LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitrick And Company
has added two more experienced and accomplished journalists to the
firm and hired a new Director of Research.
Dennis Kneale, a distinguished
print and broadcast journalist who was an anchor and senior
correspondent at CNBC and Fox Business Network after serving as
managing editor of Forbes magazine and as a senior editor at The
Wall Street Journal, has joined the New
York office of Sitrick as a Member of the Firm.
Stuart Pfeifer, a well-respected
biotech and healthcare journalist at The Los
Angeles Times, has joined the Los
Angeles office as a Member of the Firm.
Robin Mayper also joined the firm
in its Los Angeles office as
Director of Research after more than 25 years as a media
researcher, 18 of them at The Los Angeles
Times.
Michael Sitrick, founder,
chairman and CEO of Sitrick And Company, said the addition of
Messrs. Kneale and Pfeifer is in response to the firm's overall
growth and in keeping with its philosophy of hiring top
professionals, primarily journalists. They join a roster of
reporters and editors from such media outlets as The Los Angeles Times, The New
York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg News,
NBC and CBS Television. He said the addition of Ms. Mayper will
bring an important added resource to the firm's ability to obtain
and utilize information and data for its clients' needs.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to add individuals with the
track records and depth of experience that Dennis Kneale, Stuart
Pfeifer and Robin Mayper
bring to our team of former journalists, business executives and
attorneys," Mr. Sitrick said.
Mr. Kneale formed media-strategy consulting firm Dennis Kneale
Media in early 2014 after spending six years at CNBC and Fox
Business Network. For the nine years prior he was at Forbes
magazine, where he served as the sole managing editor.
He started his career at The Wall Street Journal, where he rose
to senior editor and oversaw much of the paper's coverage of AIDS
breakthroughs that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997. He focused on
technology, media & entertainment, healthcare & science,
and Wall Street and private equity.
"I have worked on the other side of the desk from Dennis for
more than 15 years," Mr. Sitrick said, "and from the start I was
impressed with his intellect, abilities and breadth of
knowledge."
In 2009, while anchoring a nightly post-recession meltdown show
on CNBC, Mr. Kneale accurately called the end of the Great
Recession and began urging investors to buy stocks one month after
what turned out to be the market bottom. At Fox, in addition
to serving as a correspondent and anchor, he was a frequent
contributor to Greta Van Susteren's
"On the Record" and "Forbes on Fox", and created "What's Bugging
Me," a twice-weekly opinion segment.
"When a company has a serious public relations issue – whether
it is a merger or acquisition, litigation or a reputational issue,
as a journalist I have seen how important it is to have the best,"
Mr. Kneale said. "I never planned on a career in public relations,
but Sitrick is not a traditional PR firm. Mike Sitrick is the best in the business. I have
watched him do it for almost 20 years. It is a compelling
opportunity to now work with the master."
Mr. Kneale began his career in journalism at the
News/Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla. Mr. Kneale has been honored as a distinguished alumni
of the University of Florida, where he
graduated with a degree in journalism, and a member of the Hall of
Fame of the student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator.
"Business is under scrutiny -- and often under direct fire --
like never before, thanks to 24/7 cable, the Internet, Twitter and
Facebook," Mr. Kneale said. "Companies need help telling their
story. I am delighted to join Sitrick And Company in that
pursuit."
Mr. Pfeifer joins Sitrick after a career of more than 25 years
as a newspaper journalist. He was a staff writer with The Times
from 2000 to 2015, most recently covering biotech and
pharmaceutical companies, healthcare and hospitals for the Business
section. Mr. Pfeifer reported on the riots that followed the Rodney
King verdicts, the Orange County
bankruptcy, and several high-profile trials. He was also part of a
team of reporters awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for coverage
of a series of devastating Southern
California wildfires. His other assignments at the paper
included coverage of legal affairs, law enforcement and government.
Prior to that, he was staff writer at The Orange County Register.
Mr. Pfeifer holds a bachelor's degree in communications from
California State University,
Fullerton.
"While Stuart's experience is much broader than biotech and
healthcare, his in-depth knowledge in this area will be of
significant benefit to the firm's current and future clients," Mr.
Sitrick said. "I'm thrilled that Stuart is joining the firm to help
clients in this critical component of the nation's economy. Having
served on the boards of biotech and pharma companies and as public
relations counsel to numerous other companies in those fields,
Stuart's expertise in this area was immediately evident."
As a news researcher for The Los Angeles
Times, Ms. Mayper investigated the backgrounds of
individuals, companies and government agencies that were subjects
of news coverage. Ms. Mayper worked extensively on The Times'
coverage of corruption in the city of Bell, for which The Times was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011. She assisted
in the reporting of numerous page one stories, including
allegations of sexual harassment against former California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and stories about entertainer Michael Jackson.
Ms. Mayper's work involved every section of the newspaper:
sports, business, entertainment, national, and international news.
She supported the daily work of the newspaper, locating
hard-to-find sources for reporters, researching business,
government and court records, and fact-checking. She is skilled at
background checks, locating individuals, researching court and
legal records, financial, regulatory and government filings. Prior
to her work with The Times, Ms. Mayper spent eight years as a
researcher and librarian with the law firm Cummins & White in
Los Angeles. She holds a master's
degree in library science from the University
of Southern California and a bachelor's degree in history
and classics from University of the
Pacific.
Based in Los Angeles with
offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C., Sitrick And Company was
founded by Michael Sitrick 27 years
ago and is recognized as one of the nation's top strategic public
relations firms. Best known for its handling of crises and other
sensitive matters, the firm has a successful business in corporate,
financial and transactional communications, as well. It has advised
more than 1,000 public and private companies, organizations and
individuals on myriad issues. It was acquired as a wholly-owned
subsidiary by Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ: RECN) in
November 2009.
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SOURCE Sitrick And Company, Inc.