Cox Media Group
Cox has named Mark Medici vice president of audience and digital strategy for the Austin American-Statesman. You may recall Medici as The Dallas Morning News executive who said last month at a conference that the News’ Sunday circulation has increased since it instituted its paywall, “which is fine because we know in three years we won’t have a seven-day paper.” The comment caused a minor storm; News publisher James Moroney responded that Medici’s comment, which he didn’t recall making, was either a “misstatement or a misunderstanding.” Moroney said the News, which has a larger circulation than the Austin paper, has no plans to discontinue daily printing. || Earlier: Dallas executive says paper won’t be printed seven days a week; publisher says no plans to discontinue daily printing (Poynter.org)
The full release:
Medici named Statesman VP of Audience and Digital Strategy
Medici named Statesman VP of Audience and Digital Strategy
AUSTIN, Texas (November 15, 2011) – The Statesman has named Mark Medici as its new vice president of Audience and Digital Strategy.
In this role, Medici is responsible for designing and implementing the audience development and digital strategy to maintain and expand the Statesman’s print and online audience and build brand and title awareness. He will also monitor overall performance of Statesman digital products, aligning audience and sales strategies to ensure maximum revenues are achieved.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mark, who brings great strategic, analytical, creative and collaborative experience, to the Statesman,” said Publisher Jane Williams. “He understands how to attract audiences and interpret data to guide content creation across print and digital platforms. He’s the perfect fit for our digital strategy now and in the future.”
Prior to joining the Statesman, Medici was the vice president of Audience at The Dallas Morning News. While there, Medici’s team implemented and launched the “Subscriber Content” initiative that gave print subscribers unfettered access across all Dallas Morning News digital platforms.
“While I will always look back on my experience in Dallas with nothing but fondness, I am excited to be joining the Statesman family,” said Medici. “At a time when our industry is in the midst of an incredible transformation, the Statesman team and brand, fueled by a unique ecosystem like Austin, has synergies that I am looking really forward to be a part of.”
Medici is a graduate of The University of Washington in Seattle and is a 2011 fellow of the Punch Sulzberger Program at Columbia University in New York. He joined the The News in 2007 after spending 10 years at The Oregonian, located in Portland, Ore.
Medici sits on the Newspaper Association of America’s ABC liaison committee and is a community outreach spokesperson for the United Way of Dallas. He has been involved in the Publishing industry since birth – his grandfather, Fred Stickel, recently retired – at the young age of 87 – from The Oregonian where he had served as the Publisher since 1975.
Medici and family soon will relocate from Dallas to Austin.
