Local Media Consortium Announces 2023 Executive Board

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium (LMC), a strategic alliance of local media companies, today announced that it has re-elected Jay Horton, WEHCO Media, Inc., and newly elected Beth Bowers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Chris Fehrmann, TEGNA, to join its executive board. The LMC executive board is composed of nine elected and three board-appointed members with digital expertise from a diverse mix of local media companies. All terms take effect on Jan. 1, 2023 with each elected board member serving a three-year term.

"As LMC members continue to seek opportunities and navigate challenges in the digital age, it's imperative to have a board that understands the unique needs of publishers of differing sizes and markets," said Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC. "We are delighted to have Jay join us for another three-year term and to welcome Beth and Chris as new board members. Each recognizes the impact collaboration and scale have on the important work the LMC is doing to establish best practices, programs and partnerships enabling local media to continue to service their unique communities."

Jay Horton, who has served on the LMC board since 2020, has been a longtime proponent of the benefits that the Consortium's scale can provide publishers, while stressing the importance of retaining independence and local control. An active LMC participant, Horton has served as an LMC Compensation, Governance and Community Committee board sponsor. As president of WEHCO Media's digital division, he has strategic and operational responsibility for the digital business for the newspapers, as well as the Flypaper Digital Marketing Agency with offices in 11 communities.

First-time LMC board member Beth Bowers currently serves as the Atlanta Journal Constitution's senior director of revenue and has been a member of the leadership team for more than three years. Her team is responsible for revenue generation and operations for print and digital advertising and subscription acquisition. Prior to joining the AJC, she worked for Cox Media Group's Atlanta Radio Cluster for 20 years in sales leadership roles.

Newly elected board member Chris Fehrmann is vice president, digital products for TEGNA Inc., an innovative media company with 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets. He is responsible for the revenue generation, product development and ad operations of TEGNA's digital advertising solutions. Fehrmann has over 20 years of experience providing digital solutions for local, regional, and national advertisers, including over a decade within local media organizations. Fehrmann is an active member of the LMC NewsPassID Steering Committee and the Broadcast Committee.

Horton, Bowers and Fehrmann join the remainder of the elected LMC board members who each have varying time left on their three-year commitments: Chris Loretto, Media News Group executive vice president revenue and chief digital officer; Lori Tavoularis, Nexstar Media Group senior vice president of digital revenue and operations; Tom Sly, E.W. Scripps Company vice president revenue national media; Sarp Uzkan, McClatchy vice president of transformation; Rafael Cores, Impremedia vice president of digital content; Larry Lee, The Observer Media Group president and publisher; Karen Godin, Star Tribune director digital advertising strategy; Mark Bullard, Lee Enterprises vice president digital development and technology; and Stefanie Manning, Masthead Maine group vice president circulation and consumer marketing.

One of the three board-appointed seats, which were added in 2021 to ensure representation of a diverse mix of local media organizations, is up for re-appointment in 2023 and will be announced in January. 

Gary Smith, The Seattle Times vice president advertising and Bala Sundaramoorthy, Atlanta Journal-Constitution vice president and general manager, terms will end Dec. 31, 2022.

Board members help the LMC determine strategic priorities that will produce the most significant economic impact for the organization's 100 members representing 5,000 news outlets, including opportunities to increase revenue, reduce costs and create a more sustainable business for local media. Over the past year, the board has guided the LMC in its expansion of several successful initiatives including the NewsPassID local news advertising network and Meta Branded Content Project, as well as new and renewed partnerships. The board and its committees have also laid the groundwork for several soon-to-be-announced programs designed to provide much-needed resources to diverse local media companies as they navigate continued digital transformation.

About the Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers more than $50M in annual economic value through strategic partnerships and strategic initiatives on behalf of more than 100 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 5,000 news outlets. By harnessing the combined volume and scale of its members, the LMC reduces costs and increases revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Meta, Monster, and others. The aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 200 million unique monthly visitors, and its member companies serve more than nine billion pageviews to consumers. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.

SOURCE Local Media Consortium