Year End Ideal For Publicizing Ticklish Subjects

Victor Epstein, The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES — When Eric Lohmeier was a Wall Street stock analyst, one of the challenges he faced was spotting the unfavorable financial reports companies would try to slip past the media during the so-called "dark period," which runs from about Dec. 23 to Jan. 3.

Public relations professionals seeking to avoid attention for unflattering developments while still making them public to avoid being accused of covering up legitimate news create the seasonal phenomenon. The two weeks of Christmas and New Year's are the preferred time for everything from presidential pardons for convicted political supporters, to celebrity breakups, to embarrassing government and financial reports.

This year's dark period bore witness to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's announcement Christmas Eve that he and his wife are splitting up. The news came more than five years after he resigned in disgrace in a prostitution scandal. On Dec. 23, Obama administration officials quietly extended the deadline for Americans to enroll in health plans through the federal health insurance exchange.

"This is the best time of the year to do it because no one is paying attention. Just about everyone has checked out for the holidays," said Lohmeier, who is managing director of the Des Moines-based NCP investment banking boutique. "It's flat-out good PR because no one wants to admit they missed something when they get back, by which time it may be old news. So, (anything you release now) is probably not going to get much coverage and, if it does, the masses are a lot less likely to see it."

U.S. newsroom employment levels have dropped precipitously in recent years, and most organizations operate with skeleton staffs during the holidays.

Glenn Frates of PR Newswire estimates that the volume of news releases it distributes to newsrooms and other recipients drops by 70(PERCENT) during the two-week dark period as some news events and reports are pushed back to ensure better coverage.

The news release distribution firm normally issues about 1,000 releases daily, according to eReleases.

"We see a considerable drop in volume the week before Christmas, and the week between the holidays," Frates said via email. "Not just at PR Newswire or one of our competitors but across all news providers. Pickup of standard quarterly financial reporting or more marketing-focused content just isn't going to be the same during this period because so many people are on vacation."

All of which makes it a great time to sneak through news you would rather not see get too much attention, such as news releases about presidential pardons that make elected officials look bad:

— When Richard Nixon(AT) pardoned union leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1971, he announced it Dec. 23.

""– (AT)When President George H.W. Bush(AT) pardoned former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other Reagan administration officials in 1992 for their role in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal, he chose Dec. 24.

""– (AT)When President George W. Bush(AT) canceled a Bureau of Labor Statistics program that tracked mass layoffs, he did so on Christmas Eve 2002.

"When you send an important announcement out on Christmas Eve, there's a reason, and it's not because you want a lot of attention," said Bill McQuillen, a former White House correspondent for Bloomberg News who is now vice president for public affairs at JDA Frontline in the District of Columbia. "One of the challenges is to acknowledge something happened without getting a lot of attention. a€|

"You are hoping that no one will notice until January, at which point it's old news," he said.

Embarrassing government reports are a staple of the dark period, too.

When President Barack Obama's administration issued a report in 2008 disclosing that his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and other staffers had been cleared of engaging in improper contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, they did so Dec. 23. Blagojevich now is serving a 14-year sentence in federal prison for attempting to sell Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.

When the mayor of Madison, Wis., released a report on his administration's botched response to a big snowstorm in 2009, he did so on Christmas Eve.

When then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner removed caps on the bailouts for the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac government-sponsored enterprises in 2009, he chose to do so after the close of markets Christmas Eve.

The dark period is also the season for celebrity breakups. When actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins broke up one of the longest-lasting relationships in Hollywood, after it had produced two sons and spanned 23 years, they did so Dec. 23, 2009.

Finding the best day to report bad news is an art, said Amy Whilldin, of the Domas marketing and public relations firm in Philadelphia.

"Christmas to New Year's is sort of a dark period," she said. "It's a real thing in my business."

Paul Rosengren, director of communications for PSE&G in Newark, N.J., agrees.

"This happened more when I was in government — something (is) promised to be released, so bury it on a Friday," he said.

Fridays before a holiday weekend are the best time for bad news for publicly traded companies, which are required to share information that could affect their earnings and shareholders. And no lull is longer than from Christmas to New Year's Day.

"If your goal is Page C15, the Friday before Christmas may be your best shot," said Craig Waters, communications counsel for the Florida Supreme Court.

Kmart Corp. used Dec. 23 to announce a net loss of $383 million in 2002 and a restated loss of $249 million for the same period a year earlier. When Dallas-based Carreker Corp. needed to restate its earnings and sales in 2002, the consulting and software company also chose Dec. 23.

When Central African Gold released a disastrous and long-delayed report covering the first half of 2009, it chose to do so Dec. 24 of that year, along with the news that it had ceased all mining operations in Zimbabwe.

"It's the season to be covering up bad news in the flurry of reindeer, lights and Santas," said Steffen Schmidt, an Iowa State University political science professor. "The holidays, and especially Dec. 24, are a great time to be transparent, when everyone is, if you will, asleep.

"So people will not know if you've been bad or good," he said. "And we can assume that Dec. 24 press releases mean that you've been bad."