UPI is reporting that General Motors has canned Tony Kowaleski as its top PR executive and convinced former GM communicator Steve Harris to come back and improve GM’s battered image. According to the article, Kowaleski was skilled at promoting product but that Harris was more adept at crisis communication. Kowaleski was taked with communicating GM’s $8.6 billion loss in 2005. Management wants Harris to help position GM as “essential to the US economy.”

Of course, it was under Kowaleski’s watch that GM began blogging and podcasting, which has only helped.