By Jessica Toonkel
Dec 7 (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc, publisher of USA Today, has tapped Joanne Lipman, former editor in chief of Conde Nast Portfolio, as its first chief content officer, according to a company announcement scheduled to be released Monday that was reviewed by Reuters.
The McLean, Virginia-based publishing company will also name Daniel Bernard, a former Time Inc executive, as chief product officer, according to the announcement.
Gannett, which was separated from its broadcasting and digital arm, Tegna Inc in June, is bringing the two executives on board as it works to reinvent itself to appeal to a younger audience and share content more readily across its 92 local U.S. newspapers, which include the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Indianapolis Star, and the Detroit Free Press.
In October, Gannett announced it was acquiring Journal Media Group, which runs a number of local papers including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Last week, the company announced that it is bringing all of its publications under the USA Today Network name, marking an attempt by the company to take advantage of its most well-known publication, the No.1 U.S. newspaper by circulation .
In her new role, Lipman will work to enable more collaboration among USA Today Network's 3,000 journalists, she told Reuters in an interview Saturday.
"Great ideas can bubble up from anywhere within this network," she said. "It is really about taking what has been 92 individual papers...and building it into this nationwide news organization."
As one of her first priorities, Lipman is going to focus on digital, video and social media initiatives she said.
Most recently, Lipman has been working with Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News, consulting news organizations on using digital technology, like video and social media, to tell stories.
Before that she was the founding editor in chief of Conde Nast Portfolio, a monthly business magazine, and Portfolio.com. She spent most of her career as an editor at The Wall Street Journal.
Bernard, who was formerly head of product for Time Inc's Fortune, Time and Money Digital publications, replaces David Payne, who will be leaving the firm in January.
(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Andrew Hay)