Clarion-Ledger reporter Clay Chandler will be leaving the newspaper for a job down the street. The hard-working scribe will assume the new position of Communications Director for Governor Phil Bryant. He has a reputation as a solid business reporter. We wish him well in his new endeavor.
Update at 9:06: The Governor's office just issued this press release:
Chandler to Succeed Webb as Bryant Communications Director
JACKSON—Gov.
Phil Bryant announced today that longtime business and economic
development reporter Clay Chandler will succeed Nicole Webb as
communications
director effective Nov. 30.
“Nicole
has been an integral part of my team and has done a phenomenal job over
the last four years,” said Governor Bryant. “I wish her the very
best as she begins her next chapter. While her work and insights will
be missed, I am very pleased Clay will be taking the helm. His
experience in print journalism will be invaluable in carrying forward
the administration’s message.”
Webb
and her husband Kevin have returned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where
she will focus primarily on rearing the couple’s two young children.
She has served on Bryant’s communications staff since December 2011
following his election to his first term as governor.
“It
has been an honor and privilege to serve Mississippi under the
extraordinary leadership of Gov. Bryant,” Webb said. “He and his team
have accomplished
a great deal in four years, and as a native Mississippian, I am excited
to see the continued momentum and progress that I know will mark the
next four years of his administration.”
Chandler,
from Northeast Mississippi, has worked as a journalist since 2004,
reporting for the Yazoo Herald, the Mississippi Business Journal and
the Clarion Ledger. He has covered economic development and government
at every level, including every legislative session and statewide
election from 2008-2015.
“I’m
thrilled at the opportunity to serve Mississippi in this capacity and
grateful Gov. Bryant has made me a part of his team,” Chandler said. “I
look forward to helping him move my home state forward.”
Deputy
Communications Director Knox Graham will remain on staff as part of
Bryant’s communications team and will assume additional responsibilities
as press secretary.
13 comments:
Good for him. I follow him on twitter and he cracks me up.
Most opinionated "reporter" at the CL. Glad he's moving to a place where he's expected to spin everything.
A job where one needs an exaggerated sense of self-worth. Chandler has that and more.
If I were a reporter at the Clarion Ledger I would treat my job there as a stepping stone for a job in state government.Your job at Ganett is one layoff away. There is a reason Sam Hall and Geof Pender wrote editorial pieces against Initiative 42. I bet they competed for the job Chandler landed.
Never heard of him. Don't even know who Bryant's current press secretary is or was. Or what difference it makes.
Clay, is a good news man and glad to see him get away from the CL.
Clay's a good dude. Here's hoping he can make Cody Core secretary of something.
Who is Phil Bryant? is he going to communicate his last four as a lame duck?
2:05 add adaboyjo and fred(s) too...and derunya
Don't knock Phil - according to this map MS is one of the few states that is not being gifted with any of the ISIL fighters - er, sorry - "Syrian" refugees that Obama has brought into the country already:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/21/us/where-syrian-refugees-are-in-the-united-states.html
Now, we just need Cody Core as Touchdown Policy Advisor.
A communications director; a deputy director who will remain as press secretary; amazing.
How many does it take to handle media for the guv. There was a time when former reporters like Wallace Dabbs who was press secretary for Gov. Williams could very capably handle this role.
What a way to waste government funds. Almost as good as House Speaker Gunn rewarding his campaign worker with a government job. Oh, how were past speakers able to get along without this extra espense?
Governor Williams? How bloody old are you? Do you mean Governor John Bell Williams a half century ago, or Territorial Governor Robert Williams from 1805?
In the 1960s, media was a few newspapers and radio stations with a television station or two thrown in. Today media is a much more complex beast, covering everything from TV to websites to social media. I have a feeling someone like Wallace Dabbs would be overwhelmed as he punched out a press release on his manual Underwood with his PRESS pass tucked in the brim of his fedora.
"These damn kids and their fancy gadgets! What the hell's a tweeter? Get me a whiskey, Mildred!" - Wallace Dabbs
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