USA WEEKEND Announces Executive Appointments -- MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Jan 23 2012

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- USA WEEKEND announced today several key executive appointments. Dave Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY, will now assume the additional role of publisher of USA WEEKEND. He replaces Chuck Gabrielson, who after more than 35 years with Gannett Co. Inc., announced his retirement today.

Michael O'Brien, formerly vice president of advertising for USA WEEKEND, has been named executive vice president/general manager for USA WEEKEND with responsibility for advertising sales and newspaper relations.

Heather Frank, previously vice president of consumer media for USA TODAY, has been named editor-in-chief of USA WEEKEND. O'Brien and Frank will both report directly to Hunke.

The USA WEEKEND marketing staff will be incorporated into the USA TODAY marketing team reporting to Sandra Micek, senior vice president of marketing for USA TODAY.

"USA WEEKEND is a key publication in our portfolio and I look forward to exploring ways to expand its potential. Michael and Heather bring vast experience to their new roles and will play a large part in the USA WEEKEND executive team that will position us well for the future," said Hunke.

O'Brien, based in Chicago, joined USA WEEKEND in 2002 as account executive/Midwest and was promoted to advertising manager/Midwest in 2004 and advertising director/Midwest in 2007. He was named vice president of advertising last year. Previously, he held positions with Time4Media, McGraw Hill and Cahners Business Information. O'Brien is a graduate of Barat College.

Frank joined USA TODAY in 2010 as general manager of Your Life and was later named vice president of consumer media in 2011. Previously, she led the content programming and operations teams for RevolutionHealth.com. Prior to that, she was the editor-in-chief for Meredith Corporation's women's lifestyle sites. From 1997 to 2003, she was an executive at America Online, where she led editorial teams in developing programming in response to popular culture and current events. Prior to joining AOL, Frank was the general manager for new media at WHERE magazines. Frank is a graduate of Newcomb College.

USA WEEKEND is a national weekly newspaper magazine with 22.6 million circulation and 49 million readers in print and online. It is distributed through more than 800 newspapers. Awarded for its journalism and design, USA WEEKEND focuses on social issues, entertainment, health, food and travel. It has an expanded presence in the social media arena with active participation on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. USA WEEKEND is a Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) publication.

SOURCE USA TODAY

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