Daily Herald announces appointments for digital
Paddock Publications Inc., publisher of the Daily Herald, Friday announced the appointments of two managers to strengthen its growing digital operation.
Stuart Paddock III has been named vice president/director of digital and information technologies. Paddock will oversee the digital development team while retaining management of the information technology department. Paddock will report to Colin O’Donnell, senior vice president/director of content and strategic planning.
Pete Rosengren, a former Paddock director of interactive media sales, will return as director of digital sales. For the past two years, Rosengren was a Chicago Tribune digital sales manager. Before that, he was a Paddock advertising sales representative and manager for 12 years. In his new role, Rosengren will direct all digital sales, working with the advertising staff digital sales specialists, and will collaborate with all digital-focused divisions. He will report to Advertising Director Jason Hegna.
”As the newspaper industry’s digital transformation continues, the Daily Herald’s focus will be on local news and information, offering products and services when our customers want them and in whatever format the readers desire,” said Paddock Chairman, Publisher and CEO Douglas K. Ray.
“Our newspaper’s readers tell us they love the printed product. Others prefer digital. Many want both. Our strategy, then, is to continually improve the print product, but also to create new and differentiated digital content on multiple platforms — from iPad to smartphone technology — and to be prepared for further digital innovation,” Ray said. “This new organizational structure will foster collaboration in the content and commerce areas to serve readers and advertisers in ways they prefer. And the strategy is working.”
As announced a few weeks ago in a nationwide independent audit of newspaper readers, the Daily Herald and DailyHerald.com has among the fastest growing newspaper and digital audiences, ranking fifth in overall combined audience growth last year with 13.7 percent year-to-year readership growth, Ray said.
“We expect that success to continue and this restructuring will support that goal,” Ray said. “Even so, as the discussion of today’s newspapers tend to revolve around the impact of the digital transformation, we must keep in mind the importance of the print product itself to readers and advertisers. We are not only determined to maintain our commitment to print, but we also know most other newspaper publishers are as well.”