In case you didn’t see the news on PRWeek.com proper, here it is.

NEW YORK: Haymarket Media, the parent company of PRWeek, has acquired DM News from Courtenay Communications Corporation.

Founded by Adrian Courtenay, DM News was launched in 1979 and consists of DM News‘ print edition, a weekly tabloid with a circulation over 50,000; the DM News Essential Guide series; Web site DMNews.com; and six e-mail newsletters.

Haymarket Media is the US subsidiary of London-based Haymarket Media Group, owned by the Rt. Hon. the Lord Heseltine CH.

“DM News is a perfect fit not just next to our US brands PRWeek and Medical Marketing & Media, but also alongside our direct and other marketing brands worldwide,” said Haymarket Media CEO William Pecover, in a statement.

“Haymarket has the resources necessary to exploit these opportunities and take DM News to the next level,” Courtenay said, in a statement. “I’m confident that the DM News brand will be in good hands.”

Courtenay will serve as a consultant to Haymarket for the balance of 2007. Details of the transaction are not disclosed.

Hopefully those of you reading this blog are well-versed in what PRWeek does and does not cover. So this might merely be my taking an opportunity to vent. So here it is.

We get too many pitches from small agencies that show a boilerplate laundry list of agency accomplishments (including media hits for clients!) and mention how great the agency would be for a feature, ending with a coy question, “What do you think?”

However, we, as a rule , don’t write agency features (save for the agency business and excellence reports and truly extraordinary situations). We don’t write agency features on large, small, or otherwise purple agencies. Pitching me like that makes me think you don’t even know what magazine I write for. And please take the time to construct an e-mail that does not read “copy and paste” job.

But I want to make this post positive. We love hearing about new and growing agencies. But make your introduction worthwhile; don’t just ask, “What do you think?” You probably don’t want to know the answer.

If you are an agency trying to get on our radar, here are some simple intros:

Agency Business Column - does your agency do something interesting re: HR, benefits, global or local structure? Be the lead pitch on a new topic.

Critical hit - Did you get your client a front-page hit or place them in an offbeat blog that reaches a new demo/pyschographic? Let us know.

Put your client first - Pitch us some unique campaign you are doing for a client. Depending on our interest, it could be a news story or feature.

Take the time to make your pitch worthwhile; that’s all we ask.

Be sure to check back with the Editors’ Blog to find out how to find out who the winners are on awards night.

I’ve gotten more than a few calls in the last week about announcements. If you have a press release to send, you can send it to . I personally check that e-mail. If you have a question about an upcoming feature, . If you want to talk exclusives, embargoes, etc., you can contact me at my own e-mail address, found on PRWeek.com.

While I’m on the topic, we don’t cover people moves below VP level. And we rarely cover external awards. Other than that, pitch away.

Unbelievably, it’s that time of year again when we’re collecting agency revenue data to compile the annual PRWeek Agency Business Report.

All agencies are eligible to appear in the rankings tables, provided they fill in the Rankings Form (properly and completely), and return it by the March 2 deadline. All instructions are on the form, but if you have any follow-up questions, e-mail me, Elly Trickett, at .

We’re also profiling a generous handful of PR firms in the Agency Business Report. There is plenty of room for a changing cast of agencies, and to that end, we’re accepting pitches. To level the playing field, we’re asking all agencies who want to be considered for a profile to fill in the Agency Questionnaire. The questionnaire is the same for all agencies, whether they’re global behemoths or a two-person outfit. These need to be returned to me, again at , by the March 2 deadline.

Full instructions for completion are included in the document. But let me just say here – please stick to the Word format, and don’t recreate the document elsewhere.

Finally, don’t get these two forms confused. To be in the rankings tables, you need to complete the Rankings Form. To be considered for an agency profile, you need to complete the Agency Questionnaire. To be in both, you need to complete… well, you get it.

Again – questions, all and any, to me at . Good luck!

We’re getting back to our original schedule of Web-exclusive columns - the first one, which ran yesterday, is my take on the Rolling Rock controversy. You can it read it here (free). Tune in every Wednesday for a new column (to be unveiled soon - the three other monthly columnists).

Technology still occasionally lets us down. I am embarrassed to say due to technical difficulties, I soon have to re-record a podcast interview with Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text 100. For some unknown reason, her voice is not audible throughout the recording. Erp. We have since solved the problem.

I was interviewing Aedhmar for our new Agency Leadership Podcast series, a program that will soon be joined by a sister series focusing on in-house leaders. The goal of the series, which will be updated weekly at minimum, is to hear agency heads explain their business strategy, clients, goals, and competitive landscape in their own words.

The only thing that worries me about this series is that it could become very canned. So far the interviewees have been pretty relaxed, but I can see the day coming when the program could lose spontaneity. That would defeat the object. Shoba at the Newsmarket once told me that there are some CEOs who are notorious for being so rehearsed that no one wants to interview them.

One way to prevent that is to make sure I’m asking the questions people really want to hear the answers to. Comments and suggestions are welcome, either to this post, or directly to me at .