Lori McFarling has Discovered a new job. Discovery Communications has promoted McFarling to chief marketing officer for Discovery Education and domestic distribution, reporting to president of domestic distribution and enterprises Bill Goodwyn. She had been chief operating officer for Animal Planet and Discovery Kids Media.

There’s a head chef at the Cooking Channel. The network, which launches this fall, has named Michael Smith general manager. Smith was previously senior vice president of marketing at Food Network.

Mercedes Torres, a senior producer at CNN’s “Larry King Live,” is leaving the show after 10 years. Her responsibility of scheduling book authors will be taken over by producer Lisa Thompson.

Call him a comedian-turned-voice actor. Ron White has signed on with Comedy Central to co-executive produce and star in “Hounds,” where he will provide the voice for a character named Chicken. The animated show is described as a blue-collar comedy set in the South.

George Clooney is working with TNT, but not as an actor. Cooney is executive producing the pilot “Delta Blues” for the network, about a Memphis cop who also works as an Elvis impersonator. The project has been in development for more than a year.

Lindsay Powers is changing celebrity gossip venues. Powers has joined ExtraTV.com, becoming the site’s managing editor. She had been a staff editor at UsMagazine.com.

Rosie’s returning to media next week. On Monday Sirius XM will launch “Rosie Radio,” a daily talk show from former TV talk show host and Rosie magazine editor Rosie O’Donnell. The show will air Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Breda O’Reilly is flying to The Atlantic. The magazine has named O’Reilly digital ad manager, working with TheAtlantic.com. She joins from Microsoft Advertising, where she was a strategic account executive.

Sean Penn is taking another break from acting. The Oscar winner is heading to Cuba for Vanity Fair, and afterwards he’ll write a story about how the country has been affected by the Obama administration. There’s no word on whether Penn will sit down with Fidel Castro.

The 67th Annual Golden Globes will have an emcee for the first time since John Larroquette and Janine Turner in 1995. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has signed on Ricky Gervais to host the show, which airs on NBC on Jan. 17. Gervais has won three Golden Globes throughout his career.

Actor Jonathan Jackson is returning to ABC’s “General Hospital” after a 10-year absence. Jackson will resume his role as Lucky Spencer, the son of Luke and Laura Spencer.

The Oregonian has a new publisher. The newspaper has brought in N. Christian Anderson III to fill the position recently vacated by Fred Stickel. Anderson is a former publisher of the Orange County Register.

Joe Holley is heading West. Holley has joined the Houston Chronicle, becoming a politics reporter. He joins from The Washington Post, where he was a local staff writer.

True Media, an agency based in Columbia, Mo., has named Ted Haller director of agricultural media. Haller has previously worked with clients such as Monsanto Company, Bayer CropScience and John Deere.

Stephen Moss is going public. Moss has been named president and chief executive officer at National Public Media, the sponsorship firm for NPR and PBS. He was previously vice president of business development at Evri.

Peter Rohrbach, a communications attorney based in Washington, D.C., has died following a bone-marrow transplant. Rohrbach joined the firm Hogan & Hartson 30 years ago, working with clients such as Clear Channel, XM Satellite Radio and Qwest.