High-Level Appointments at 'Commercial Appeal' of Memphis, Tenn.

By: E&P Staff The Commercial Appeal, a Scripps newspaper based in Memphis, Tenn., has appointed five staffers to high-level leadership positions.

Rob Jiranek was named vice president of sales and strategic planning. He previously was partner and publisher of Charlottesville, Va.-based Portico Publications where he worked for 11 years. Portico owns alternative weekly newspapers in South Carolina and Georgia.

Paul Jewell, former marketing manager for the Commercial Appeal, is the new marketing director. Jewell has worked at the paper for over 20 years, beginning as a copy clerk and then writing and designing for the special publications department.

Bob Pinarski will be the new advertising director. Before coming to the Commerical Appeal, he was advertising director at the Erie (Pa.) Times-News. Pinarski also served as director of advertising for Shaw Newspapers, which produces suburban dailies in northwest Chicago.

Denise Holman has been named manager of classified advertising. Holman was most recently vice president of sales for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She previously was vice president of advertising for Gannett Co. Inc.

The new sales training and recruitment manager is Ron Gray, who previously worked in sales and sales management in the Memphis office of BellSouth.