to creating an agency "that is devoted to providing personalized service to high-end clients that have corporate, crisis, and other public relations needs."

PR Campaigns
Some of his PR campaigns have included:


 * in 1997 "he led the corporate reputation team handling Levi Strauss & Company's largest layoffs in its history."


 * in 1995 he won a Bronze Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) "for his work for the State of Nevada in opposing a nuclear waste repository near Las Vegas."


 * "In 1994-5, he worked with the President of Jack-in-the-Box Restaurants in response to a food poisoning outbreak linked to contaminated hamburger."

Singer Represents SF Zoo in Tiger Incident
On Christmas Day 2007, Tatiana the tiger escaped from her enclosure in the San Francisco Zoo, mauled a 17 year old boy to death and severely injured two of his companions. Media coverage of the incident focused on deficiencies in construction of the cat's enclosure and the zoo's response to the accident, while the public recoiled in horror. It looked like the zoo's reputation had hit rock bottom. The zoo hired Singer, to help spin the tiger mauling in a way that would minimize the damage to the zoo's reputation. Suddenly, new information started appearing in the media that seemingly defended the tiger: the young men who got mauled might have been drinking alcohol, might have had taunted the tiger, and might have been using marijuana. So maybe it wasn't so much the zoo's fault after all? A lawyer for the two survivors, Mark Geragos told the San Francisco Chronicle that Singer was "spreading stories to anyone who will write them."

"Singer doesn't deny pointing reporters to facts and rumors he'd heard in the course of the investigation - and the empty vodka bottle and other evidence of drinking and marijuana use on the part of the Dhaliwal brothers has since been confirmed by city officials," Robert Selna reported. "There are a number of rumors in any crisis, and that was one (the slingshot) that was already out there, and that is not something that I did," Singer said. "Reporters have asked about rocks, slingshots, bottle rockets and taunting. Those are all things that San Francisco police are investigating, and that's fact."

Clients
In a media release announcing that he was setting up his own PR company, Singer stated that his clients had included :
 * Chevron
 * Ford Motor Company
 * Wal-Mart
 * The San Francisco 49ers,
 * Bank of America
 * Williams-Sonoma
 * Nike,
 * Sony Corporation
 * Levi Strauss & Co.
 * Kohlberg & Co.
 * McKesson Corporation
 * Arnold Palmer Golf
 * Marriott Hotels and Resorts
 * Gump's
 * Sing Tao Limited of Hong Kong
 * Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan
 * San Francisco International Airport
 * Air Transport Association of America
 * 24 Hour Fitness
 * Granny Goose Foods Inc.,
 * The Salvation Army

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * crisis management
 * issues management

External Articles

 * Robert Selna, Sam Singer, zoo's crisis controller, keeps his cool when heat is on", San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 2008.
 * Kim Vo, "He's the Guy They Turn to in a Bay Area Crisis", San Jose Mercury News, January 6, 2008.