UPDATED: Fresh off its acquisition of the Belo group, Gannett has announced its new executive team. Lynn Beall is executive VP while continuing her role as president and general manager of KSDK St. Louis. Peter Diaz, formerly the Belo president of media operations, also takes on an executive VP role.
Angela Betasso, formerly of Belo, has been named VP of sales while Dan Lyons is VP of sales strategy.
Gannett veteran Rob Mennie is senior VP of news and content, while former Belo VP of news Michael Valentine brings that title over to Gannett.
Among Gannett’s other promotions, the station veterans Mark Cornetta was named senior VP, while Brooke Spectorsky was names senior VP of syndicated programming.
Gannett recently closed on an acquisition of Belo for a total value of $2.2 billion.
“Having had the unique privilege of working for both Gannett and Belo, I can tell you firsthand that we are a perfect cultural and strategic fit,” said Dave Lougee, president of Gannett Broadcasting, at a company meeting welcoming the new employees. “We have shared values and rich histories of providing first-class, award-winning journalism that makes a difference every day in the 100-plus communities we serve. We will continue building on both companies’ extraordinary legacies…but we will be laser focused on the future...with the necessary innovation and boldness required to achieve Gannett’s stated goal of reinventing local journalism in the digital age.”
Dunia Shive, former Belo president and CEO, is assisting with the transition but is not named on the new executive team.
Other executive appointments include Julie Heskett as senior VP of finance and technology, Jake Martinez as VP of financial planning, Jeff Johnson as VP of technology, Paul Trelstad as senior VP of revenue reporting and analysis, Joe Hurd as VP of business development and strategy, Meredith Conte as VP of marketing, Asa Darrow as VP of design strategy and Tom Somers as VP of audience intelligence and development.
