LEVITTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Newspaper publisher Calkins Media on Monday named Mark Contreras as its new chief executive officer.
The company said Contreras, a former chairman of The Newspaper Association of America and The American Press Institute, will start on Wednesday.
Contreras most recently was a senior vice president for newspapers at the E.W. Scripps Co. in Cincinnati and worked in a similar post with Pulitzer Inc. in St. Louis. Before that, he was president and publisher at The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre.
Calkins Media Inc., based in Levittown, is a private company owned by the descendants of its founder, Stanley W. Calkins. It operates six papers in Pennsylvania, one newspaper each in Florida and New Jersey and the website phillyburbs.com. It also owns ABC-affiliate TV stations in Sarasota and Tallahassee, Fla.
It said Contreras has "a wealth of experience in digital and traditional media."
Contreras said he was drawn to Calkins by its owners' commitment to local journalism.
"The most attractive thing from a business perspective was the commitment of the ownership to continuing to produce very high quality journalism as a private company," Contreras told the Bucks County Courier Times. "That was an important factor. They're extremely committed to the healthy future of their newspapers and television stations."
