Former Newsweek President and Publisher Greg Osberg to Become Publisher and CEO of Philadelphia Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Newsweek President and Worldwide Publisher Greg Osberg was named today to become the new Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the entity that will operate the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, pending approval of the sale of the company in federal Bankruptcy Court.

Osberg, 52, who grew up in the Philadelphia area, graduated from Conestoga High School in 1975, and started his professional career at Chilton Publishing Co. in Radnor, returns home after 30 years in the news business that include leadership positions with Newsweek and Newsweek.com, CNET, and U.S. News and World Report. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Buzzwire, where he led the mobile media company's development of a new business model to deliver news and other content on the mobile web.

Joining Osberg at the helm of the Philadelphia media company is Robert J. Hall, the highly-respected former publisher of the Inquirer and Daily News, who will serve as the new Chief Operating Officer.  

"The Inquirer and the Daily News hold a unique position of public trust in Philadelphia, and under Greg and Bob's leadership, we believe that there's an exciting opportunity to expand on this rich legacy in the years ahead," said Brad Pattelli, Managing Director at Angelo, Gordon & Co., one of the lenders who led the successful bid to purchase the Company at auction on April 28^th.

"We recognize and appreciate the tremendous effort that the employees displayed during an extraordinarily difficult time in the newspapers' history," said Pattelli, "and we look forward to building on the positive contributions made under Brian Tierney's leadership."

"I am very excited to have the opportunity to come home to lead two of the best newspapers in America, as well as a regional web-based portal that can become one of the most dominant in the country," Osberg said.  "I'm also fortunate to be joined in this effort by Bob Hall, whose wealth of Philadelphia newspaper experience will be a tremendous asset to the Company's future.

"We are committed to the long-term growth of the Inquirer, the Daily News, and Philly.com, because we want to deliver relevant content to the millions of people who call Philadelphia home," Osberg said.  "Our intention is to chart a course for financial stability that will benefit a talented pool of employees, giving them the confidence to know that they will have the resources and support to do their jobs according to the very highest standards.

"I've spent 30 years in the traditional and digital news business, and I know that to be successful, it all starts with content and the relationships you have with your audiences. We want to build on our reputation for creating compelling journalism of the highest quality, creating an unparalleled resource for news and entertainment."

Osberg said that ensuring relevancy, innovation and profitability would be the key to long-term success and made it clear that he intends for the Company to become a national leader in these areas.

 "We must make the newspapers and the web content as relevant as possible, to help our readers and our region deal with the important issues in their lives," he said.  

Osberg stressed that while the financial condition of the company will require compromise and a willingness among many parties to work cooperatively to restore fiscal health, his intent is to build a long-term partnership with the existing workforce.

"We want to make it clear that our intention is to grow this operation, and we recognize that an organization is only as good as the people it employs," Osberg said.  "In the media business, people are our most important asset. We intend to be very respectful of the many talented and dedicated employees who work here.  The only way we can succeed long-term is if we all succeed together."

Osberg returns to Philadelphia with extensive experience at some of the nation's top media companies, including Washington Post, Inc. and CNET.  While at the Washington Post, he held several senior-level positions before rising to become President and Worldwide Publisher of Newsweek and Newsweek.com.  Osberg re-launched Newsweek.com and forged strategic alliances with MSN and MSNBC.com. Under Osberg, Newsweek.com became one of the top three magazine websites, and its ad revenue growth outpaced the industry.

Before his post at Newsweek, Osberg served as president of Kaplan Professional for the Washington Post, Inc., where he managed the integration of eight professional education companies and launched Brassring.com, an Internet-based recruitment services company.

Before the Washington Post, Osberg was President of CNET, where he dramatically increased ad revenue, resulting in the organization's first year of profitability. He has also held senior advertising positions at US News & World Report and Chilton publishing. In 2006, he was awarded MIN's first Integrated Marketing Award and in 2005, he received Adweek's Executive Team (Publisher/Editor) of the Year award.  Osberg holds a B.S. degree in marketing from Colorado State University.  He is a member of the CSU College of Business Global Leadership Council, and was a recipient of their Distinguished Alumni Award.  

Hall, 65, has had a long history with Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., serving as Publisher and Chairman from 1990 to 2003, and in various financial and executive positions from 1973 to 1985.  Most recently, Hall has been an advisor to the newspaper lenders since 2009.

He served for five years as General Manager and then Publisher and Chairman of the Detroit Free Press between his stints at the Philadelphia newspapers.

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