Eric Dezenhall

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Eric B. Dezenhall (born September 9, 1962) is the American founder and CEO of public relations firm Dezenhall Resources, which represents clients facing "crisis, conflict, and controversy." [ [http://www.dezenhall.com/about.htm Dezenhall Resources ] ]

Prominent clients of Dezenhall include ExxonMobil/Public Interest Watch, Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling , Michael Jackson/Mark Geragos, Eli Lilly and Company, Motel 6/Accor,, Procter & Gamble, General Electric,cite news
first=Andrea
last=Sachs
title=The new world of crisis management
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612698,00.html
work=TIME
date=2007-04-19
accessdate=2007-12-30] and Community Financial Services Association of America.cite news
first=Elana
last=Schor
title=Consumer groups team with Pentagon on interest rate caps
url=http://thehill.com/business--lobby/consumer-groups-team-with-pentagon-on-interest-rate-caps-2006-09-06.html
work=The Hill
date=2006-09-06
accessdate=2007-12-30]

Dezenhall's published writing on public relations focuses on how a celebrity or corporation can successfully defend their reputation in the face of "a lawsuit, a sex scandal, a defective product, or allegations of insider trading," among other crises. [ [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781591841548,00.html Damage Control - Eric Dezenhall - Penguin Group (USA) ] ] He is also considered a TV pundit and has written several mystery novels.

Life and work

Dezenhall grew up in New Jersey and studied news media and political science at Dartmouth College. Dezenhall worked briefly in President Ronald Reagan's White House communications office.

He has been contracted by the Association of American Publishers to run an up to half million dollar campaign against the open access movement.cite web|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070122/full/445347a.html |title=PR's 'pit bull' takes on open access. Journal publishers lock horns with free-information movement. |accessdate=2007-01-30 |last=Giles |first=Jim |date=2007-01-25 |work=news @ nature.com |publisher=Nature Publishing Group] In a series of emails that were leaked to the journal Nature, Dezenhall concedes that "it's hard to fight an adversary that manages to be both elusive and in possession of a better message: Free information," and suggests joining forces with think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and National Consumers League in an attempt to persuade key players of the potential risks of unfiltered access. "Paint a picture of what the world would look like without peer-reviewed articles," he added.cite web|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=60AADF2C-E7F2-99DF-383C632C90DD1AA5| publisher=Scientific American|date=26 January 2007|title=Open Access to Science Under Attack|author=David Biello|accessdate=2007-02-02]

Writing

Dezenhall writes both non-fiction and novels. His non-fiction works include "Nail 'em: Confronting High-Profile Attacks on Celebrities and Business" and he co-authored "Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management is Wrong". [http://www.dezenhall.com/eric.htm] [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10108215]

Dezenhall's novels include "Turnpike Flameout", "Shakedown Beach", "Money Wanders", "Jackie Disaster", and "Spinning Dixie".cite web
url=http://www.dezbooks.net/
title=Fiction by Eric Dezenhall
accessdate=2007-12-30
publisher=Eric Dezenhall]

Criticism

Kevin McCauley from "O'Dwyer's PR Report" called Dezenhall "the pit bull of public relations", and journalist Bill Moyers, discussing Dezenhall's firm's involvement with the chemical industry stated, "I consider [Dezenhall Resources] the Mafia of the industry." Dezenhall has been criticized for being a "spin doctor" who lowers the quality of public debate for the sake of protecting business interests. [ [http://www.iwr.co.uk/information-world-review/comment/2174556/perils-pitbulling The perils of PR pitbulling - Information World Review ] ] His effort on behalf of Exxon to pressure the Internal Revenue Service to evoke Greenpeace's tax exempt status was roundly condemned by environmental advocates. [ [http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/2774/9/ Spinwatch - "The Pit Bull Of Public Relations" ] ] His efforts on behalf of traditional publishers to combat open access to scientific research have been an ongoing source of controversy in the academic community. [ [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=60AADF2C-E7F2-99DF-383C632C90DD1AA5 Open Access to Science Under Attack: Scientific American ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.dezenhall.com/eric.htm/ Dezenhall Resources profile page]