Bob Magnuson: A Seasoned Media Veteran With Experience as a Journalist, CEO and Consultant
“After many years in the media business, I founded Magnuson & Company nearly 20 years ago to provide senior communications counsel lacking in the public relations agencies I encountered, first as a journalist and later as a corporate client. Our business is based on my direct engagement with clients, with support from experienced communications professionals in disciplines ranging from social media to content creation to graphic design.”
Bob Magnuson has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist, editor, CEO, and strategic communications advisor. The firm has advised companies, universities, governments, non-profits, and high net-worth individuals on issues ranging from media coverage and messaging to crisis management and criminal litigation.
Before founding Magnuson & Company, Bob spent 20 years at the Los Angeles Times where he was Business Editor and a Senior Vice President, and helped lead the paper's editorial staff to two Pulitzer Prizes. Bob also was CEO of Times Community News and InfoWorld Media Group, and COO of Nicholas Enterprises, the family office of Broadcom co-founder Dr. Henry Nicholas.
In 2013, Bob took a two-year leave from the firm to work at the California High-Speed Rail Authority as an appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown. As Chief of Communications and External Affairs, he was responsible for communications, media, government affairs, stakeholder outreach and small business advocacy on the largest infrastructure program in the U.S.
In addition to Magnuson & Company, Bob is a partner at I Street Public Affairs, one of California's leading political consulting firms based in Sacramento.
Bob is a former Distinguished Fellow in the Future of Media at Chapman University, Chair of the Board of Trustees of PBS SoCal, and adjunct professor of journalism at UC Berkeley. He has a BA from UC Berkeley, and master's degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (economics), and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Bob is married to Shawn Hubler, a former L.A. Times staff writer and columnist and currently a California-based correspondent for the New York Times. They have three grown daughters.