NEWSPEOPLE

New hires, promotions and relocations across the industry .................

Robert Granfeldt has been named general manager of the Midland Reporter-telegram and Texas Panhandle properties for Hearst Communications. The Panhandle properties include the Plainview Herald, Muleshoe Journal and Canyon News. He has worked at various publications across the country including the Montgomery Advertiser, the Florida Times-union and most recently as regional publisher for Gatehouse West Texas for Lubbock and Amarillo. He also worked at Morris Communications, former owner of the Lubbock Avalanche-journal and the Amarillo Globe-news, in various leadership positions prior to his most recent position with Gatehouse.

Kendra Majors has been named regional publisher of the Andalusia Star-news, Atmore Advance, Brewton Standard and associated print and digital products. All three newspapers are based in Alabama and affiliates of Boone Newspapers, Inc., headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Romando Dixson has been named the executive editor of the Journal Star in Peoria, Ill. He is the first African American to serve as top editor of the newspaper. He will oversee a team of journalists dedicated to delivering news that readers care about in Illinois. Dixson joined Gannett, parent company of the newspaper, nearly 17 years ago.

Michael Traynor, Savannah (Ga.) Morning News executive, has left the organization as part of a corporate management restructuring. Traynor led the local publication and

Savannahnow.com since 2008, first as publisher and most recently as market leader. He had served as the group vice president of sales—georgia since the merger of Gatehouse Media and Gannett.

Zach Thompson has been named editor of the Iowa City Press-citizen. He will oversee the staff and production of the Press-citizen, its websites and affiliated weeklies in east central Iowa. Thompson joined Gannett, parent company of the Press-citizen, in 2011 as a designer at the Des Moines Register. In 2016, he became a producer for the Des Moines Register. In 2019 and 2020, he served as deputy politics editor, helping direct the Register’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses.

Shannon J. Allen has been named the publisher of the Sand Mountain Reporter, which serves Marshall County, Ala. He succeeds Kim Patterson, who is no longer with the paper. Allen previously served as the longtime sports editor of the Reporter, joining the publication in 1988.

Kimberly “Kim” Atkins has joined the Boston Globe as an editorial board member. She will be a senior writer for Globe Opinion, penning both editorials and columns. Atkins will also continue her role as a regular contributor to MSNBC, providing on-air analysis and commentary on the national political news of the day. In the past, she served as senior news correspondent for WBUR, covering national political news from Washington, D.C., with a New England focus since 2019. Prior to that, she was the Washington bureau chief for the Boston Herald for five years. Atkins began her journalism career, after working as a lawyer, with a stint at the Globe from 2001-2003.

Jerry Pye, publisher of the Marshall (Texas) News Messenger, has retired after serving the publication for six and a half years. Pye also served as publisher of the Panola Watchman and the Kilgore News Herald. He started his full-time newspaper career as the circulation manager at the Daily Leader in Brookhaven, Miss. He moved through the ranks, working in all departments, before rising to regional publisher. Throughout his career, he served as publisher for newspapers in Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Nevada and Wyoming.

Gabe Whisnant has been named news director at the Spartanburg (S.C.) Heraldjournal. He will oversee the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, leading a team of 12 journalists covering Spartanburg and Spartanburg County. He had been serving as interim news director since

April. Whisnant has worked with the Herald-journal since March 2017 as the publication’s assistant managing editor/ digital editor. His first reporting job was in Goldsboro in 2002.

David Arkin has been named chief content and product officer for the O’rourke Media Group. He will assume responsibility for direct oversight of the company’s newsrooms, audience efforts and products across each market. Arkin has spent more than 20 years in newsrooms as a reporter, editor, consultant and executive developing transformative digital strategies. Most recently, he was the head of digital at an NBC television station in Houston. In the past, he served on boards for several local media associations, including the Associated Press Media Editors.

Leona Allen, a longtime editor at the Dallas Morning News, has been named to a new position of deputy publisher responsible for diversity and inclusion. The promotion makes her one of the highest-ranking Black female executives in the newspaper industry. Allen joined the newspaper in 1994, holding several high-profile jobs, including deputy managing editor, prior to her current position on the newspaper’s editorial board.

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Philadelphia Inquirer have hired Ezequiel Minaya to lead Philadelphia: The Future of Work, a yearlong multimedia project focused on the key challenges and opportunities the city faces as it attempts to create more familysustaining jobs. He will lead the project as its editor. Minaya most recently served as corporate finance editor at Forbes. Before that, he spent nine years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering corporate finance and business breaking news, and in Caracas where he served as a foreign correspondent. His career also includes stints at the Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Stars and Strips.

Meredith Kopit Levien has been named president and chief executive for the New York Times. In addition, she will also serve on the company’s board. Levien succeeds Mark Thompson, who served as chief executive since 2012. She joined the Times in 2013 as head of advertising. She was promoted to executive vice president and chief revenue officer in 2015 and became the chief operating officer in 2017. Prior to joining the Times, Levien was the chief revenue officer at Forbes Media.

Daniel Richardson, publisher of the Carroll County News Leader in Huntingdon, Tenn. and group publisher of the eastern division of Magic Valley Publishing Co., has been named president of the Tennessee Press Association. His father, Dennis Richardson, founded Magic Valley Publishing Co. in 1983.

Robert Patchen Jr. has been named the publisher of the Minot (N.D.) Daily News. Most recently, he served as publisher of the Times Observer in Warren, Pa. since 2010. Prior to that, he was circulation director, sports reporter and office manager. Succeeding him at the Times Observer is Michael C. Bird. Recently, he was publisher of the Postjournal in Jamestown, N.Y. for 14 years. He has worked newspapers in Houghton, Mich., Salem, Ohio and Westfield, N.Y.

Debi Chirichella has been named interim president of Hearst Magazines. She became president of the magazine group in 2018. Chirichella will take over a business unit that includes prominent titles like Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & County and Esquire. Chirichella spent seven years at Condé Nast before joining Hearst.

Jyoti Thottam has been named deputy opinion editor for the New York Times. In her new role, she will oversee the vertical editors for world, culture and business/ technology and be a regular Opinion Today writer. Thottam joined the Times in 2018 as an opinion editor.

Bill Parsons, publisher of the Porterville (Calif.) Recorder Publisher, has retired.

Parsons was named publisher in 2018 and began his career in the newspaper business in 1975 with the Tampa Tribune in Florida. He worked in several departments such as circulation and advertising sales. Over the last 30 years, he served as publisher at 15 newspapers in eight states: Wyoming, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Nebraska, North Dakota and California. Josie Chapman, who has been with the Recorder for 22 years and has served as the director of operations for the past year-and-a-half, assumes the duties of general manager.

Jed Williams, chief strategy office at Local Media Association, has departed the organization to partner with media analyst Ken Doctor to build Lookout Local. Williams joined LMA in 2016 as chief innovation officer. During his stint, Williams helped launch experiential learning programs such as Chief Digital Clubs as well Accelerate Local, an initiative built to develop and implement transformative business models for local news. Prior to joining LMA, Williams was the vice president of business development and strategy for Vendasta. In the past, he served as a senior analyst and vice president of strategic consulting for Bia/kelsey.

James Murdoch has resigned from the

News Corp board. The company includes newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Post. His resignation follows disagreements over editorial content published by the company’s news outlets as well as other strategic decisions. He had already departed the Fox Corp., the family’s television and entertainment arm that houses Fox News.