It is one thing to promote products or services. But how about promoting ideas or opinions - particularly those relating to hot-topic issues that polarize Washington lawmakers
and the general public?
That's the latest challenge facing Patrick C. Doherty, the new director of communications at the Center for National Policy, a non-partisan national security think tank
based on Capitol Hill. Doherty joined CNP in April, following a two-year stint as senior editor of the highly influential online daily journal TomPaine.com. For Doherty,
trading in a high-profile editorial position for a behind-the-scenes opportunity at CNP has not been a problem.
"There is a great aphorism here: You go far in Washington if you don't take credit," he says.
Doherty plays a crucial role on the new team brought in to revitalize the 25-year-old CNP's standing as a leading force in political commentary and public policy dialogue.
Under the guidance of its president Tim Roemer, a former Indiana Congressman and a member of The 9/11 Commission, CNP is seeking to raise its visibility. Doherty's work
has been vital in getting the CNP into the high-profile media outlets.
"We are building our name recognition in Washington and, to a certain extent, outside of the Beltway," he says, adding that he's already placed op-ed pieces for CNP including a
provocative piece by Roemer called "Enough Already" that ran in the April 29 edition of the New York Times and sparked heated media debate about a possible Democratic
landslide in November's elections.
Doherty's PR training could be traced to his pre-media career in the field of post-conflict peace-building and conflict management. During a ten-year period he worked for
Catholic Relief Services in the Balkans and Caucasus, the Conflict Management Group in Ethiopia, the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and the
Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Despite these intensive assignments, Doherty does not automatically view his new assignment
as easy.
"I don't know if 'easy' is the way I'd put it," he says. "They're all different challenges, requiring different tools and strategies. Obviously, challenges need to be
addressed more formally in Washington versus the Balkans."
Contact: Patrick C. Doherty, [email protected].