Gannett Appoints Two Publishers
ARLINGTON, VA – Two executive appointments in the Newspaper Division of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) were announced today:
— John A. Swanson becomes president and publisher of The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald. He previously was group controller for the Northwest Newspaper Group and for the Statesman Journal at Salem, Ore.
— Helen Jungwirth becomes president and publisher of the Marshfield (Wis.) News-Herald.
“Today’s appointments reflect the diversity and opportunity within Gannett,” said Gary L. Watson, president of the Newspaper Division.
“John Swanson is an experienced financial executive who now moves into a general management position in a part of the country he knows quite well. Helen Jungwirth is knowledgeable about both the Central Wisconsin area and the Marshfield News-Herald. With these qualifications, both should do well in their new roles.”
Swanson joined Gannett in 1984 as accounting manager of the Statesman Journal. He was named controller of The Olympian in Washington state in 1987. He returned to Salem as controller in 1991. A year later, he assumed the additional responsibilities of controller for the Northwest Newspaper Group.
Swanson succeeds Pamela Meals, who retired. A successor to Swanson will be named shortly.
Jungwirth is returning to the newspaper business where she served in a variety of advertising roles for Thomson Newspapers, previous owner of the News-Herald, before taking early retirement in 1999.
She joined Thomson in 1984. In 1988, she was named advertising director of the Daily Tribune in Wisconsin Rapids. In 1996, she became vice president of advertising for the Central Wisconsin Strategic Marketing Group, which included the newspapers in Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point. In 1997, she became associate publisher of the Daily Tribune. She succeeds William Heath, who retired.
Gannett acquired the newspapers in the three Wisconsin cites as part of the purchase of 19 Thomson newspapers in July 2000.
Gannett Co., Inc. is an international news and information company that publishes 98 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in excess of 300 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary Newsquest plc publishes nearly 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers. Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the web.