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WASHINGTON REPORTMcHale steps down as PR ChiefJudith McHale, the former Discovery CommunicationsChief who has served as the U.S.’s image chief at the StateDept., is planning to step down, according to theWashington Post.McHale, as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy andPublic Affairs, has traveled extensively since being nominated tothe post in April 2009 by President Barack Obama and played arole in repairing the U.S. image abroad in the wake of two warsand the financial crisis. Educational programs were key to heroutreach efforts.“This is not a propaganda contest — it is a relationship race,”she told the Center for a New American Security in Washington,D.C., in June 2009. “And we have got to get back in the game.”She spent 20 years at Discovery, stepping down in 2006 aspresident and CEO, and is a former general counsel for MTVNetworks. First lady’s press secretary exitsFirst Lady Michelle Obama’s Press Secretary, KatieMcCormick-Lelyveld, is stepping down to return to the privatesector in Chicago.Hannah August, a regional communications director at theWhite House, will take over for McCormick-Lelyveld, who hasnot announced her new job but said she will not work for theObama-Biden campaign.“Katie has been with me since the very beginning and I’verelied on her intelligence, grace, quick wit, humor and friendshipthrough the campaign and at the White House,” Obama said in astatement.August, who has covered the South and women’s issues for theWhite House, was a Press Secretary at the Justice Dept. andComms. Deputy at the Democratic Senatorial CampaignCommittee.Obama said Deputy Press Secretary Semonti Stephens was promotedto Deputy Communications Director. FCC hires FCC commissionerComcast is hiring Federal Communications CommissionCommissioner Meredith Attwell Baker as Senior VP-Government Affairs at NBCUniversal after her term expiresat the end of June.Baker, one of two Republicans of the five FCC Commissioners,voted in favor of the Comcast-NBC venture and was critical of thenearly one-year time the FCC spent on reviewing the merger.She faces a lifetime ban on lobbying concerning theComcast/NBCU agreement and a two-year ban on courting FCCofficials.Kyle McSlarrow, President of Comcast/NBCUniversal’s D.C.operations, praised Baker for her “exceptional relationships inWashington.”Baker reports to McSlarrow and will work closely with RickCotton, executive VP/general counsel and assume the duties ofBob Okun, who is launching a government affairs firm.Before the FCC, Baker worked on telecommunications andinformation policy issues in the Bush II Administration. She guidedthe national roll-out of digital TV.She also held posts at Williams Mullen Strategies, CovadCommunications and the Cellular Telecommunications IndustryAssn. Leslie takes foreign aid postWeber Shandwick Chairman Jack Leslie has been tappedfor a U.S. advisory committee intended to link the federalgovernment and private sector over foreign aid.LeslieLeslie was named as a member of the U.S. Agency forInternational Development Advisory Committee on VoluntaryForeign Aid by USAID administrator Raj Shah. He’ll adviseUSAID on its efforts to promote democracy, good governance andeconomic group, the organization said.Leslie said he is “honored” and looks forward to workingtoward “strengthening global development policy and results.”The committee was set up after World War II to coordinatehumanitarian and development assistance oversees with the federalgovernment and private groups.Leslie, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations whoreceived Senate confirmation in 2009 after a presidential appointmentto an African development post, is one of 27 members of thecommittee.He started his career as an aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)before moving into political and PR consulting. Coal group names Comms. chiefEvan Tracey, who founded and heads political ad and issuetracking firm Campaign Media Analysis Group, has takenthe top PR slot at the American Coalition for Clean CoalElectricity.Tracey took the post of Senior VP, Communications, at ACCE,the three-year-old Alexandria, Va.-based trade group which representsthe top U.S. coal producers, utilities and railroads. He startedJune 1.Tracey, a regular media pundit, founded CMAG in 1997. Thefirm was acquired by TNS, which itself was acquired by WPP in2008.ACCCE counts about 40 members like Caterpillar, GE Energy,CSX, Southern Company and American Electric Power. Thegroup took a PR hit in 2009 when a campaign with HawthorneGroup and subcontractor Bonner & Associates was exposed forsending fake letters to lawmakers in the name of non-profitgroups.Lisa Camoosa Miller is VP of Media Relations for ACCCE. Shejoined in 2009 from the National Community PharmacistsAssociation. 36JUNE 2011 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM