.... In Kabul and inside the Beltway, there’s a lot of anger being directed at Duncan Boothby, the strategic communications advisor who arranged the Rolling Stone interviews. Boothby, a former producer for Lou Dobbs’ television show, spent years counseling generals on improving their outreach. Those senior officers would sometimes appear on the most unlikely of media outlets. Ft. Leavenworth commander Lieutenant General William Caldwell, for instance, promoted the Army’s new field manual for operations on the Daily Show.
Boothby is one of a handful of former journalists who in recent years became communications aides to top officers and diplomats. USA Today’s Dave Moniz now works as a media advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and other top officers. Time magazine’s Sally Donnelly is today a special assistant to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. The Chicago Tribune’s Bay Fang currently works in Afghanistan as a strategic communications advisor to the State Department. Some of these advisors were policy-focused. David S. Cloud briefly assisted U.S. ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry before returning to journalism; he’s now with the Los Angeles Times. Rosa Brooks, a former Times columnist, advises Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and also serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
All of these leading officials have public affairs assistants, as well. But with their journalism backgrounds, these strategic communicators are supposed to be more media-savvy than the civil servants or the servicemembers. They largely operate behind the scenes, connecting the officials to influencers and opinion-makers; meanwhile, the public affairs specialists are supposed to set up the bulk of the press interviews. But the boundaries between the two jobs can get pretty porous. So often, there’s a bit of tension between the “SC” and “PA” types. Rarely does it rise to this level ....
