Speaker Lineup Announced for NAA mediaXchange 2016

By Lindsey Loving March 21, 2016

Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Manager, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org
571.366.1009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Speaker Lineup Announced for NAA mediaXchange 2016

Sir Martin Sorrell, Laurent Cordier and Marty Baron to share perspectives on the future of news media

March 21, 2016

Arlington, Va. – The Newspaper Association of America today announced the speaker line-up for its annual NAA mediaXchange conference, taking place April 17-20 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. The influential group of speakers includes Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP plc, who will participate via live interactive video feed from London, England; Google executive Laurent Cordier; and Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron, who was recently portrayed in the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight for his work at The Boston Globe. The extensive and impressive speaker line-up also includes top publishers, Editors-in-Chief and strategy leaders at some of the world’s most renowned newspaper companies, including News Corp., Gannett, The New York Times, Tribune Publishing and more (See full speaker list below).

The largest annual gathering of newspaper and news media industry executives in North America, NAA mediaXchange 2016 is designed to encourage exchanges of information and ideas, with unprecedented networking opportunities for the approximately 1,000 expected attendees. Engaging sessions and informative programming will highlight new strategies and key learnings from news media’s best and brightest organizations and individuals and will address the most important topics affecting the news media industry today, including mobile, ad blocking, social media, the importance and evolution of local news and more.

“We are honored to host such an outstanding group of high-caliber leaders at this year’s NAA mediaXchange,” said NAA president and CEO David Chavern. “This year’s speaker line-up will continue to feature the strong news media presence we’ve had in the past, but we will also be bringing in new and different perspectives this year to give our members the best access to the people behind the latest technologies and innovations we are experimenting with to grow our business and have a greater impact with our audiences.”

NAA expects to add a few more keynote speakers to the program in the weeks leading up to the conference. The current list of confirmed speakers for the program includes (in alphabetical order):

Penny Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism & Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
David Arkin, Senior Vice President, Content & Product Development, GateHouse Media
Ben Barokas, Founder and CEO, Sourcepoint
Marty Baron, Executive Editor, The Washington Post
Joe Barone, Managing Partner Digital Ad Operations, GroupM
Jim Brady, Founder & CEO, Billy Penn
Hon. Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C.
Bill Church, Executive Editor, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Chris Cillizza, Political Reporter, The Washington Post
Laurent Cordier, Managing Director of Global Partnerships News and Publishing, Google
Derek Drake, Client Strategist, Social News Desk
Emily Dressler, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Calkins Digital
Mario R. Garcia, PhD, CEO/Founder, Garcia Media & Senior Adviser, News Design, Columbia University
Anna Greenberg, PhD, Senior Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
Howard Griffin, Senior Vice President, National Sales, Gannett
Dave Harmon, Chief People Officer, Gannett
Susan Jacobs, Vice President & General Manager, MediaWorks, Tribune Publishing Company
Matt Karolian, Social Media Director, The Boston Globe
John Kimball, Managing General Partner, The John Kimball Group, LLC
Michael D. McCurry, former White House Press Secretary (1995-98)
Gary Meo, Senior Vice President, Sales Director, Nielsen Scarborough
Bill McInturff, Partner and Co-Founder, Public Opinion Strategies
Patty Michalski, Managing Editor of Mobile/Social, USA TODAY
Raju Narisetti, Senior Vice President, Strategy, News Corp.
Bert Ortiz, Vice President, Circulation, The Orlando Sentinel
Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, USA TODAY, Gannett
Katherine Pastre, VP, Media, The Ad Council
Gary Pruitt, President and CEO, The Associated Press
Jef Richards, JD, PhD, Professor & Chair, Department of Advertising & Public Relations, Michigan State University
Tom Robinson, Chief Marketing Officer, Coda Ventures, LLC
Sir Martin Sorrell, founder/CEO, WPP plc
Scott Spencer, Director, Product Management/Sustainable Advertising, Google
Mizell Stewart III, Managing Director, Content, Journal Media Group
Mark Tomasik, Editor, TCPalm.com and Treasure Coast Newspapers
Steve Yaeger, Chief Marketing Officer, Star Tribune
Amanda Zamora, Senior Engagement Editor, ProPublica

The full NAA mediaXchange program is available on the NAA website.

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About NAA mediaXchange 2016
NAA mediaXchange 2016 will take place from April 17-20, 2016, at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC. The conference is designed to inspire and provide valuable ideas to help newspaper professionals grow audience and revenue for their print and digital products. The theme of the conference is “local” – the importance of newspapers in providing localized knowledge and information, engaging and improving the lives of their local communities. Previous Washington conferences featured speeches from the top presidential candidates. We hope to add the leading 2016 candidates to the event, making it a particularly noteworthy affair for all attendees. For more information, visit www.newsmedia.com/events/mediaxchange.

About NAA
NAA is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as nondailies, other print publications and online products. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the association focuses on the major issues that affect today’s newspaper industry: public policy/legal matters, advertising revenue growth and audience development across the medium’s broad portfolio of products and digital platforms. Information about the association and the industry also may be found at www.newsmedia.com.