Terry Neal, former national political reporter for The Washington Post and a longtime communications consultant and media relations strategist, has moved to Washington, D.C.-based public affairs giant Podesta Group, where he will serve as a principal in the firm's PR practice.
Neal, who began his journalism career as a reporter for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald, joined The Washington Post in 1994, where he first served as a metro reporter before being promoted to its national desk in 1997 and becoming a political reporter, and later, a political columnist for washingtonpost.com. Neal, who briefly exited the daily newspaper in 2000 for a director stint in Burson-Marsteller's Washington, D.C. media practice, left the WaPo in 2007.
Neal later served as a senior VP and strategic media director for Hill+Knowlton Strategies and a communications director for CGI Group subsidiary CGI Federal. Most recently, he was a senior communications consultant at government-backed mortgage entity Fannie Mae.
At Podesta Group, Neal will lead the PA firm’s crisis communications and media relations practices.
Podesta Group PR Managing Principal David Marin referred to Neal as “a battle-tested communicator with the right acumen and experience to help us continue to advance and diversify our strategic communications offering.”
Podesta, which was founded in 1987, accounted for more than $9 million in net fees last year, according to O'Dwyer's rankings of PR firms.
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