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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (252675)	5/3/2002 3:04:05 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Saudi Ads Seek to Boost Image in U.S. Tue Apr 30, 3:03 PM ET By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Saudi Arabia is spending millions on a television ad campaign aimed at bolstering its image with Americans, but at least one cable channel is declining to run the spots. The ads began running last week, coinciding with the U.S. visit of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who met with President Bush (news - web sites) at his ranch in Texas. They feature images of U.S. leaders meeting with Saudi officials and quotes from Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) showing support for the country. The ads depict Saudi Arabia as a close friend of the United States carry the tag lines "The People of Saudi Arabia: Allies Against Terrorism" and "The People of Saudi Arabia: Allies For Peace." The multi-million dollar ad campaign is running in 20 major cities across the country, according to Michael Petruzzello, a managing partner at the Washington public relations firm Qorvis Communications, which is handling the campaign. Petruzzello said the firm has had no problem getting the ads on the air in the markets where they wanted them to be shown. In fact, he said broadcasters had been calling his firm to inquire about running the ads. But Matthew Frankel, a spokesman for the cable network company Rainbow Media Group, said Tuesday that the company's Bravo channel had been approached about the ads and declined to run them. Frankel declined to say why Bravo turned down the ads or to provide other details. Electronic Media, a trade journal covering the television industry, reported in its Monday editions that several other cable networks also turned down the ads, including A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, USA Network and The Weather Channel. A spokesman for A&E and The History Channel declined to comment, and spokesmen for the other cable channels did not return phone calls seeking comment. Petruzzello said the ads were intended to run on regional TV and cable broadcasts, but he said he did not know whether Bravo or the other national cable channels mentioned in the Electronic Media article were approached about running the ads. One of the Qorvis partners working on the project is Judy Smith, a former deputy press secretary to the first President Bush. Qorvis is being paid $200,000 a month by the Saudi government, Petruzzello said. story.news.yahoo.com * * *