WASHINGTON, D.C. — When it became known that a nominee for a TEGNA Board of Directors seat had withdrawn himself from consideration, due to a 2014 case of mistaken identity gone wrong involving company CEO Dave Lougee, the name of the nominee was shared.
But, TEGNA didn’t share details of who Adonis Hoffman is, and why Lougee mistakenly thought he was a valet at a 2014 event is so potentially explosive.
Hoffman is a highly accomplished African American who once served as Chief of Staff of the FCC, and held key positions in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In fact, Hoffman’s time in Washington politics dates to the beginning days of the Reagan Administration. In 1981, he was named Legislative Director for Rep. Mervyn Dymally, a California Democrat. After three years in the role, he took a job in the private sector, becoming a senior account executive at PR firm Gray & Company.
In 1986, Hoffman shifted to legal work, becoming General Counsel for Capitol Exchange Corp., before joining Hopkins & Sutter as an associate attorney. In 1991, he’d head back to Capitol Hill, becoming Counsel for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs during an era when the Persian Gulf War was the major foreign conflict for U.S. Armed Forces.
In 1998, Hoffman would find his way to the FCC, serving as Deputy Bureau Chief focused on cable for the Media Bureau. After two years, he’d exit, joining the 4 A’s advertising agency association as SVP/Counsel. Then, in 2013, Hoffman returned to the FCC for two years, serving as Chief of Staff and as Senior Legal Advisor to Mignon Clyburn.
Meanwhile, from 2008-2018, he was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and from 2015-2020 was on the Nielsen Media External Advisory Council.
He launched The Advisory Council in 2019.
Today, Hoffman is regularly interviewed across an array of cable news networks as an expert on policy issues for national media.
