Tuesday, November 25, 2008 5:19 PM

New Rosen Gig Raises Questions

There's been some confusion over Hilary Rosen's new job heading the D.C. office of Brunswick Group. Media Bistro initially reported last week that Rosen was leaving her current home with the super blog, Huffington Post. But later, Media Bistro crossed out its initial statement and said she would remain in an "at large" position.

                                                                                                              --Gregg Sangillo

Of course, if Rosen had remained in her current job as political director in Washington for the Huffington Post, she could have faced a serious conflict of interest. Brunswick Group is a public affairs firm with corporate clients, and Huffington Post is an ostensibly progressive blog run by Arianna Huffington. Unlike lobbying firms, public affairs shops do not have to register their clients. (Some public affairs firms choose to voluntarily list their clientele, but Brunswick Group does not have a client list on its web site.) 

According to SourceWatch, Brunswick has represented Shell Oil, the same type of big oil company that could get the occasional whacking from a blog like Huffington Post. In response to questions about possible conflicts of interest, Huffington Post spokesman Mario Ruiz said that Rosen is relinquishing her role as political director and will not be involved in the web site's news coverage. As an "at large" editor, she will continue to blog and recruit other bloggers for Huffington Post's group blog site. "We have confidence that Hilary will uphold the highest ethical standards in her work for HuffPost; any client representation on the site will be fully vetted and fully disclosed," Ruiz said.
                                                                             --Gregg Sangillo