Observer Group announces promotions

Reflecting the company’s continued growth, the Observer Media Group Inc. announced several management changes this week.

Lisa Walsh, co-owner with her husband, Matt, and longtime executive editor of the company’s community newspapers, is taking on the role of publisher of the company’s four Sarasota-Manatee community newspapers.

Kat Hughes, currently managing editor of the Business Observer, has been promoted to executive editor of the Business Observer, Sarasota Observer, Longboat Observer, East County Observer and Pelican Press.

In addition, the company has promoted Observer advertising executives Lori Ruth and Penny DiGregorio to sales managers.

Over the past three years, the company has expanded to other regions of Florida. It publishes weekly Observer newspapers in Palm Coast and Ormond Beach on the east coast, and this summer the company entered a joint venture with the Tampa Bay Times to publish the Plant City Times & Observer.

“With growth comes additional tugging and pulling for our attention,” said Matt Walsh, editor and CEO of Observer Media Group. “It’s part of the normal evolution that responsibilities shift. As a third-generation newspaper woman, Lisa knows everything about the business; she has been involved in our papers since we began here in 1995; and she, more than anyone in our company, knows the communities and people we cover. She’s a perfect fit for the publisher role — and I’m not saying that just to keep peace in the house.

“Likewise, Kat has demonstrated great leadership since she joined our company in 2004 as a reporter,” Walsh said. “And at age 32, she represents a great bridge to the future. She and Emily Walsh, our chief digital officer, will continue to lead our transition to becoming a multimedia company.”

Hughes is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 2006, she was named managing editor of the Bradenton Observer, and in 2007 managing editor of the Longboat Observer.

After moving with her husband to Missouri and Wyoming for four years, Hughes rejoined the company in 2011 as managing editor of the weekly Business Observer, formerly the Gulf Coast Business Review. She completed her M.B.A. at the University of Wyoming in 2012.