Jay Byrne (born 1962) is an American writer, former senior government official and entrepreneur. Byrne is president and founder of v-Fluence, a public relations and reputation management firm. He is a frequent public speaker on the use of the Internet and has published several articles on new media and communications. He is a contributing author to Let Them Eat Precaution published by the American Enterprise Institute.
As former political campaign operative Byrne is credited with executing a range of aggressive communications tactics, including the 1992 presidential campaign's Chicken George attack on George H. W. Bush.[1] Byrne was Deputy Assistant Administrator for Legislative and Public Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1997.[2] During this time he also served as a White House spokesperson for numerous presidential and administration foreign policy initiatives including the 1994 G7 Jobs Summit and the Greater Horn of Africa Famine Initiative.[3] Prior to joining USAID Byrne held communication positions on the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign, for Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and for Congressman Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (D-MA).
After serving in the Clinton Administration, Byrne headed up corporate communications for Monsanto Company from 1997 to 2001.[4] [5] As Monsanto's director of corporate communications, Byrne focused on building acceptance for the company's controversial genetically modified crops.[6] After leaving Monsanto, Byrne founded the reputation management firm v-Fluence through which he led efforts to counter opposition to products created by agrochemical companies.[6] According to a lawsuit against the agrochemical firm Syngenta, Byrne and v-Fluence helped to suppress information about links between Syngenta's herbicide paraquat and the development of Parkinson's disease. The lawsuit also claims that Byrne and v-Fluence helped to "neutralize" critics of the herbicide.[6] In 2014, v-Fluence launched a private social network called Bonus Eventus. According to investigative reports by Lighthouse Reports, The Guardian, Le Monde and others, the purpose of Bonus Eventus is to act as a platform for coordinating attacks against pesticide critics.[5] [6] [7] [8]
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Byrne attended St. John's Preparatory School and graduated from Tufts University.