Paul Scott Abbott, APRP, Freelance Communicator

Paul Scott is a leading transportation industry trade journalist and communications consultant who has specialized in serving the maritime and intermodal transport sectors since the late 1980s. He is among the most published writers in the maritime transportation industry in addition to serving as a public relations strategist and practitioner.

Throughout a professional communications career spanning nearly 50 years, Paul Scott has earned a reputation for excellence while performing a diverse range of assignments for numerous entities, both within and outside the transportation 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, Illinois, Paul Scott 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, Illinois-based Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Paul Scott served 10- and eight-year stints, respectively, as editor and writer of the American Association of Port Authorities’ AAPA Seaports Magazine and the Intermodal Association of North America’s monthly Intermodal Insights, while continuing such other longstanding duties as editor and/or writer for directory and/or magazine publications of Port Corpus Christi, Port of New York & New Jersey, Port of Los Angeles, Port Freeport on the Texas Gulf Coast, Port Tampa Bay, Jacksonville (Florida) Port Authority, PortMiami and Broward County, Florida’s Port Everglades.

His words and photos may currently be found on a regular basis in such industry publications as the American Journal of Transportation, for which he has written for more than a quarter of a century, as well as Breakbulk Magazine and Hong Kong-based Shippers Today. Prior assignments included serving as editor and writer of the Maritime & Border Security News e-newsletter and writing a weekly column, under the pen name of Justin Thyme, for five years for Florida Shipper Magazine

Paul Scott provides public relations services directly to numerous port industry clients, with current and former clientele including Central Florida’s Port Manatee, PortMiami, Carnival Cruise Lines, Lykes Brothers Steamship Co., 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. Other recent assignments include furnishing comprehensive media relations services for such events as the Border Security Expo.

Since 1993, Paul Scott 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, Paul Scott served four years as executive vice president of Stuart Newman Associates, a leading maritime-oriented public relations firm based in Miami. Paul Scott moved to South Florida in 1987 to become Miami bureau manager for PR Newswire.

Paul Scott honed his journalistic skills on several daily newspapers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Richmond (Virginia) 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, Virginia. His diverse background also includes having written a produced pilot for a Christian television series starring Saturday Night Live alumna Victoria Jackson.

Paul Scott 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 and is a member of American Mensa, a society of individuals with high intelligence. He has been ordained as an elder of First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, Georgia, with further community involvement including service on the boards of not-for-profit organizations United Way of White County, White County Caring & Sharing and Community Helping Hands Clinic Inc. A Chicago native, Paul Scott is an avid and ever-optimistic fan of the Chicago Cubs.

After Hurricane Wilma damaged his home in South Florida in 2005, Paul Scott 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, Paul Scott frequently ventures out of the woods for face-to-face meetings with clients and to cover, photograph and speak at transportation industry events, where his distinctive appearance and quick wit allegedly have become legendary.

Paul Scott Abbott
201 Valhalla Drive
Peaceful Valley
Cleveland, GA 30528
Phone: (706) 865-9796
Cell: (305) 469-5276
E-mail: paulscottabbott@windstream.net