CNHI appoints two regional editors

Jim Zachary

Dennis Lyons

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Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. has appointed regional editors to work with the media group's newsrooms in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia and Florida as part of a print and digital content improvement program.

Editor Dennis Lyons of the Sunbury Daily Item and Danville News in Pennsylvania will expand his responsibilities to CNHI Pennsylvania newspapers in Meadville, New Castle and Sharon, and Ashtabula, Ohio.

Editor Jim Zachary of the Valdosta Daily Times in Georgia will oversee CNHI papers in the Georgia communities of Dalton, Milledgeville, Moultrie, Thomasville and Tifton, and the North Florida towns of Live Oak, Jasper and Mayo.

Bill Ketter, CNHI's senior vice president of news, said the appointments are aimed at making wider use of the leadership and journalism skills of senior editors who have led the effort to ingrain a multimedia newsroom culture. He said additional regional editors could be added later.

"We are thoroughly committed to moving faster into the digital era with newsrooms that are built on a news-first culture, using online and print platforms to their maximum value," said Ketter. "Assigning our most knowledgeable, experienced editors to regional responsibilities will help us achieve that objective."

Lyons joined CNHI in Sunbury and Danville one year ago after an accomplished career as an editor at USA Today, helping build Gannett's network of shared news by its 80-plus community newspapers nationwide. He was also an award-winning editor of local Gannett papers in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Zachary has been the editor of the Valdosta paper for more than two years, coming from the Clayton News Daily and Henry Daily Herald in metro Atlanta. He has been widely recognized in Georgia for his advocacy of greater government transparency and watchdog journalism.