(February 12, 2021) — Penny Riordan, a well-respected product and audience development executive with experience in legacy and startup local media, will join Local Media Association full-time starting March 2 as director of business strategy and partnerships.
In this new role, Riordan will oversee LMA and Local Media Foundation initiatives including LMA representation in Google’s current Reader Revenue Labs and other initiatives; LMA Digital Club; Innovation Missions, both virtual and, when conditions allow, in-person; new projects with digital startups to develop their business and product strategies; and business transformation initiatives for the Oklahoma Media Center. She will also contribute to other LMA collaboratives, the NewsFuel funding search site, fund programs and fundraising, LMA events and content development.
“I am excited to work to support local news organizations across the country in my new role,” said Riordan. “I have been a beneficiary of LMA’s best practices and knowledge sharing in previous roles, and I’m looking forward to growing the collaborative spirit with all of our exciting initiatives. Collaboration, innovation, and developing new business models are key to the future of our industry.”
Riordan’s career focus areas in local media include product management, platform partnerships, audience engagement, analytics, digital storytelling and digital acceleration. In addition to work as an independent strategic consultant, Riordan served as director of product, audience engagement for Gannett/USA TODAY NETWORK; director of digital engagement products and digital content partnerships for GateHouse Media; and community engagement strategist/social media lead for Patch.com.
“Reinventing business models for news is hard work,” said Nancy Lane, LMA chief executive officer. “Penny brings important skill sets to our team that will make an immediate impact. I’m particularly excited about her expertise in product, audience and all things digital. We are thrilled to welcome her to the LMA team.”
Riordan has been serving in recent weeks as a consultant for LMA, and has already begun the transition to serve as facilitator for regular meetings of the LMA Digital Club. She is based in Austin, Texas and can be reached at penny.riordan@localmedia.org.
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