Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news highlighting women’s roles, contributions, and achievements in the evolving media business. This latest installment covers young achievers transforming digital operations, honorees of Folio’s Top Women in Media celebration, progress for women entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, Ellen DeGeneres’ new digital network, a list to end all-male industry event panels, and more.
- Rising stars In just four years, Shaylyn Esposito (top right) went from intern to lead digital designer and creative strategist at Smithsonian Enterprises, where she helped launch a new business that provides web and print design services across the Smithsonian Institution. From redesigning the Smithsonian Books site and overseeing web design consulting for Smithsonian museums to being involved in Smithsonian Magazine’s online marketing, social media, blog writing, and web design, Esposito is helping redefine the organization’s digital presence, according to a Min article highlighting her achievements. “As a designer, it is a really exciting time because design is gaining more recognition as a pivotal component of a digital media brand,” she said. Another rising star, Siempre Mujer web editor Beatriz Cuartero (bottom right), is driving digital performance to new heights with a content-based, platform-specific strategy she introduced when joining the brand in 2013. Since then, SiempreMujer.com has gone from just 352,000 page views and 146,000 unique visits per month to over 4
million page views and 1.5 million unique visits per month today. Check out Min’s Q&A with Cuartero to find out how she has also transformed the site’s mobile performance, tripling traffic in the same time frame. - Excellence in media Folio held its annual celebration of top women in media on June 13 in New York, highlighting the accomplishments of 102 honorees. This year, Liz Vaccariello, editor at large at Reader’s Digest, and Sherin Pierce, publisher and vice president of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, spoke at the event recognizing exceptional women across six categories: corporate visionaries, director-level doers, entrepreneurs, mentors, industry leadership, and rising stars. Honorees and other attendees offered perspectives on everything from the push for equal pay and opportunity to industry challenges, lessons learned, and the importance of mentorship. Congrats to all!
- Breaking barriers At Forbes’ fourth annual Women’s Summit in New York last month, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and CEO of shoppable video startup Joyus and the Boardlist, told attendees that the number of successful women entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley is “on the rise,” but added that achieving true gender equality in the tech sector will take another generation. Venture capitalist Sonja Perkins also voiced optimism, noting at the event that 50% of the company founders she has invested in through her firm Broadway Angels and her Perkins Fund are women. She said that was “unheard of” when she started her career 30 years ago, adding, “The numbers are just going to get better. The young have the bias; they believe women can do it.”
- Seriously digital Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres announced she’s launching a digital network featuring six original shows to start, along with user-generated content from her Ellentube site. And DeGeneres isn’t stopping there: She’s also partnering with social media star Tyler Oakley on original digital projects and potential television shows. Programming will include an original Snapchat series, an animated series featuring the comedian’s pets, new episodes of “Dance Challenge” with Stephen “tWitch” Boss and his wife, Allison Holker of “Dancing with the Stars,” and a show based on the popular Epic or Fail game from “The Ellen Show.”
- Take your pick Noting it’s time to do away with all-male panels at industry events and conferences, Journalism.co.uk put together a handy list of highly qualified women and non-gender conforming journalists and media executives who would be excellent choices for event planners to consider. To create the list, the site used data from Twitter, Facebook Groups, and conferences attended by the Journalism.co.uk team. It breaks the list down by specialties like Editors and Executives, Emerging Media, Multimedia, Social Media, and many more, and invites visitors to add to the list by tweeting @journalismnews. It also highlights other resources on diversity in the media industry.
Hiring news roundup
- Amy Astley, founding editor in chief of Teen Vogue, was named editor of Architectural Digest, taking over from Margaret Russell.
- MaryAnn Bekkedahl joined Time Inc. as president, fashion and luxury, overseeing InStyle, StyleWatch, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Departures. Bekkedahl was a co-founder of Keep Holdings and spent more than 10 years at Rodale.
- Kira Bindrim, previously managing editor at Newsweek, joined Atlantic Media as editor of Quartz’s newly formed Talent Lab network.
- Madelin Bosakewich was named vice president of sales at International Business Times. Prior to her appointment, she had worked at Televisa Publishing, Condé Nast, Editorial Televisia, and SBS.
- Rebecca Bauer was promoted from editorial director to executive vice president of editorial at Remedy Health Media.
- Dana Bowen is now executive editor at Martha Stewart Living. Most recently, she was executive editor at Rachael Ray Every Day and Saveur.
- Megan H. Chan moved from Politico to The Washington Post, where she will serve as director of digital operations beginning in July.
- Diane DePaul is the new associate publisher of Southern Living. Prior to her appointment, DePaul served as associate publisher of Marie Claire at Hearst and worked at Condé Nast as associate publisher of Gourmet and Allure.
- Leslie Dukker Doty joined Time Inc., serving as executive vice president, consumer marketing and revenue. Previously, she worked at MasterCard, CVS, Citibank, and Trusted Media Brands.
- Katie Field joined Martha Stewart Living as its new art director. Field had been a senior designer at Real Simple.
- Suzan Gursoy, previously publisher at Adweek, was named publisher of The Village Voice.
- Melanie Hansche was promoted to editor in chief of Rodale’s Organic Life. She joined Rodale in 2014 as executive director of food content and strategy.
- Ciel Hunter was promoted to head of content at Vice Media, where she most recently served as executive creative director.
- Betsy Kenny Lack moved from Vanity Fair to Snapchat, taking on the role of head of global brand partnerships.
- Melinda Lee was named senior vice president and general manager of video at Meredith. Lee had served as vice president of content and audience development at Hearst Magazines International.
- Melissa Harris-Perry will serve as editor at large for Elle.com while continuing to teach at Wake Forest University. She previously hosted a show on MSNBC.
- Rachel Sheedy was promoted to editor of Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. Sheedy had been managing editor of the monthly publication since 2008.
- Ellen Shultz, formerly Media General’s vice president and head of human resources, joined The New York Times as executive vice president of talent and inclusion.
- Dawn Sinkowski was named photo director at Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings. Sinkowski previously worked at Condé Nast Traveler and Rodale’s Organic Life.
- Elizabeth Spayd, currently editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, later in the summer will join The New York Times as public editor.
- Michelle Spinale, most recently principal of Spinale Group, was appointed to the newly created position of vice president, consumer engagement, at Hearst Magazines.
- Maria Valero accepted the newly created position of vice president of business affairs at Condé Nast Entertainment. Previously, Valero was vice president of business affairs and content at Audible, an Amazon company.
- Pamela Wasserstein was named CEO of New York Media, parent company of New York, the Cut, Grub Street, Vulture, and other magazines. Prior to her appointment, she served as co-chair and head of strategy for the publishing company.
- Elaine Welteroth was promoted to editor in chief of Teen Vogue, where she served as beauty and health director since 2012.
Let us know in the comments if there are any other recent stories or career moves you’d like us to include in our next Women in Media roundup.
Photos: Min Online
Technology for Publishing’s Women in Media blog highlights the news and achievements of female leaders and role models in the publishing and media industry. Look for our in-depth profiles and interviews of top women to watch. Is there someone you’d like to nominate for an upcoming Q&A? Drop us a note!
Posted by: Monica Sambataro
