ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 3, 2003 -- Patricia Murphy has been appointed director, Corporate Communications and speechwriter for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The announcement was made today by Lea Sloan, PBS' vice president, Media Relations. Ms. Murphy comes to public television from the office of U.S. Senator Max Cleland, where she was communications director and speechwriter from 1999-2003.
In her new position, Ms. Murphy will write key communication pieces, including speeches, for PBS' leading executives. She will also be an important member of the Media Relations team, which is responsible for the strategic development and management of communications with the press, member stations, public officials and other stakeholders.
"Patricia's communications skills and Capitol Hill experience will be important assets to PBS," said Ms. Sloan. "There is no time more important than now for us to convey the value of our mission to key audiences and decision-makers. We are confident that Patricia will prove to be an essential member of our team."
For Senator Cleland, Ms. Murphy was responsible for all aspects of the senator's communication activities. Prior to that position she served as assistant press secretary for Nevada's U.S. Senator Richard Bryan from 1998-1999. Between 1997 and 1998, Ms. Murphy was deputy press secretary and office manager in Senator Cleland's Atlanta, GA district office. She was also a member of U.S. Senator Sam Nunn's staff in Atlanta from 1993-1996, during which time she held the positions of projects director, service academy nominations coordinator and caseworker.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Murphy holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 350 public television stations. Serving nearly 100 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.
Contact:
Jan McNamara
703-739-5028