VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley

RICHMOND, Va. (Jan. 19, 2006) -- Virginia Commonwealth University has named a veteran television reporter as public relations specialist for University News Services, the department that leads the news and public information efforts of the university and the VCU Medical Center.

Michael R. Porter, 43, is based on the Monroe Park Campus and will write about the research and activities of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He also will serve as a liaison between the VCU Police Department and the media.

Porter will also coordinate the public relations efforts of several other key areas of the university.

Porter most recently worked as a political reporter at WWBT-TV in Richmond. In that role, he was responsible for daily coverage of the Virginia General Assembly. He also reported from the 2004 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. He previously worked in a variety of reporting and management positions at television stations in Washington, D.C., Charleston, S.C., and Johnstown, Pa.

Porter is a graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., and is a native of Cumberland, Md.

University News Services office, part of the Division of External Relations, has two major responsibilities: to fulfill the public information obligations of the university as a public institution, and to develop and execute public relations programs to support the goals of VCU and its faculty and staff.