PR’s Revolving Door

Paul Taaffe, who served as chairman and CEO of the pre-rebrand Hill & Knowlton, has joined Groupon to head up the company’s PR function. Or improve it, if you ask Bloomberg.

Taaffe stepped down from H+K in January 2011. He had been with the firm for 18 years and had served as the agency head since 2002.

He steps into a role that had been filled by Brad Williams, who made an appearance in today’s Roll Call column for his new role at Weber Shandwick. Williams left Groupon in August 2011 after only a few months.

As Bloomberg points out (and we noted), Groupon has gotten into some PR trouble over the past year. The company presented its first earnings report today since going public. The stock price dropped 14 percent after.

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We start with sad news today: Michael Sullivan, MSLGroup‘s North American consumer practice leader, has died. He joined the firm in 2010 and was preparing for a move to London to work on a P&G project for the firm. MSLGroup’s Renee Wilson has kind words for Sullivan on the firm’s blog. And memorial service information is available here.

Katie Barr Cornish has joined M Booth as VP of the firm’s travel practice. Clients include U.S. Virgin Islands, Wyndham Rewards, and Alliance Global Assistance. She will also help with business development efforts for the practice. She was previously VP at Lou Hammond & Associates, working with clients including Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and The Waldorf-Astoria.

Dana Lenetz has joined Hearst as associate director of PR for Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire. She was previously the PR manager for Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer.

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Howard Opinsky has been named EVP and GM of Hill + Knowlton Strategies in Washington D.C., starting March 1.

Opinsky was previously MD of global corporate communications at JPMorgan Chase & Company, handling public affairs related to legislative and regulatory issues and comms surrounding company performance and programs. He joined the financial company in January 2011. Prior to that, he was an EVP with Weber Shandwick’s D.C. division Powell Tate. He was there for a decade.

Kim Hunter, founder of Lagrant Communications and The Lagrant Foundation, has now launched KLH & Associates, an executive search firm specializing in the placement of mid- to senior-level diverse executives in marketing, PR, and  advertising positions at agencies and top companies. Hunter will serve as managing partner and, in the launch announcement notes the dearth of African American (5.3 percent) and Hispanic (3.3 percent) managers in the comms industry. Sony Pictures, Hill + Knowlton Strategies, and IPG’s Constituency Management Group, which includes firms like Weber Shandwick, have already signed on as clients.

BBC America and Consumer Products has promoted Devin Johnson to VP of publicity. He was previously director of publicity for BBC America and Global Brands. Johnson joined the company in 2007. He’ll now be handling promotions surrounding Doctor Who, Top Gear, and other BBC America programming.

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Whispers about the pending departure of Goldman Sachs’ global head of corporate communications turned out to be true.

New York magazine confirmed late yesterday that the company had replaced Lucas van Praag, a 12-year veteran of the company and its voice post-economic meltdown, with Richard “Jake” Siewert Jr.

Siewert was previously a counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. According to Bloomberg, “Hiring Siewert may help bolster Goldman Sachs’s links with the Democratic Party in the U.S., which controls the Senate and the White House under President Barack Obama.” Employees have already given hundreds of thousands to the Romney campaign, though donations to Obama topped $1 million during the last election.

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Former press secretary Robert Gibbs is once again working with President Obama, having just signed a contract to officially serve as a consultant on Obama’s reelection campaign. Gibbs has been working “unofficially” with the reelection effort for some time now. He will continue with public speaking engagements, TV appearances, and other work as well. [via Politico]

Horn Group‘s Ben Billingsley has been promoted to partner. Billingsley joined the firm as a VP in 2006, focused on digital. In his new position, he will lead and manage the firm’s New York office. He has worked with clients including Gannett, Adify, and NBC.

David Chamberlain is rejoining Edelman as EVP and GM of the firm’s Dallas office, effective February 13. He previously worked as GM of Edelman’s Shanghai office before leaving for MSLGroup in 2007. He opened that firm’s Dallas office and served as SVP and director  of the issues and crisis group for North America. At Edelman, he’ll report to Helen Vollmer, president of the Southwest region.

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Just one day after it was announced that News Corp‘s SVP of public affairs and communications, Teri Everett, would be stepping down, the company has announced that another comms director is stepping in.

Natalie Ravitz, the communications director for the New York City Department of Education, is joining News Corp as Rupert Murdoch’s chief of staff. The change takes effect in two weeks. A focus of her job will be to “prioritize my commitments to align with key News Corp. initiatives,” according to an internal email from Murdoch.

Ravitz has a history with another News Corp exec, Joel Klein, the former NYC Department of Education who left in 2010 to serve as EVP at News Corp. According to the L.A. Times, Klein’s influence at the company is growing.

Julie Henderson has been promoted to Everett’s previous position.

[via]

News Corp‘s SVP of corporate affairs and communications, Teri Everett, will be stepping down on February 10. Julie Henderson will be promoted to SVP of corporate affairs and chief comms officer at that time.

Everett joined the company in 2000 as VP of corp comms, in charge of PR in L.A. In the press release announcing the changes, Everett says, “While it may be a tired cliche, I am ready for something new.” She’s been handling the media relations related to the company’s phone-hacking scandal over the past six months.

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Le Huffington Post made its debut on Monday in France with Anne Sinclair as editorial director. Sinclair, a former TV anchor, is the wife of infamous former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, aka DSK. At the press conference Sinclair reassured the audience that there would be no conflicts of interest between her new role and her private life. (via New York Times)

ABC News‘ partnership with Yahoo! has spawned two new Web shows about politics that launched this week. The shows are extensions of long-running blogs from George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper. George’s Bottom Line debuted on Monday and Political Punch with Jake Tapper appeared on Tuesday. (via TVNewser)

NBC News established a new eBook imprint called NBC Publishing. The unit will release enhanced eBooks with videos inside, and the launch follows the media company’s success in the eBook business. (via GalleyCat)

Jill Abramson, executive editor at The New York Times, will make her grand entrance at the Davos World Economic Forum this week. She will be joined by NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger, who is hosting a dinner on Abramson’s behalf. She will also lead a panel of women leaders in a discussion. (via Capital New York)

Newt Gingrich is continuing his attacks on the media. Last week Gingrich critiqued CNN for questioning him about his second marriage at the start of the South Carolina debate. After the Florida debate this week Gingrich complained that NBC did not allow the audience to clap, saying “Media doesn’t control free speech.” (via FishbowlDC)

Diane Sawyer was criticized by James Spann, chief meteorologist at Birmingham ABC-affiliate WBMA, for her report on the Alabama tornadoes on Monday evening’s World News. Spann took issue with Sawyer’s claim that there was no tornado warning, saying “This event was forecast days in advance.” (via TV Spy)

Click through for more media changes.

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KPMG, the tax, audit, and consulting firm, has hired Seth Oster as chief communications officer, responsible for all corporate communications, both internal and external. Oster was most recently a member of the Obama administration, serving as a senior appointee at the Environmental Protection Agency. He was the agency’s most senior comms and public affairs official. He also previously served at the VP of global comms at the Motion Picture Association of America.

Global B2B firm Mulberry Marketing Communications has appointed Kim Syrios global marketing manager, responsible for driving awareness of the firm and its offerings. She will be based out of the Chicago office. Syrios joined the firm in 2007. Prior to that, she worked for Airfoil PR in Detroit.

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