Lorraine M. Snebold, senior director of brand strategy for Nexstar Media Group’s NewsNation cable network, died suddenly on Tuesday. She was 65.
Snebold spent the early part of her career at television stations in local markets, including WDBJ, Roanoke; KDKA, Pittsburgh; KYW, Philadelphia; and WTTG, Washington, D.C.
In Pittsburgh she launched the station's "The Hometown Advantage" brand.
More recently she helped launch the National Geographic Channel.
Snebold was the founder of Absolute Focus, a communications consultancy, where she worked with the Humane Society of the United States and WQED Multimedia in Pittsburgh.
She was an avid skydiver and scuba diver. Inspired by her dog Elmo, she also founded Pet-aw-graphy.com, which made a deal with Papyrus Recycled Greetings and sells a line of cards sold in major retailers.
“Lorraine mentored our entire creative marketing team, taking us all under her wing on matters big and small, and worked closely with many of our talent as we started to expand NewsNation’s programming,” said Jonathan Killian, NewsNation VP for marketing and brand communications. “Her amazing career speaks for itself, leading teams at winning national and local brands across the country and pioneering one of the industry’s most successful cable launches of all time, the National Geographic Channel. She was a special person.”
