Butler Eagle Publisher Defends Decision To Print Pittsburgh Post-Gazette During Labor Strike
The Butler Eagle’s president and publisher has defended his company’s decision to print the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette while its workers strike in the face of calls from union members to extend their pickets to its Butler County office. President Ron Vodenichar issued a lengthy statement Thursday saying, by keeping a product on the shelves, he’s helping the Pittsburgh paper’s chances of surviving beyond the strike.
“It is our firm belief that if the Post-Gazette fails to distribute a print product for any length of time it would cause the end of the Post-Gazette,” says Vodenichar, president and publisher of Butler Eagle. “Only through the assistance of a third party will the jobs of the workers – and maybe even the future of the company – survive.”
Paxton Media Group Continues To Expand, Acquiring Several Additional Newspapers In Multiple States
Paxton Media Group, which owns the Levy Citizen newspaper, recently acquired several additional publications in a handful of states throughout the U.S.
According to a newsletter from America’s Newspapers, the company finalized two deals that involved newspapers in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Indiana. These publications are: The Cleveland Daily Banner (based in Cleveland, Tennessee), The Herald Citizen (Cookeville, Tennessee), The Cartersville Daily Tribune (Cartersville, Georgia), The Chatsworth Times (Chatsworth, Georgia) and The Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper, Alabama).
Every one of the newspapers mentioned above – except for The Chatsworth Times – publishes five days per week online and three days per week in print, according to the newsletter. The Chatsworth Times is a weekly publication. Furthermore, publications of the newspapers also included in the purchase are the Walker Magazine, 385 Magazine, Bradley Essential and Discover Bartow.
Paxton Media Group is a family-owned media company that is based out of Paducah, Kentucky. The company is operated by fourth- and fifth-generation Paxton family members and owns over 100 newspapers throughout the Southeast and Midwest.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh issued a press statement Wednesday morning calling out the company for undermining its strike efforts, and stating members would begin picketing its office. “Newspaper Guild journalists have joined this picket line and withheld our labor alongside our union siblings as we escalate our fight to have our collectively bargained contract restored and look toward our next contract to secure journalism in the Pittsburgh region,” said Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh president Zack Tanner in a press release. “We’re fighting for better wages and affordable healthcare for every single worker at the Post-Gazette. The power is in our hands, not the Blocks.
The Alliance For Audited Media Names Two Longtime Media Professionals To Key Leadership Roles
The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), a not-for-profit media auditing organization, is proud to name two longtime media, marketing and client solutions professionals to senior leadership roles. Kristina Meinig and Danielle O’Connell are both working to build awareness and relationships in growing areas of AAM, including digital and point-of-care media.
Kristina Meinig, Vice President, Market Development AAM recently promoted Kristina Meinig to vice president of market development. In her new role, Meinig will leverage a strong background in product development, client relations and digital media to bring greater awareness to AAM’s digital assurance solutions. With more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing, Meinig has held various roles at AAM, most recently contributing to AAM’s product leadership team with a focus on digital media solutions and strategy. She helped develop and launch the AAM Digital Publisher Audit, an assurance solution that helps quality digital publishers stand out for their adherence to industry standards and best practices. She also led initiatives to increase media transparency in the industry such as AAM’s partnership with JournalList’s Trust.txt program, including audited digital publishers in the IAB Tech Lab Compliance Registry and helping AAM achieve accreditation to become the first U.S. certifier for the Journalism Trust Initiative. Throughout her career, Meinig has excelled at bringing together all sides of the industry to develop solutions that elevate transparency and foster trust between publishers and buyers. “As an independent voice in the industry, AAM connects advertisers, publishers and agencies to create innovative solutions that benefit all sides of the industry,” Meinig said. “I look forward to building partnerships with AAM’s board members and clients that support our shared mission, which is to strengthen trust between buyers and sellers and improve how the digital marketplace functions.”
Danielle O’Connell, Vice President, Client Development Danielle O’Connell joins AAM as vice president of client solutions where she oversees magazine media, B2B/farm media and the growing point-of-care media channel, as well as working with AAM’s agency partners. She is working alongside industry veteran George Bartman before he retires at the end of the year. O’Connell brings a strong foundation working in magazines, media and marketing to her role. She began her career at Waiting Room Subscription Services (WRSS), a public place distribution company, where she spent several years as a marketing manager before becoming a consumer marketing manager at Martha Stewart Living. O’Connell joined AAM in 2015 as a sales and client solutions manager, eventually becoming AAM’s director of sales before joining National Review as director of circulation and programs.
Adams Publishing Group To Acquire 13 Montana Newspapers
The Livingston Enterprise, and its parent company Yellowstone Newspapers, is being sold to a Minnesota-based media group, according to an announcement Monday by the two firms. An agreement was reached last Friday between John Sullivan, president of the Montana group and Mark Adams, President and CEO of Adams Publishing Group , APG, of Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The sale is expected to be finalized by November 1, according to a joint announcement.
The sale will end a 57-year history for the Yellowstone group, which began in 1965 with the purchase of the Miles City Star, and has grown to include 13 daily, twice-weekly and weekly newspapers and become the state’s largest Montana-owned newspaper group. Also included in the sale were the group’s commercial printing operations. “After over half a century of shepherding these Montana community papers,’ Sullivan said, “it’s time we turned over their care and feeding to a new outfit, We are confident Mark Adams and his new organization will take good care of our papers and our communities.”
Adams Publishing is a family-owned group founded in 2014, and now owns more than 120 newspapers and more than 220 media-related and associated digital products in 19 states across the country. “We would like to thank John Sullivan and his team for their fine stewardship of those newspapers over the years,” said Adams. “APG is excited to work with the Yellowstone media operations in Montana. This opportunity is a great strategic fit with our Big Sky region based in Bozeman, and we look forward to providing that region with greater regional and local community journalism as well as a larger advertiser audience.”
