As activism and journalism continue to converge online, Pink Triangle Press is seizing the opportunity to return to its roots by bringing together all its content-generating and mission-fulfilling departments under a single new division.
As of April 4, 2016, Daily Xtra’s editorial, video and social sponsorship teams will be united in one mission engagement division.
And I am pleased to announce that our national client services director, Ken Hickling, has accepted the leadership of this new division as director of mission engagement.
Responding to the opportunities presented by the internet, Daily Xtra — then called Xtra.ca — created its first YouTube video team in 2007. Last year we stopped using newsprint and reoriented our editorial department exclusively to digital delivery. And this year we are launching the social sponsorship program to make Daily Xtra into a hub of community activism.
The creation of one new team out of several, especially when they’re well established but stocked with faces relatively new to the Press, requires skilled management and leadership deeply rooted in Press values.
Ken was the head of the downtown office of another Vancouver community newspaper office in 1999 when we recruited him as our West Coast advertising manager.
Since then, he has earned his way up. He was promoted to serve as our Vancouver publisher and editor in May 2000. In 2008 he became the publisher of The Guide, reconceiving the print magazine after the Press purchased it and developing its website.
Two years later, he assumed responsibility for national advertising and our sponsorship program, and has developed alternative sources of revenue, such as native content and affiliate sales, to offset the decline of advertising revenue.
Beyond his obvious business acumen, Ken has demonstrated a deep and consistent understanding of our mission and our place in the world. Notably, as our Vancouver publisher and editor-in-chief, he received a special commendation from our board of directors for staring down Crown prosecutors and skirting a publication ban to publish information that was important to the safety of our communities.
Ken assumes responsibility for the new mission engagement division effective immediately.
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