Business News
Porto Appointed Vice President of Content for Daily Press Print and Digital Operations
Monday 31. January 2011 - Veteran journalist and multimedia strategist Marisa Porto has been named vice president of content for the Daily Press newspaper and its digital operations.
Most recently serving as managing editor of the Daily Press’ digital portfolio, Porto was named to its lead content position today by Daily Press Media Group Chief Executive Officer Digby A. Solomon.
In the newly created post, Porto will be responsible for the collection and distribution of both staff-produced news and information and user-generated content across multiple media platforms, including the Daily Press newspaper and specialty print publications, dailypress.com and affiliated websites, mobile and broadcast.
In announcing the appointment, Solomon credited Porto with directing her team in the development of digital products and technological tools that have dramatically increased the media group’s reach throughout Hampton Roads and beyond. Many of those product offerings have been tailored to engage audience segments that are of particular interest to businesses whose advertising support has enabled them to remain available at no cost to consumers.
“Marisa has led our group in explosive digital and mobile audience growth and product development, to which she brought a depth of print experience in various newsroom settings, as well as in digital-only content development,” noted Solomon. “She also has a passion for fairness and accuracy in news reporting, and for the watchdog journalism that only we can provide our community.”
Prior to joining the company in 2009, Porto was editor of the national website Divorce360.com, where she had been responsible for developing content strategies and navigation for the site.
During her tenure there, the site was named one of the top three resource web sites in the country by Online Media Marketing Advertising Association.
She also has extensive experience in leadership positions with The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., where she was assistant managing editor/content; the Ft. Myers, Fla., News-Press, as assistant managing editor/features; and the central Ohio-based Times Recorder and The Tribune, where she served as executive editor.
An alumna of the University of South Carolina, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she is also a graduate of the Gannett media corporation’s Executive Leadership Program and the Maynard Media Fellowship for News Executives at Northwestern University in Chicago. She also served as a mass communications instructor at Ohio University in Zanesville, co-chaired the Associated Press Managing Editors’ Diversity Committee, and served on the boards of the Girl Scout council in Zanesville and the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program in Venice, Fla. She is currently a member of the Online News Association.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to lead such a great team of hard-working journalists,” said Porto of her new assignment. “They are devoted to this community, and it shows in the work that they do every day,” she added.
“As we move forward into the digital future, we will maintain our commitment to watchdog journalism and to telling the kinds of stories that make a difference in Hampton Roads.”