InterMedia Appoints Public Diplomacy Leader and Practitioner Robert Coonrod as New CEO

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Jul 12, 2010, 02:24 ET

WASHINGTON, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of InterMedia, the global media and communications research company, today unanimously appointed Robert T. Coonrod as InterMedia's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

"Robert Coonrod is the ideal person to lead our organization. He will bring great vision, experience and leadership skills in taking InterMedia to its next level," said Ambassador Richard W. Carlson, Chairman of InterMedia's Board of Directors. "We are a leading resource for clients around the world. Bob Coonrod will help us with new opportunities by expanding the range of services we can provide."

Coonrod joins InterMedia from Meridian International Center in Washington DC, where he has served as Chief Operating Officer. Meridian is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening international understanding. Coonrod also serves as President of the Board of the Public Diplomacy Council, and is a former member of the Defense Science Board Taskforce on Strategic Communication.

"The necessary ingredients for a successful next phase in InterMedia's development are all there," said Coonrod. "InterMedia combines research experience and deep local knowledge in more than 100 developing countries. They have a remarkable team of experts with unique insight into media, communications, development and mobile and internet technologies. I'm honored to lead InterMedia."

Coonrod spent seven years as President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the parent to NPR and PBS that helps support more than 1,000 public radio and TV stations throughout the United States. He has extensive experience working with the U.S. Congress and Executive Branch on international communications issues.

Before joining public broadcasting, Coonrod was Deputy Director of the Voice of America. As a career Foreign Service Officer, he held several senior positions at the United States Information Agency in Washington and was posted in both in Italy and Yugoslavia. Coonrod is a graduate of Fordham University. He studied Italian, Slovene and Arabic and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

InterMedia is also pleased to announce that Dr. Gerry Power is its new Managing Director of InterMedia UK, headquartered in London. Dr. Power is a recognized leader in international research and assumes his role today. He was most recently at the BBC World Service Trust, where he served for seven years as Director of Research and Learning. Power is credited with building the Trust's knowledge management practice, helping make research a strategic part of communication for development projects. He established an award-winning network of researchers spanning 14 countries.

Prior to joining the BBC, Gerry Power led international media research for Frank N. Magid Associates, in both New York and London. He earned a Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research from the Walter Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

InterMedia (www.intermedia.org) is a leading international communications and media research, evaluation and consulting organization creatively equipping clients to understand their audiences, gauge their effectiveness and target their communications in transitional and developing societies worldwide. Based in Washington, D.C., London, UK, and active year-round in more than 60 countries, InterMedia helps clients understand complex issues in challenging research environments. The company's strengths include its people—area experts skilled in scientifically-based research and focused on client solutions—its vast global network of local research partners and contacts and its rich experience implementing more than 700 media and opinion surveys over the past 15 years.

For more information, contact Alex Wooley, InterMedia's vice president of communications and development, at USA +1-202-434-9332, or at [email protected].

SOURCE InterMedia