Leadership
President and Chief Executive Officer
Elaine G. Howard is President and Chief Executive Officer of Gannett Government Media Corporation, a subsidiary of the Gannett Co., Inc. Gannett Government Media is an information delivery company, specializing in serving the needs of the military, defense, and government markets throughout the world. With headquarters in Springfield, Virginia, Gannett Government Media employs over 225 people worldwide.
Howard took the helm of the company in September 1997 after its acquisition by the Gannett Company. During her tenure as president and chief executive officer, Howard expanded its core business from a print publishing company to a multifaceted media corporation. Current lines of business include print periodicals, an event and conference business, and an online business. In addition, in 2008, Howard steered the company toward broadcast with the launch of a Sunday-morning talk television program entitled “This Week in Defense News with Vago Muradian.” In less than three years, this TV program was syndicated outside the U.S. through the American Forces Network that serves more than 1.2 million U.S. service members and their families in 175 countries. Most recently, Howard led the company through a name change from Army Times Publishing Company to Gannett Government Media Corporation, a name that more accurately defines and reflects the company’s growing business.
Most notable periodicals of Gannett Government Media include Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times (known collectively as Military Times); Armed Forces Journal; Defense News; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Journal; Training and Simulation Journal; Federal Times; and EDGE Magazine.
Howard joined the company in 1986 and has held several senior management positions such as sales manager, sales director, vice president and publisher of the company’s business publications division, and president and chief executive officer of Gannett Government Media Corporation. Howard has been a three-time winner of Gannett’s President’s Ring Award– a corporate award recognizing superior executive achievement throughout the Gannett holdings.
Prior to joining Gannett Government Media, Howard was district manager, marketing communications for Southern New England Telephone, and previously she ran her own strategic marketing consultancy after eight years with Science Applications International Corporation as marketing communications director.
A native of Virginia, Howard was educated at Old Dominion University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. Howard serves on the Board of Trustees of the Fisher House Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing housing to military families while their loved ones are hospitalized. In addition, Howard serves on the Publisher’s Advisory Committee of BPA Worldwide, providing guidance and strategic input to the publishing auditing process. Howard is a member of the Association of the United States Army, the Air Force Association, and the Navy League.
Editor in Chief
Tobias Naegele is the Editor-in-Chief of Gannett Government Media, overseeing all of the company’s editorial products – online, in print, and on TV.
Over a 25-year journalism career, he has created and/or overhauled a dozen publications and even more Web sites.
Naegele joined our company in 1992 as editor of Navy Times and, the following year, launched a new Marine Corps Edition of the newspaper. In 1999, following his promotion to Executive Editor of the Military Times group, he launched Marine Corps Times as a stand-alone newspaper.
Naegele was promoted to Editor in Chief in 2002, assuming command of all of the company’s editorial products.
Vice President, Advertising
Ed Villescas is Vice President, Advertising at Gannett Government Media.
With more than twenty years of advertising experience, Ed is responsible for all Advertising sales and development across the company.
Ed began his media career at The Colorado Daily in Boulder Colorado and joined Gannett in 1993 as Associate Publisher of a group of shoppers in Columbia, MO, Norman, OK and Lafayette, IN. He later became Retail Manger at The Indianapolis Star as well as Major Accounts Manager with The Denver Post.
Ed has held various leadership positions within the industry including The Denver Newspaper Agency, Lee Enterprises and Landmark Communications. He also served as Vice President, Business Development with Travidia, a leading developer of online marketing solutions focused on helping local media companies deepen relationships with retailers and consumers.
Most recently, Ed served on the corporate team of Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group, where we was charged with driving national revenue across Scripps network of newspapers and web sites.
He is a graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder and has served on the Newspaper Association of America’s Display Advertising Federation Board of Directors as well as the Newspaper National Network’s Sales Advisory Council. Additionally, he is an alumnus of The Maynard Media Academy and the James K Batten Leadership Program.
Vice President, Audience Development and Customer Care
Donna M. Peterson is Vice President of Audience Development & Customer Care for Gannett Government Media. She is responsible for growing paid and controlled audience of all of the company’s products, both digital and print. Donna joined the company first as an editorial assistant for Air Force Times and held numerous roles in the newsroom, including reporter, managing editor, graphics editor, and finally editor-in-chief of Army Times. In 1998, she moved to the business side of the company, directing a new business development advertising team, and later becoming the company’s operations director. In 2007, she became vice president of advertising until assuming her current position in late 2010. Donna is a native of Washington, D.C., and a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Director of Technology
Gordon F. Crago is Director of Technology for Gannett Government Media. In that role he has responsibility for all aspects of Information Technology and Prepress Production within the company. His group supports systems that automate our Advertising, Circulation, Production, and Editorial efforts. He and his staff are also responsible for local and wide area data networks, internet and email access, and all internal company Web sites.
Crago was named Director of Technology in 2002 after working for several years as Director of Systems and Network Manager. Crago joined the company November of 1994 as the second employee of the newly-formed Systems Department. He was instrumental in replacing the entrenched legacy systems then in use. These installations moved Army Times from outsourced mainframes and manual paste-up to client-server systems and computerized pagination in a very short time.
Prior to working for GGMC and Army Times, Crago held staff and contract positions at several contracting and publishing firms, including Signal Corporation, Tax Analysts, Space Coast News, and the American Bar Association’s Supreme Court Opinion Network.
Crago received degrees in Computer Science and Aeronautical Studies from Embry-Riddle University. He completed Gannett’s Information Technology Executive Development Program in 2004
Vice President, Business Development
Peter A. Lundquist is Vice President Digital for Gannett Government Media. He oversees all digital operations for the company, including digital strategy development and execution, product development and launch, digital brand extension, and digital research and analytics. Peter has been building and launching digital products and contributing to transformational strategies for more than 16 years. Peter has gained most of his experience while working for Gannett within the Gannett Newspaper Division and Gannett Digital.
Before joining GGMG, Peter was CEO of Schedule Star LLC and Vice President/General Manager of High School Sports under the USA TODAY Sports Group. Before that, Peter was Vice President Product Development and Deployment at Gannett Digital with responsibility for the rollout and go-to-market strategy for new digital businesses, including overseeing marketing, deployment, training and communications. Peter led the development and launch of MomsLikeMe.com, a first of its kind social network for moms, Metromix.com, a local entertainment guide and joint venture with Tribune Co., and helped to roll out more than 30 company-wide initiatives, including design best practices for all news sites, an online video content and advertising delivery platform and Shoplocal.com retail advertising solution.
