Ruder Finn

Ruder Finn (RF) was founded in 1948 and employs approximately 600 people in 15 cities around the world.


 * Senior Vice President - Emmanuel Tchividjian
 * Former President, Walter Wurfel

History
Ruder Finn is an United States public relations firm founded in 1948 by David Finn and William Ruder.

In December 2004, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reported that Ruder Finn had been appointed to promote El Al's "status as Israel's national carrier and handle communications regarding the privatization of the airline."

O'Dwyer's reported that the account win was attibuted to RF's "RF's strong commitment to Israel" where it opened an office in 1977. Its offices "in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv serve clients such as General Electric, Pfizer and the Museum of Tolerance," O'Dwyers reported.

 Jeffrey Blankfort (31:45 min mark ): It is interesting, the [the Senate investigation] files discuss the concern the American Zionist Council, and later AIPAC, had for an organization called the American Council for Judaism – which most people don't know of today. At the time this was happening, Israel was not on the agenda of most American Jews – that didn't happen until 1967. So all this was going on there was  a battle going... the American Council for Judaism – they were anti-zionist and major individuals from the Jewish community; they were not fringe at all –  and they were battling in the public with the American Zionist Council for the ears of the American people. But they did not have the money or the zealots as did the American Zionist Council.

There was one message that was sent in 1962, the document that you have in your files, from the magazine committee that I want to read for a moment: "This is a very important committee chaired by a man who holds a key position on the editorial board of the magazine business; he knows everyone in the trade, has important important contacts and exploits them on behalf of Israel. He has just returned from his first visit to Israel where the opportunity to discuss his work of his committee with the man in Israel concerned with good public relations for Israel in this country. The committee itself is composed of 15 writers and editors who are eminent in their respective fields, and has built a bank of ideas for freelance writers who go to Israel in search of articles, and provide the Israelis with better ideas about the kind of material that is acceptable to the American reading public and magazine editors. So, already they had infiltrated into the media – the magazine and newspaper business – Israeli propagandists." Grant F. Smith (33:38 min mark): But an important point: I assume that because this was filed along with a proposal of Ruder and Finn, a lobbying organization, which became in fact a registered lobbyist for the Israeli government for economic development. I assume that they have may been referring to the founder, Mr. Finn himself. And that kind of shows the business model that was emerging, that you could be a public voice and you could contribute in other ways, and be paid by the Israeli government for your activities.

Further chapters in RF's history

 * Ruder Finn's work for Croatia (Also Bosnian Moslems and Kosovo Albanian separatists)

Ruder Finn pushing islamophobic film
On 14 December 2008, "Facing Jihad" conference which was touted as "a summit of European lawmakers who are united in their shared belief that Islam today poses a serious threat to Western civilization". The conference was hosted by Member of Knesset Dr. Arieh Eldadheld and "co-sponsored by the Ariel Center for Policy Research". It was held at the at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. Speakers included the notorious Geert Wilders, Arieh Eldad, Robert Spencer, Itamar Marcus, Daniel Pipes, Shlomo Sharan, John David Lewis, among others. Pamela Geller blogged the event. During the conference the film Fitna was shown, it was distributed to all conference participants, and it was announced that the film would be shown in several European parliaments. The registration address for the conference was Ruder Finn Israel. On its website, Ruder Finn Israel lists the conference as one of its 2008 projects. (Ruder Finn Israel also has Ariel Center for Policy Research as one of its clients). . Ruder Finn Israel is also actively distributing Fitna; one can obtain a free copy of the film by asking Lisa Lidor at lisa@ruderfinn.co.il

The International Free Press Society (Italy) and A Way for Oriana announced that they would host Geert Wilders to present the film Fitna in Rome. The registration to see the film inculded this:  FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Elie Klein Ruder Finn for the IFPS 212-593-5886 kleine@ruderfinn.com Twitter: facingjihad

Further confirmation of Ruder Finn's involvement in the distribution for the Fitna film and the Facing Jihad conference can be seen in this press release by IMRA. Again, the return address is: Matthew Krieger, Ruder Finn Israel; Tel. (+972) (0) 54-467-6950 matthew@ruderfinn.co.il

Clients
On its website Ruder Finn have a comprehensive listing of both past and present clients, though it doesn't distinguish between the two.

"Ruder Finn clients include world organizations, blue chip companies and brands as well as Fortune 1000 companies," its profile submitted to O'Dwyers PR Daily states.


 * Computer Associates
 * El Al
 * Eli Lilly
 * Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
 * Hitachi Data Systems
 * Johnson & Johnson
 * Michelin
 * Novartis
 * Pharmacia
 * Pfizer
 * Philip Morris
 * Schering Plough
 * Paine Webber
 * Ricoh
 * Seagate
 * Verizon
 * Subaru
 * Target Stores
 * The Getty Trust
 * United Nations
 * U.S. Tuna Foundation

Staff

 * David Finn, Chairman (2004)
 * Kathy Bloomgarden, CEO (2004)
 * Peter Finn, CEO (2004)
 * Dena Merriam, Vice-Chairman (2004)
 * Tony Esposito Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
 * Richard Funess, President, Ruder Finn Americas (2004)
 * Michael Schubert, Chief creative officer
 * James Harff (possibly retired)
 * John Faso Senior PA advisor

Income and Employee Totals
Ruder Finn earned $99,303,000 in net fees in 2006, up 8.2% on the previous year. The firm has 593 employees. It is the second largest independent PR firm in the U.S. after Edelman.

PR Week ranked Ruder Finn as the number three PR agency in the United States in 2008, with 2007 revenue of $76,450,000, a 8% decrease from the previous year's total revenue of $83,150,000. The ranking also notes its staff total of 350 (2006 total: 424), with $218,429 in revenue per employee.

Prize 1993

 * Ruder Finn was awarded the Silver Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the category "crisis communication". NB: This related to its work assisting Croatia/Bosnia sell the war in the Balkans to the American public and evoke a US reaction – bombing Serbia.

Prize 2004

 * Ruder Finn was again a winner of the 2004 Silver Anvil Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the "Public service: Associations/Nonprofit Organizations" category for work for SeaWeb, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The project was undertaken jointly by Fenton Communications and Ruder Finn. The project was titled Caviar Emptor: Let The Connoisseur Beware.

Contact details

 * Ruder Finn
 * 301 East 57th St
 * New York, NY 10022
 * Phone: 212/593-6400
 * Email: rfnewyork AT ruderfinn.com
 * Web: www.ruderfinn.com