David Arkin named chief content officer for Community Impact Newspaper

David Arkin

David Arkin has been named chief content officer of Community Impact Newspaper and will lead content operations for the Texas publisher's 21 hyper-local publications.

Arkin will drive Community Impact's digital evolution and will help Texas' fastest-growing news organization evolve its already high-quality journalism. Today, the nationally-award winning Community Impact is distributed monthly to 1.7 million Texans in 32 cities.

"Jennifer and I are thrilled to be able to bring David to the Community Impact leadership team," said John Garrett, founder and CEO of Community Impact, who started the company with his wife, Jennifer, 10 years ago. "David's commitment to innovation, to developing his employees, his passion for our industry, and his family-first attitude is a welcome addition to our growing company."

The company is close to completing a state-of-the-art printing and mailing facility next to its headquarters outside of Austin, Texas. When fully functioning, the equipment will allow Community Impact to greatly improve its editorial relevancy to readers and improve targeted advertising options for advertisers. 

Arkin started in this new role at Community Impact on July 5. He previously was senior vice president of content and product development for GateHouse Media, one of the country's largest newspaper publishers.

"I couldn't be happier about joining the incredibly talented team at Community Impact," Arkin said. "It's simply the most relevant and useful news product in the state of Texas and I can't wait to lead a product I've enjoyed as a reader for years."

Arkin was responsible for GateHouse Media's print and digital content strategies. In May of 2014, he launched GateHouse Media's Center for News & Design, which provides editing and design services for 225 GateHouse newspapers. The Center is also home to More Content Now, GateHouse Media's niche content business, and Community Content, which processes briefs and events for newspapers. The Center recently began to take on significant commercial clients.    

While at GateHouse, Arkin developed innovative programs in reporter-produced video, enterprise journalism and social media engagement. He created digital journalism training programs and newsroom transformation strategies that focused on using analytics. 

Arkin served as a news executive at GateHouse Media since 2007. Prior to that, he was executive editor for newspapers in New York, Alabama, California and Texas. He's a mentor for SNPA's NEX GEN program. He also is a member of the Local Media Association Foundation Board of Directors and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Board of Directors. Earlier this year he was named Local Media Association's News Innovator of the Year.