Auto reporter Snavely joins PR firm

Detroit Free Press reporter Brent Snavely has left the newspaper and joined Michigan’s largest public relations firm, Lambert, Edwards & Associates.

Snavely will work with the firm’s investor relations and manufacturing and mobility clients, as well as will provide strategic counsel firm-wide.

Most recently, he served as the lead automotive writer at the Detroit Free Press where he covered Ford and General Motors while also serving as auto team leader.

“Transitioning to PR from journalism after 24 years in the industry, and leaving the state’s largest daily newspaper, was an extremely difficult decision,” said Snavely in a statement. “However, I am joining a company that understands the evolving nature of public relations and integrated marketing, and recognizes that the need for effective storytelling is more important now than ever.”

Snavely led the award-winning coverage of the UAW’s contract negotiations in 2011 and again in 2015, served as a key member of a team that covered Detroit’s bankruptcy and closely chronicled the transformation of Chrysler from a bankrupt American automaker into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

He also acted as an editor of two national automotive reporting projects for the USA Today Network and co-managed automotive coverage for the Detroit Free Press and USA Today.

Prior to the Free Press, Snavely worked for Crain’s Detroit Business covering industries that included automotive suppliers, retail and restaurants.