USA TODAY names Lipman editor-in-chief
She has supervised Pulitzer-winning news coverage
Gannett, owner of USA TODAY, said Monday that Chief Content Officer Joanne Lipman will become editor-in-chief of its flagship newspaper, expanding her role at a time when the company’s 110 news properties are increasingly coordinating editorial coverage.
Lipman joined Gannett in December 2015 as CCO — a job she will retain — with a mission to better consolidate and transform the company’s editorial resources that are spread throughout the country.
Lipman will continue to oversee the USA TODAY Network, which in addition to the flagship news organization also includes the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Des Moines Register, the Arizona Republic, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other metro and local news brands. The Network has more than 3,000 journalists.
“Under Joanne’s leadership over the last year, we have made tremendous progress in bringing together the 110 properties of the USA TODAY Network, elevating the journalism, accelerating innovation and doing work we can all be proud of,” said Maribel Wadsworth, senior vice president and chief transformation officer of Gannett.
“Having Joanne take on the additional role of editor-in-chief will further focus and drive forward these efforts at USA TODAY. Joanne is a leader who stays true to the USA TODAY purpose and brand, as a news organization with the highest journalistic standards possible. We are the one media organization in this coun- try best positioned to reflect the lives and voices of the diverse country we serve.”
Patty Michalski, who has served as interim editor-inchief at USA TODAY, has been named senior director of digital audience development for USA TODAY Network and executive editor of digital for USA TODAY. Michalski became interim editor-in-chief after David Callaway left in June 2016 to become CEO of financial news service provider TheStreet Inc.
Prior to taking on the interim role, Michalski was USA TODAY’s managing editor for mobile and social and oversaw much of its push to more quickly deliver its content online and on social media channels. She will now fo- cus on the network’s digital news initiatives in mobile and social and supervise USA TODAY’s mobile/social team.
Lipman started her career as a reporter for The Wall Street Jour
nal and was promoted to deputy managing editor, the first woman to attain the post at the paper. She supervised coverage that won three Pulitzer Prizes.
She created new sections for the paper — Weekend Journal and Personal Journal — that focused more on consumer-oriented news and features. She also oversaw the creation of the paper’s Saturday edition.
Lipman left the Journal to become founding editor-in-chief of
Conde Nast Portfolio, a monthly business magazine, and its website. The paper won prestigious business awards but closed after two years in 2009 amid the advertising market plunge following the financial crisis.
Gannett also announced that Liz Nelson will become USA TO- DAY Network’s vice president of strategic content development, responsible for developing content beyond its current platforms. She will report jointly to Gannett’s Chief Marketing Officer Andy Yost and to Wadsworth. Nelson was managing editor of
The Desert Sun, a newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif., owned by Gannett, before joining the parent company in other roles. Prior to her latest appointment, she was USA TODAY Network’s senior director of audience engagement strategy.
Jen Frigault has been promoted from director to vice president of business intelligence for USA TODAY Network, reporting to Wadsworth.
Reid Williams, who was senior director of analytics for USA TODAY Network, has been named senior director of innovation and storytelling development at Gannett’s Innovation Lab, which experiments with new media products.