Editor & Publisher

NEWSPEOPLE

Editorandpublisher.com/newspeople

New hires, promotions and relocations across the industry

Black Press Media Group has announced the retirement of long time President and CEO Rick O’connor.

O’connor joined Black Press in 1998 as the president of the Metro Valley Newspaper Group and held progressive roles in the company, taking over all BC operations in 2005, followed by Washington state in 2008 and Alberta in 2011. He finally took over Hawaiian and Ohio publishing operations in

2012 when he became CEO. The company operates newspapers and websites in BC, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Washington State, Alaska and Hawaii.

Kelly Wright has been named publisher of Lake Norman Media Group (Huntersville, North Carolina). She has been with the company for three years, serving as director of advertising and general manager. Leslie Hunter Kahana moved into the position of president/ CEO. She arrived in Lake Norman in March of 2019 as the group publisher for Lake Norman Publications. In August of the same year, she renamed the company and became the new owner of Lake Norman Media Group, which encompasses three weeklies, a monthly newspaper, as well as a full suite of digital products and services.

David Prizer is the new publisher and advertising director for The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City,

North Carolina), Chowan Herald (Edenton) and The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford). He joins the papers from Spokane, Washington, but is no stranger to eastern North Carolina. He lived in New Bern while serving as digital sales director for Gannett publications in Jacksonville, New Bern and Wilmington.

Jeffrey M. Hayden is the new publisher of The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript. He has worked in the media field for 25 years, coming to The Transcript from Sound Publishing, a leading community news organization in Washington State and Alaska. He served as the company’s senior group publisher and digital director.

Mazi Kavoosi has been named publisher of the Monterey (California) Herald. Kavoosi, 51, began his newspaper career as circulation manager of the Herald in 2005 and now oversees six newspapers owned by the Media News Group in Northern California. He succeeds Jim Gleim, who retired.

Veteran newspaper executive and editor Shane Fitzgerald has been named as the Bucks County Herald’s new editor-in-chief. Bridget

A. Wingert, who has served as the Herald’s founder and editor since 2002, will remain in her role as president of the Bucks County Herald Foundation, overseeing fundraising efforts that began when the newspaper gained nonprofit status in 2020. Fitzgerald will oversee editorial operations for the Herald’s print and digital news services covering nearly 30 municipalities and seven school districts throughout Bucks County (Pennsylvania) and parts of Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

The BBC has hired Chinny Okolidoh as its new director for diversity and inclusion. Okolidoh joins from L’oreal U.K. and Ireland, where she was the director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Sabra Ayres, a longtime foreign correspondent with extensive experience covering Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe, has been named The Associated Press’ chief correspondent for Ukraine. Ayres comes to the position with a diverse portfolio that spans nearly two decades and several continents, with bylines from Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, Europe and India.

Mallika Sen has been appointed as the new entertainment news editor for The Associated Press, based in New York. Sen has had several roles at the AP, most recently on the East regional desk, where she’s handled numerous major breaking stories.

Karyn Greer is now anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast at WSB-TV in Atlanta, with Jorge Estevez. She previously was a noon anchor and community services director at CBS46.

Life Kit has added an anchor host to its roster of contributors. Marielle Segarra, most recently of Marketplace, is the podcast and radio show’s first regular host. Andee Tagle, previously an associate producer on the show, joins Segarra in the newly created role of reporter-producer.

Fidel Martinez has been named editorial director for Latino initiatives at the Los Angeles Times. Martinez joined The Times as an audience engagement editor in 2018, working in the Sports department. During his time there, he helped plan the social media coverage of several major events, including World Series and Super Bowls.

The Associated Press has announced three additions to the network aimed at deepening education coverage by the AP and across the news industry.

Cheyanne Mumphrey, an editor on the West Desk, was named as an education reporter. In her three years at AP, her byline has made regular appearances on the wire. Veteran AP newswoman

Jocelyn Gecker has covered education as a subbeat for several years, and she has now joined the team full time.

Collin Binkley has relocated from Boston to Washington, D.C., and has jumped right into his new role as AP’S lead education policy reporter.

Lindsey Toomer has joined Colorado Newsline as a reporter. Toomer was a reporter at The Denver Gazette. Before that, Toomer reported for the Summit Daily News in Colorado and interned at the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

Melody Gutierrez, Robert J. Lopez and Alene Tchekmedyian have joined the Investigations team at the Los Angeles Times, enhancing the paper’s newsroom-wide commitment to highimpact accountability reporting. All three have a strong track record of investigative reporting.

SCS has promoted its longtime director of sales, Phil Curtolo, to vice president of sales. Curtolo has worked for SCS since

2002, starting as sales/application representative. He has successfully led the company’s sales and marketing efforts since being named director of sales in 2006. In addition, Walt

Lafferty has joined SCS as its new finance officer. Prior to joining SCS, Lafferty was CFO and senior vice president of finance and administration at Civitas Media and was a group publisher and regional director at both Gatehouse Media and Gannett.

The Associated Press has announced the appointment of two news directors, with Riazat Butt taking command of its teams in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Abby Sewell named the leader of its operations in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. In addition, AP has named Fatima Shbair as its new photographer in Gaza. AP also has two new correspondents — Kareem Chehayeb for Lebanon and Syria, and Jack Jeffrey, a former AP intern, for Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

Dr. Tara Narula joins CNN as a medical correspondent within CNN’S award-winning Health, Medical and Wellness team. She will report across CNN platforms and is based in New York. Dr. Narula joins CNN from CBS News where she was the senior medical correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms. Dr. Narula is a board-certified cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/northwell.

INSIDE

en-us

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://editorandpublisher.pressreader.com/article/282419878134616

Editor and Publisher