Newspaper & Mailroom

MaineToday Media Announces New CEO

Thursday 11. October 2012 - Lisa DeSisto Joins MaineToday Media Following National Search

MaineToday Media (MTM) announced today that Lisa DeSisto has been named Chief Executive Officer of MTM and publisher of The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, MaineToday.com, The Coastal Journal, and Maine Sunday Telegram. DeSisto currently serves as the Chief Advertising Officer for Boston Globe Media and as the General Manager for Boston.com.
“I look forward to working with the team at MaineToday Media to create and execute a long term strategy for the business,” DeSisto said. “Together we will build on the foundation of quality journalism as we strengthen our print editions and chart a course for a digital future.”
DeSisto was selected after an extensive, national search for a new CEO. With a proven track record for bringing innovative ideas to market, she most recently ushered through the launch of RadioBDC (Boston.com radio) a streaming digital music experience featuring a team of well-known on-air personalities.
“Since March, we have moved to strengthen MaineToday Media and position it for sustained growth,” said majority owner Donald Sussman. “We acted to preserve an important community institution with hundreds of employees and thousands of vendors across the state – and because we believe Maine people deserve healthy, financially stable daily newspapers that deliver unbiased, professional news on important issues facing Maine and the nation. With the hiring of Boston Globe Media senior executive Lisa DeSisto as CEO and Publisher, MaineToday Media is in strong, experienced, honorable hands and confident of its future. We look forward to welcoming Lisa to Maine and the MaineToday Media family.”
A well-known innovator in the digital newspaper media industry, DeSisto has risen through marketing, digital product, and sales management roles at The Boston Globe (a New York Times company) for 17 years, starting in Marketing management at Boston.com in 1995. Lisa assumed her current role as the Chief Advertising Officer for Boston Globe Media and General Manager of Boston.com in 2010.
DeSisto and her husband Tim Padgett and their son will be relocating from Wakefield, MA to the Portland area this fall. Her husband, a digital media executive, is an avid outdoorsman and the family is looking forward to making Maine their permanent home after many summers spent in the state.