Clifford Richner Elected Chairman of Local Media Association Board of Directors

Clifford Richner was elected chairman of the Local Media Association’s board of directors during the annual business meeting in Philadelphia on October 2. He succeeds Gloria Fletcher, president of Sound Publishing, whose one-year term ended October 2.

Richner is the publisher of Richner Communications, a Garden City, New York, company that publishes more than 28 community-based newspapers, shopping guides, websites and niche publications. The company also owns and operates a large group of community newspapers in the Philadelphia area as well as a large commercial printing division in the New York area.

Richner has been on the LMA board of directors since 2008 and will serve a one-year term.

Local Media Association President Nancy Lane said, "The Richners have been long-time members of LMA with a history of outstanding contributions to the organization. I am thrilled that Cliff is taking over as chairman of LMA at this time in our history. He represents the family-owned members, a very important segment of our membership base. It should be a great year with Cliff at the helm."

Richner commented, “The pace of change in our industry is breathtaking — it's both exciting and a little scary. LMA's mission is to innovate, educate and inspire. I hope to do that in ways that help all our members, large and small, thrive in the rapidly evolving media landscape. I've learned so much from LMA over the years and developed so many great friendships, I'm honored to have the chance to give something back. LMA has an incredibly smart and hardworking board. I look forward to working with them and with President Nancy Lane as we chart the future of the association.”

LMA members also elected the officers and directors for the association including Gordon Borrell, First Vice Chairman, Borrell Associates; Suzanne Schlicht, Second Vice Chairwoman, The World Co./World West, LLC; Matt Coen, Treasurer, Second Street, Inc.; Mark Poss, Secretary, Red Wing Publishing/Big Fish Works and Gloria Fletcher, Immediate Past Chairwoman, Sound Publishing, Inc./Black Press. The board directors include Ray Biondi, ThisWeek Community Newspapers; Henry Bird, The Herald Bulletin/CNHI; Robert Brown, Swift Communications; Kevin Kampman, Winston-Salem Journal/BH Media Group; Terry Kukle, Metroland Media Group; Chris Lee, Deseret Digital Media; Peter Newton, Gatehouse Ventures and Propel Marketing and Kim Wilson, South Bend Tribune/Schurz Communications. Three new directors joined the board – Chris Hendricks, The McClatchy Co.; Stephen Pope, 1013 Communications and Chris Edwards, The Gazette Company.