Kimmelman Tapped to Head Public Knowledge

Longtime consumer advocate Gene Kimmelman has been named president and CEO of Public Knowledge, succeeding Gigi Sohn, who exited late last year to become a top aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Public Knowledge says one of Kimmelman's goals will be to train the next generation of advocates for consumer-focused technology and telecom policy by bringing together various groups in a Policy Strategy Center to decide on tactics and tools.

Kimmelman, long a government affairs exec for the Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, had most recently been director of the Internet Freedom and Human Rights project at the New America Foundation.

Before that, he was chief counsel, competition policy and intergovernmental relations, in the antitrust division of the Department of Jusice.

He began his consumer advocacy career at Public Citizen as a staff attorney for Congress Watch.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.