Ronn Torossian
Encyclopedia
Ronn D. Torossian is an American
public relations
executive
, author
, and entrepreneur
. He is the founder of New York City
-based 5W Public Relations
(5WPR), which as of 2010 was the 24th-largest PR firm in the US. A crisis management specialist, his agency's clients include celebrities, hip-hop musicians and politicians, lobby groups, and political parties around the world. He is an active supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes.
in 1974 and grew up in The Bronx
. While
at the SUNY Albany
, Torossian became president of the American branch of Betar
, the international Zionist youth movement associated with Israel's conservative Likud
party.. After college, he moved to Israel
, and founded an organization called "Yerushalayim Shelanu" (Our Jerusalem), which promoted Jewish settlement in the Arab sectors of Jerusalem. He returned to the U.S. after a year and a half.
speaker Peter Vallone, Sr.
during the latter's trip to Israel
. He also worked for the Likud Party in Israel. In 2002 he was the media director for the Christian Coalition of America.
Torossian founded 5WPR in 2003. The company was ranked 24th largest PR firm by net fees in the US in 2010. Among its clients are rappers and other musicians, including 'Lil Kim, Ice Cube
and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs
". As a PR practitioner, Torossian has been described as "a crisis-management specialist".
Torossian and 5WPR have done work for political parties and politicians, internationally. His agency has worked in Israel, with current and former clients including the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Tourism Ministry of Israel, the Likud Party and Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, as well as two Israeli Prime Ministers: Ehud Olmert
and Benyamin Netanyahu. Torossian has also coached Israeli government officials to prepare them for media appearances. His clients also include Christian supporters of Israel, including the Christians United For Israel
and their leader, TV evangelist John Hagee
.
Torossian's political work has included work for various interests in the former Yugoslavia
, including Serbian President Boris Tadić
and the Albanian American Civic League
.
The book is a best selling PR book on Amazon.com.
Torossian has embraced causes associated with Israel's right wing, including support for Jewish settlement in the occupied areas of East Jerusalem
. Torossian strongly criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
when, in 1999, "upset by" Israeli government decisions "to freeze construction at ... proposed Jewish housing development Har Homa
in southeastern Jerusalem and by the ... troop withdrawal from parts of Hebron
".. In an interview with the Forward in 2004, Torossian strongly criticized the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization
of the Palestinian Authority referring to them as "gangsters".
calls Torossian as "brash and aggressively outspoken ... the consummate scrappy publicist". Bloomberg Businessweek stated "Torossian has anointed himself the brash new face of PR ... loud, crass, buzz-obsessed ... echoes the raw, unvarnished discourse of the blogosphere
."
Torossian's political public relations work has led to criticism. He has been strongly criticized by some liberal Jewish media and commentators. His personal opinion is that there are "no ethical dilemmas" in representing clients whose opinions he may not share, or those who oppose previous clients:
The editor-in-chief of "the expert publication", O'Dwyer's Washington Report, agreed that "there are no conflicts of interest", adding "it would be problematic for the 5W PR agency to work for the two opposing sides at the same time."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
executive
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He is the founder of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based 5W Public Relations
5W Public Relations
5W Public Relations, also known as 5WPR, is an American public relations firm. It was ranked the twenty-fourth largest independent PR firm in the United States by the J. R. O'Dwyer Company in 2010, down from thirteenth in 2009...
(5WPR), which as of 2010 was the 24th-largest PR firm in the US. A crisis management specialist, his agency's clients include celebrities, hip-hop musicians and politicians, lobby groups, and political parties around the world. He is an active supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes.
Early life
Torossian was born in Midwood, BrooklynMidwood, Brooklyn
Midwood is a neighborhood in the south central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA, roughly halfway between Prospect Park and Coney Island. The neighborhood is within Community District 14...
in 1974 and grew up in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
. While
at the SUNY Albany
University at Albany, SUNY
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
, Torossian became president of the American branch of Betar
Betar
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Israel, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group...
, the international Zionist youth movement associated with Israel's conservative Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
party.. After college, he moved to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and founded an organization called "Yerushalayim Shelanu" (Our Jerusalem), which promoted Jewish settlement in the Arab sectors of Jerusalem. He returned to the U.S. after a year and a half.
Career
Torossian began his career in public relations in 1998, working with then New York City CouncilNew York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
speaker Peter Vallone, Sr.
Peter Vallone, Sr.
Peter F. Vallone, Sr. is an American politician.- Background :His father, Judge Charles J. Vallone of the Queens County Civil Court, encouraged young Peter to broaden his horizons beyond the limited social interactions with other ethnic and religious groups than were encouraged in the pre-Vatican...
during the latter's trip to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He also worked for the Likud Party in Israel. In 2002 he was the media director for the Christian Coalition of America.
Torossian founded 5WPR in 2003. The company was ranked 24th largest PR firm by net fees in the US in 2010. Among its clients are rappers and other musicians, including 'Lil Kim, Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
". As a PR practitioner, Torossian has been described as "a crisis-management specialist".
Torossian and 5WPR have done work for political parties and politicians, internationally. His agency has worked in Israel, with current and former clients including the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Tourism Ministry of Israel, the Likud Party and Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, as well as two Israeli Prime Ministers: Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
and Benyamin Netanyahu. Torossian has also coached Israeli government officials to prepare them for media appearances. His clients also include Christian supporters of Israel, including the Christians United For Israel
Christians United For Israel
Christians United for Israel is an American pro-Israel Christian organization that defines itself as "a national grassroots movement focused on the support of Israel." It is the "largest" pro-Israel organization in the United States....
and their leader, TV evangelist John Hagee
John Hagee
John Charles Hagee is an American founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational charismatic megachurch with more than 19,000 active members...
.
Torossian's political work has included work for various interests in the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, including Serbian President Boris Tadić
Boris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
and the Albanian American Civic League
Albanian American Civic League
Albanian American Civic League is the only Albanian lobby in Washington, DC, representing the concerns and interests of the Albanian people. The Civic League was founded by former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi and a board of Albanian Americans in 1989...
.
Personal life and activities
Torossian wrote a book entitled "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations".The book is a best selling PR book on Amazon.com.
Torossian has embraced causes associated with Israel's right wing, including support for Jewish settlement in the occupied areas of East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
. Torossian strongly criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
when, in 1999, "upset by" Israeli government decisions "to freeze construction at ... proposed Jewish housing development Har Homa
Har Homa
Har Homa is a neighborhood in southern East Jerusalem, near Beit Sahour. Built on land annexed to the Jerusalem municipality by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, it is considered by much of the world an illegal Israeli settlement, although Israel disputes this.The neighborhood was officially...
in southeastern Jerusalem and by the ... troop withdrawal from parts of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
".. In an interview with the Forward in 2004, Torossian strongly criticized the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
of the Palestinian Authority referring to them as "gangsters".
Controversies and praise
Torossian's abilities and tactics have earned him criticism and praise. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
calls Torossian as "brash and aggressively outspoken ... the consummate scrappy publicist". Bloomberg Businessweek stated "Torossian has anointed himself the brash new face of PR ... loud, crass, buzz-obsessed ... echoes the raw, unvarnished discourse of the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
."
Torossian's political public relations work has led to criticism. He has been strongly criticized by some liberal Jewish media and commentators. His personal opinion is that there are "no ethical dilemmas" in representing clients whose opinions he may not share, or those who oppose previous clients:
“I am not a diplomat or ambassador, I work for those who pay us. There are no emotions in this line of work. This is like working one year for Coca-Cola and then working for Pepsi. We started working for the Albanian side after our previous contract ran out.”
The editor-in-chief of "the expert publication", O'Dwyer's Washington Report, agreed that "there are no conflicts of interest", adding "it would be problematic for the 5W PR agency to work for the two opposing sides at the same time."
Achievements and recognition
- 2006 – Advertising AgeAdvertising AgeAdvertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
"40 under 40" - 2007 – PR WeekPR WeekPRWeek is a weekly trade magazine for the public relations industry.PRWeek also produces research into the size and shape of the UK public relations industry including the annual ranking of Top 150 PR consultancies and Salary Survey as well as surveys into industry-relevant issues such as staff...
"40 under 40" - 2010 – Semi-finalist 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of Year
- 2011 – Author, "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations"