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New Media Strategies Launches New Public Affairs Practice

Fast-Growing Company Hires Media Veteran Howard Mortman to Direct

Arlington, VA – December 13, 2005 – New Media Strategies, the industry pioneer and market leader in Online Market Intelligence, Brand Promotion and Brand Protection services, today announced that it has created a new Public Affairs Practice to serve leading industry associations, political committees and issue advocacy campaigns, and that seasoned media veteran Howard Mortman has been hired to direct the new division.

“What is being said in blogs and online is having a profound impact on how Washington does business,” said New Media Strategies Founder and CEO Pete Snyder, former pollster to many top politicians, including former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “Given the explosion of growth and activity in the blogosphere, savvy politicians and public policy makers are turning to blogs to help them keep in touch with what Americans are really thinking and feeling. Just as Madison Avenue is shifting advertising budgets online in droves, so too will Capitol Hill and K Street.”

The seven-year-old Online Intelligence and Word of Mouth marketing company will look to the former “Hardball” producer and editor of National Journal’s The Hotline to develop and lead its Public Affairs Practice. “Politics is a rough business. Howard knows how to play hardball,” said Snyder of the former MSNBC producer and columnist. “Howard was a true online pioneer and innovator during his tenure at The Hotline and Hardball, and we expect him build upon our record of rapid growth and blaze new ground in the public affairs sector.”

Mortman, who will begin early January, brings to NMS nearly 18 years of experience in the Washington media and political community. Currently senior adviser to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal agency that runs America’s non-military international broadcasting, Mortman was formerly editor and columnist for National Journal’s The Hotline, regarded in political circles as the Bible of American politics.

In addition to editing the daily on-line political briefing, Mortman wrote the regular column “Extreme Mortman,” which drew a cultish Internet following of political junkies looking for his original political and media insight and dry humor. He later worked for MSNBC, where he produced “Hardball with Chris Matthews” during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles and wrote a regular column for the MSNBC.com web site. Mortman has also written political comedy and has performed stand-up comedy at such venues as the DC Improv.

About New Media Strategies

New Media Strategies pioneered the Online Brand Promotion and Protection industry. An Online Market Intelligence and Word of Mouth marketing firm, NMS uses the power of the Internet to give clients and their brands a competitive advantage online, while safeguarding their products and services from the effects of negative perceptions and attacks. Working closely with many of the world’s leading corporations, NMS serves as the “eyes, ears, and voice” online for some of the biggest and best known brands. Leading companies and organizations such as American Airlines, Dreamworks, HBO, McDonald’s, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and USA Network all use NMS to add value to their brands and guard their bottom lines. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, NMS was founded by former pollster Pete Snyder, who also serves as CEO. New Media Strategies has been featured in the two most recent editions of Washingtonian Magazine’s “50 Great Places to Work,” and for the past two years, NMS has also been named one of the “Fastest Growing Companies in America” by Inc Magazine. To learn more, visit www.newmediastrategies.net.