Nashville, Tenn.-- Southcomm Inc. has named Rob Jiranek as chief operating officer. Jiranek was formerly vice president of niche publishing at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., where he led the launch of the company’s multi-title niche publishing division, including Good Health, Memphis Spoon and Fix magazines.
 

Prior to that, Jiranek served as partner and group publisher of Portico Publishing, publishers of C-Ville Weekly in Charlottesville, Va. and the Columbia (S.C.) Free-Times. As COO, Jiranek will report to CEO Chris Ferrell and oversee Southcomm’s publishing operations in Louisville, Kansas City, Charlotte, and Tampa where in the past two years the company has acquired each city’s leading weekly newspaper. Alongside these weeklies, Southcomm has expanded their local audience and advertising share by rolling out compatible niche titles such as Her, a specialty consumer magazine for hip women, and Nfocus, a high-end social magazine.