Mike Maney

I’ve worked with some of the top PR people in the business. People who lead communications functions for multibillion dollar global corporations. The reason they are at the top of the profession is because they have class.

Which brings me to Ronn Torossian, leader of the high-flying pitch palace, 5W. By all accounts, his agency’s recent string of success should push him higher up the PR influence scales. However, an e-mail he sent out to his troops yesterday timed to the death of Coretta Scott King should push Torossian deep into the depths of pariah-ville:

From: Ronn Torossian
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:52 PM
To: Email-Everyone
Subject: CORETTA SCOTT KING

Died today – we shld have plenty of clients we can pitch on the King legacy, etc.

Ronn D. Torossian
President & CEO
5W Public Relations

The fine folks at Gawker got the scoop on the story. It will be interesting to watch how — and if — Torossian handles this personal and professional crisis in his recently launched blog.