Times-Dispatch's Silvestri elected SNPA president

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- Tom Silvestri, president and publisher of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, was elected president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association on Sunday at its annual News Industry Summit.

Silvestri succeeds Digby A. Solomon, president, publisher and CEO of the Daily Press Media Group in Newport News, Va. Solomon was elected chairman of the board of directors.

Charles Hill Morris Jr., regional manager with Morris Multimedia in Atlanta, was named president-elect. Robert J. Weil, vice president of operations with The McClatchy Co., Sacramento, Calif., was elected treasurer.

The SNPA board of directors consists of one director from each of the 14 SNPA states and four at-large directors. Terms are staggered. Elected to the board were:

— At-Large: Michael Ferguson, president and CEO, Stephens Media LLC, Las Vegas.

— At-Large: Michael Redding, CEO, Halifax Media Group, Daytona Beach.

— Arkansas: Eliza Hussman Gaines, executive editor, Hot Springs Sentinel-Record.

— Florida: David Dunn-Rankin, president and publisher, The Sun, Port Charlotte.

— Kentucky: Rufus Friday, publisher, Lexington Herald-Leader.

— South Carolina: Pamela J. "PJ" Browning, The Post and Courier, Charleston.

Also Sunday, the board of directors elected three trustees for the SNPA Foundation and the trustees, in turn, elected their officers.

Donna Barrett, president and CEO of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. of Montgomery, Ala., was re-elected chairman of the SNPA Foundation. Lissa Walls Vahldiek, vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Newspapers Inc. in Houston, was re-elected vice chairman, and Gregg K. Jones, president and CEO of Jones Media in Greeneville, Tenn., and co-publisher of The Greeneville Sun, was re-elected treasurer.

Elected to the board were:

— William O. Nutting, vice president, Ogden Newspapers, Wheeling, W.Va.

— Todd H. Carpenter, president and chief operating officer, Boone Newspapers, Natchez, Miss. (elected to a second term)

— Hal H. Tanner III, publisher of The Goldsboro News-Argus, Goldsboro, N.C. (elected to a second term).

The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, based in Atlanta, was established in 1903 to promote the interests of its members, which include daily and non-daily news publications, media vendors, retired industry executives and journalism schools.

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Online:

www.snpa.org