NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - August 4, 2008) - The Newspaper Consortium, a joint venture of 30 major newspaper companies, today announced the appointment of Michael A. Silver as executive director, a new position. Since its formation in 2006, the Newspaper Consortium has excelled at joining member newspapers' unmatched local news and deep local advertising relationships with Yahoo!'s leading technologies and extensive online audience.
Effectively immediately, Silver will report to the Newspaper Consortium Board of Directors and Executive Committee and begin developing new opportunities for the Consortium across the digital media landscape, as well as to grow the Consortium's existing relationship with Yahoo! across content and advertising.
Silver will act in an advisory capacity to help member companies maximize revenue and take on the role of public spokesperson and representative for the Newspaper Consortium. Silver will also be responsible for the management and oversight of the agreements between the Newspaper Consortium's member companies and Yahoo! and serve as the central point of contact with Yahoo! for members regarding the operation of these agreements.
"Mike is widely respected across the broad media landscape because of his success developing and executing a wide range of innovative digital media initiatives," said George Irish, president of Hearst Newspapers and chairman of the Newspaper Consortium Board of Directors. "Mike's energy and passion for media innovation round out his credentials to make him the perfect fit to lead the Newspaper Consortium."
Silver joins the Newspaper Consortium after more than two decades with Tribune Company. During his tenure with Tribune, Silver led a diverse set of development efforts across the breadth of the company, including Tribune's initial investment in AOL and many of Tribune's interactive content and marketing programs. Most recently, as an independent consultant Silver developed online listings applications for the entertainment products division of Tribune Media Services. Prior to that, Silver was vice president of corporate development for Tribune Company, focusing on next generation media opportunities and assisting local business units in development and management of wireless and online video projects. Silver began his media career as a reporter and editor, working for the Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, Dow Jones and WPBT-TV in Miami.
Yahoo!'s partnership with the Newspaper Consortium is comprised of 30 companies that represent 779 local newspapers -- a number that's equivalent to 32 percent of all U.S. dailies and 41 percent of all U.S. Sunday circulation. The innovative partnership spans multiple initiatives, including the distribution of high-quality newspaper content across Yahoo! Network, the adoption of Yahoo! search on newspaper sites, cross-selling of advertising and the use of Yahoo!'s new display ad platform, which will enable Newspaper Consortium members to better target ads to specific audiences, as well as more easily and efficiently package greater amounts of inventory from across the network. Through the content distribution initiative, Yahoo! has driven more than 100 million page views to member newspapers sites. Most newspapers are also affiliates of Yahoo! HotJobs, the premier recruitment advertising portal. The Newspaper Consortium has sold millions of dollars of employment advertising onto Yahoo! HotJobs; this powerful partnership has made it the number one or two most trafficked job site in the majority of the newspapers' communities.
"The Newspaper Consortium is helping local papers expand the scope and reach of their online services and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help lead it," Silver said. "The partnership with Yahoo! gives newspapers great tools to serve local advertisers and readers and I'm looking forward to a strong rollout of innovative services in markets across the country."
About the Newspaper Consortium
Newspaper Consortium members are: A.H. Belo Corporation, Bakersfield Californian, Black Press, Buffalo News, Calkins Media, Inc., Columbus Dispatch, The Columbian Publishing Company, Cox Newspapers, The Day Publishing Company, The E.W. Scripps Company, GateHouse Media, Inc., Hearst Newspapers, Herald Media, Inc., Journal Register Company, Journal Sentinel, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Company, Media General, Inc., MediaNews Group, Inc., Morris Communications Company LLC, New York Daily News, New York Times Regional Group, Paddock Publications Inc, Paxton Media Group, Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, Shaw Newspapers, Sun Times News Group, Times-Shamrock Communications, The Times Publishing Company and the Tribune Review Publishing Company.
The newspapers represented by the Newspaper Consortium include major market dailies such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, The Florida Times-Union, Houston Chronicle, Las Vegas Review Journal, Miami Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New Haven Register, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Rocky Mountain News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and The Tampa Tribune.