Publisher at The Batavian
Rochester, New York Area
- Current
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- Publisher at The Batavian
- Past
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- Director of Digital Publishing at Gatehouse Media, Inc.
- VP/Interactive Media at The Bakersfield Californian
- Director of New Media at Ventura County Star
- Online Editor at Affinity Group Inc.
- Publisher at East County Online
- Reporter at The Daily Californian
- Co-Publisher/Managing Editor at The Beacon
- Education
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- Point Loma Nazarene University
- Recommended
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21 people have recommended Howard - Connections
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339
connections
- Industry
- Online Media
- Websites
Howard Owens’s Summary
Once published a small bi-weekly newspaper; worked as a reporter and editor at a small daily; started on the Web in 1995 as co-publisher of the first group of US weeklies on the web; started running virtual communities in 1997; joined the online staff of the Star in 1999 as a content producer. Promoted to director position in 2004. Joined GateHouse Media in 2006. Founded The Batavian in May 2008. Background includes news reporting, sales and Web programming.
While at the Ventura County Star, the Star won numerous industry awards, including the Online News Associations General Excellence award in 2004.
The introduction of social networking, as well as a complete site redesign, helped Bakersfield.com become the Inland Press Associations first-ever best news web site in 2006.
Howard Owens’s Specialties:
Online communities/user-generated content/social networking; news video; news site operations.
Howard Owens’s Experience
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Publisher
The Batavian
(Online Media industry)
May 2008 — Present (1 year 7 months)
Run online-only news operation in Batavia, N.Y.
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Director of Digital Publishing
Gatehouse Media, Inc.
(Public Company; GHSE.pk; Newspapers industry)
September 2006 — February 2009 (2 years 6 months)
Oversaw online content strategy and implementation as well as development and support operations for Gatehouse Media's 90+ daily and more than 250 weekly newspapers.
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VP/Interactive Media
The Bakersfield Californian
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Online Media industry)
August 2005 — June 2006 (11 months)
Oversee online operations for The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield.com). Defined business strategy; advised on content strategy and drove increase in video production; instituted user profiles and social networking and site redesign; increased revenue. As a result, Bakersfield.com has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Digital Edgy and it won the Inland Press Association's general excellence award.
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Director of New Media
Ventura County Star
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; ssp; Online Media industry)
October 1999 — August 2005 (5 years 11 months)
Starting 2004, supervised online operations for the Ventura County Star. From 1999 through 2005, the Star's site won top honors from Editor & Publisher, the NAA and ONA.
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Online Editor
Affinity Group Inc.
(Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Publishing industry)
September 1996 — September 1997 (1 year 1 month)
Created online community for recreational vehicle owners, oversaw online publication of AGI's print magazines (Highways, MotorHome and Trailer Life).
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Publisher
East County Online
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Online Media industry)
July 1995 — January 1997 (1 year 7 months)
Founded East County Online, the first chain of weekly newspapers with Web sites. ECO featured not only content from our affiliated six community weeklies, but original content, a Web directory of local businesses, reader submissions (now called user-generated content) and a community club (now called virtual community). In 1995, a Wired Magazine poll found that ECO was the 66th most popular news Web site.
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Reporter
The Daily Californian
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Newspapers industry)
1989 — 1992 (3 years )
Reporter, wire editor, weekend editor at various times.
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Co-Publisher/Managing Editor
The Beacon
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Newspapers industry)
January 1986 — January 1987 (1 year 1 month)
The Beacon was a bi-weekly serving the Ocean Beach and Point Loma communities in San Diego.
Howard Owens’s Education
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Point Loma Nazarene University
Literature 1985 — 1987
- Activities and Societies:
- Editor, The Point
Additional Information
Howard Owens’s Websites:
Howard Owens’s Interests:
Guitar, gardening, roses, blogging.
Howard Owens’s Groups:
American Legion, American Rose Society, Digital Media Federation board member, chair of the audience development committee, past president San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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Wired Journalists
Howard Owens’s Honors:
Several regional awards for news reporting, feature writing, opinion writing and page design.
Howard Owens’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
