Ben fellerBen Feller, chief White House correspondent for the Associated Press for six years, has jumped to the PR side with a slot at Omnicom firm Mercury in New York.

Fell, as a managing director for Mercury, will handle media strategy in the firm's PA unit.

The 10-year AP Washington bureau vet was also national education writer for the wire service before resigning in January.  He was the chief White House correspondent for the past six years. The AP followed stints at the Tampa Tribune (higher education beat), News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.) and Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.).

His wife, Elisabeth Goodridge, is a staff editor at the New York Times.