Monday, December 7, 2009

Heralded USC Professor Specializing in the Digital Future Jeffrey Cole Joins MediaLink LLC

Visionary Communications thinker and counselor to presidents and CEOs is named a senior advisor in strategic consultancy and business development firm.

LOS ANGELES -- Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future and a Research Professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism has joined MediaLink LLC as a senior advisor, it was announced today by MediaLink Chairman and CEO Michael Kassan.

Cole, who will continue his duties at USC Annenberg while advising the strategic advisory and business development firm, has been hailed as a media visionary for his work in examining the perils and potential of the digital age. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, he has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues in both the U.S. and internationally, and has advised governments and leading companies around the world.

"Just as technology has obliterated the lines that once divided media, marketing and entertainment, academic inquiry and real-world application are also now joined at the hip," said Kassan. "Neither business nor government can build genuine relationships with customers or citizens without an in-depth understanding of the intellectual ideas that power our 21st Century, digitally-enabled communications ecosystem. Jeff Cole has been thinking about and working on these issues for decades. We are lucky to have the benefit of his insight and experience - and I'm confident that our clients will feel the same way."

"Backed by ten years of data and insights in tracking changes in both traditional media and the digital world, I look forward to working with MediaLink in advising its current and future clients," said Cole.

"Unique thinkers like Jeff Cole are the map makers of our new interconnected, interactive, participatory world," added MediaLink President Wenda Harris Millard. "'His understanding of the meta-forces driving communications will be invaluable in our efforts to help our clients move their brands and businesses forward.'"

Prior to joining USC in 2004, Cole served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy in the university's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 25 countries and is the leading international project examining the ways in which our social, economic and media lives are changing.

Cole regularly presents trends and insights of the project to the White House, FCC, Congress, Department of Defense and governments around the world. On the corporate side, Cole advises or has advised Microsoft, Group M, Ericsson, Bertelsmann, Sony, Time-Warner, Accenture, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Telstra, Disney, HP, AARP and others. In 1995, Cole worked closely with the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) under an anti-trust waiver that allowed the networks to work together for the first time on television programming issues. Meeting regularly with the CEOs, general counsels, heads of programming and others at the networks, he issued annual reports to the television industry, Congress and the nation.

Cole has testified before Congress on TV issues and has spoken as a keynote and panel member at more than 500 conferences on media and technology. He has worked with both the Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations on media and telecommunications topics, including detailed briefings on the Center's work. He regularly makes presentations across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Cole was a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) from 1997 to 2001 and was the founding governor of the ATAS Interactive Media Peer Group.

About MediaLink LLC

MediaLink LLC, a Los Angeles and New York City-based advisory firm, provides critical counsel and strategic direction to the media, advertising, entertainment and technology industries and to companies and institutional investors that interact with those sectors. MediaLink is a partner to its clients in the implementation of strategy assuring that deliverables meet promises and expectations. MediaLink's goal is to deliver measurable results that increase brand and shareholder value. The company was founded in 2004 by Michael Kassan, the former President and Vice Chairman of lnitiative Media Worldwide and Western International Media. In 2009, he brought aboard Wenda Harris Millard, an Internet advertising pioneer and a widely-known and respected marketing and media executive, as President to expand MediaLink's offerings and influence.

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