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New LT-M Media Strategy Planned for ‘10
CommentsVPA / December 06, 2009
From LOUDOUN TIMES-MIRRORLoudoun Times-Mirror Publisher Peter Arundel announced late last month that the media company will roll out several key initiatives in 2010 as part of a new strategic plan for publishing in Loudoun County.
"Our media platform will move swiftly with the times," said Arundel. "We are very fortunate to do business in a county so dynamic. We hope audiences here will appreciate what's coming."
Arundel declined to specify detailed ingredients of the plan. He did, however, announce several staff and management changes slated to execute the new media strategy.
Longtime editor Barbara Payne will run newsroom operations as managing editor. Payne will report directly to Arundel, who will now serve as editor-in-chief of news and content development in addition to his role as publisher overseeing business operations. Payne, who lives near Upperville, was a veteran editor at the National Geographic Society before joining the Times-Mirror in 2002.
In addition to Payne, Loudoun resident and communications veteran Nicholas Graham is joining the paper as editor-at-large of news and opinion. Graham is a former senior Capitol Hill aide and AOL executive, and is currently vice president at search engine Ask.com. He has served as contributing writer and blogger for the TimesMirror.
Copy editor Iina Hashem has been promoted to assistant managing editor, reporting to Payne.
Crystal Owens has joined the company as county reporter, covering county government news as well as business and crime as needed. She will reside with her family in Leesburg.
In addition, the company will undertake changes to covering the news, historically structured around a limited number of trained journalists and full-time staff.
"The paradigm has shifted," said Arundel. "Newsrooms cannot serve audiences in the new era without feeding the beast, the insatiable appetite for selfexpression in the world ofthe Web."
Arundel said the plan will strive for a "healthier balance" of internal trained professionals and citizen journalism.