NEW YORK—News Corp has appointed Jim Kennedy as chief communications officer, responsible for the company’s global corporate communications and media relations initiatives and strategy. He will report to News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson.

Kennedy, who served in the Clinton White House, joins News Corp from Sony Corporation of America, where he currently serves as senior vice president for strategic communications. He has overseen media relations for SCA at Sony’s New York headquarters since October 2011. He previously served as head of communications for Sony Pictures Entertainment in Culver City, California.

Kennedy joined Sony Pictures in 2005 after a career in public affairs that included work as a deputy assistant to the President and deputy press secretary to President Bill Clinton. He was also head of communications for the White House Counsel’s office, Vice President Al Gore, Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, and the Clinton Foundation.

In his new role, Kennedy will be based in New York with Ashley Huston, deputy head of communications, who joined News Corp from Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal in January.