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Mr. Paul Scott Abbott, APRP, Freelance Communicator
Mr. Abbott is a leading port industry trade journalist and communications consultant who has specialized in serving the maritime transportation sector since the late 1980s. He is among the most published writers in the industry in addition to serving as a public relations strategist.
Throughout a professional communications career spanning more than 35 years, Mr. Abbott has earned a reputation for excellence while performing a diverse range of assignments for numerous entities, both within and outside the port industry. He earned his designation as an accredited public relations professional (APRP) in 1994.
A 1978 graduate of the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Mr. Abbott holds his bachelor of science degree in journalism, with a radio-television news major and a social science major in social psychology. In 2002, he earned a master of arts in religion degree (magna cum laude) from the South Florida campus of Deerfield, Ill.-based Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served as a guest lecturer and instructor of classes at Florida International University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Current journalistic duties of Mr. Abbott include serving as editor and chief writer of the American Association of Port Authority’s AAPA Seaports Magazine, writer of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Port Authority’s quarterly JAXPORT Magazine and writer of the annual Port Everglades directory and facilities guide. His words and photos can be found on a regular basis in such industry publications as the American Journal of Transportation and WWS/World Wide Shipping. He also provides numerous editorial and public relations services directly to additional port authorities, including writing the award-winning Dockside Magazine for Port Freeport on the Texas Gulf Coast. Prior assignments included writing a weekly column, under the pen name of Justin Thyme, for five years for Florida Shipper Magazine.
Mr. Abbott’s public relations clientele in the maritime sector have included the Port of Miami-Dade, Carnival Cruise Lines, Marine Spill Response Corp., Seaboard Marine Ltd., Port of London Authority, Kalmar Industries and Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference & Exhibition. Nonmaritime clients have included the National Association of Chiefs of Police, American Federation of Police, Eastern Airlines, Burger King Corp., Bacardi Imports Inc., Lennar Corp., Fisher Island and Coulter Corp.
Since 1993, Mr. Abbott has worked as a freelance communications professional. Immediately prior to going out on his own, he was client services manager in the Miami office of Burson-Marsteller, the world’s largest public relations and public affairs firm. Before that, Mr. Abbott served four years as executive vice president of Stuart Newman Associates, a leading maritime-oriented public relations firm based in Miami. Mr. Abbott moved to South Florida in 1987 to become Miami bureau manager for PR Newswire.
Mr. Abbott honed his journalistic skills on several daily newspapers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Richmond (Va.) News Leader, Albuquerque Journal and (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel, as well as at NBC News in New York. He also spent two years as editor and publisher of The County Line, a weekly newspaper he founded in suburban Richmond, Va.
Mr. Abbott served six years on the board of governors of the Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Miami, including a year as chapter president. He also has been president of chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Florida Public Relations Association. He is a member of American Mensa, a society of individuals with high intelligence. A Chicago native, Mr. Abbott is an avid and ever-optimistic fan of the Chicago Cubs.
After Hurricane Wilma damaged his home in South Florida in 2005, Mr. Abbott fled with wife Karen and cat Drooby to a log cabin in the North Georgia mountains. While enjoying working from his home office in the wilderness, Mr. Abbott frequently ventures out of the woods for face-to-face meetings with clients and to cover, photograph and speak at maritime transportation industry events, where his distinctive appearance and quick wit allegedly have become legendary.
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