Politico and Capital New York are reporting that Time managing editor Richard Stengel is stepping down from his news magazine job to join the Obama administration at the Department of State.
It’s not as powerful a job as held by Time’s Strobe Talbott, who became Bill Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State. It’s the post of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, "which includes communications with international audiences, cultural programming, academic grants, educational exchanges, international visitor programs, and U.S. Government efforts to confront ideological support for terrorism," according to the State Department's website.
This is a prime job for the “revolving door” between media and government. Stengel will replace Tara Sonenshine, a former ABC producer for Ted Koppel at Nightline. Before that, the position was occupied by Judith McHale, a former chief executive of Discovery Communications.
“Senior U.S. officials confirmed that Stengel is in line for the position” and “Nancy Gibbs, Time's deputy managing editor, is expected to succeed him, sources said.”
This is the same Nancy Gibbs who compared Obama to Jesus Christ after the 2008 election: "Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope." She clearly could have been hired by this administration as well.
