A look at Des Moines Register operations: news, advertising, production, distribution, more
Operations of the Des Moines Register have changed a lot since its oldest predecessor, the Iowa Star, first published on July 26, 1849.
Here's an overview of the largest Des Moines-based departments, their main functions, top leadership and contact information. The Register is owned by Gannett Co. Inc., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, providing access to news coverage from across the country and advertising reach and services nationwide. Some core functions such as finance and marketing are handled through regional and national operations.
The Register's main offices are at the Capital Square building downtown, 400 Locust St., Suite 500, and its production facility is on the south side of Des Moines at 7400 Register Drive.
News
Mission: The news staff seeks to provide accurate, trustworthy news coverage of metro Des Moines and Iowa. Our journalists work on behalf of the public to hold elected officials and others in power to account. We're also the storytellers of Iowa, striving to reflect the rich tapestry of life in our state, the trials and the triumphs. The opinion staff, which works separately from the news staff, seeks to advocate for the greater good and foster community conversation about improving the quality of life in the Des Moines metro and the state.
Accessing the news: Our journalists' work is delivered via the printed Des Moines Register, the desmoinesregister.com website and mobile app, other mobile apps such as Hawk Central and Cyclone Insider, more than a dozen email newsletters, and SMS text groups. News is also delivered via social media sites including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok and through news aggregators such as Google News and Apple News.
Contact: Key Register editors include:
Mike Trautmann, news director and politics editor, mtrautmann@registermedia.com;
Bill Steiden, business and investigations editor, WSteiden@registermedia.com;
Kim Norvell, communities editor, knorvell@dmreg.com;
Susan Stapleton, entertainment editor, SStapleton@registermedia.com;
Brian Smith, service and trending journalism, bsmith@registermedia.com;
James Kramer, sports editor, jkramer@registermedia.com;
Zach Boyden-Holmes, photo editor, zboyden@dmreg.com;
Matt Peterson, senior audience manager, MPeterson4@gannett.com;
Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor, lgrundme@registermedia.com.
Top executive: Carol Hunter, executive editor, chunter@registermedia.com, has worked at the Register for 19½ years.
More: Des Moines Register at 175: Pursuing rigorous reporting amid technological, societal change
Advertising
Mission: Des Moines-based advertising sales executives serve as a full-spectrum advertising and marketing agency, advising clients on strategy to grow their businesses and overseeing media buying not only in the Des Moines Register and other Gannett publications but across the print, digital and broadcast landscape.
Services: Through LocaliQ, Register sales executives offer a suite of digital business and marketing solutions to drive leads, improve online presence and build existing relationships. Services include media and digital ad buying; creative and content development; attribution and performance-based campaign solutions; event marketing; and recruitment ad services.
Strategic partnerships: Gannett's advertising expertise is recognized through top ratings by leading digital media companies, including Google 2024 Premier Partner (top 3% of Google’s partners); Meta Business Partner; and 2024 Microsoft Advertising Elite Partner. Companywide, consultancy with Gannett's advertising sales executives resulted in 263 million leads delivered and $12.4 billion in revenue generated.
Contact: Key managers and departments include:
Shannon Welch, business to business advertising for print display and digital advertising, swelch2@localiq.com;
Patrick Burke, national advertising accounts, Pburke@usatoday.com;
Cheryl Bolles, recruitment advertising, cbolles@localiq.com;
Inside advertising sales (business customers only, including service directories for commercial and business services, auctions, real estate agent/brokers or farm publications), insidesalesteam@gannett.com;
Legal advertising/public notices, ganlegpubnotices@gannett.com;
Obituaries, des-obits@registermedia.com;
Classifieds (handled through online placement only): classifieds.gannettclassifieds.com/marketplace/des.
Top executive: Shannon Welch, vice president of sales and general manager, swelch2@localiq.com, has worked at the Register for 10½ years. In his general manager role, he oversees performance of all business functions, including circulation as well as advertising.
More: Des Moines Register at 175: Celebrating businesses with family ties that help Iowa endure
Production
Mission: The Des Moines Register production facility at 7400 Register Drive on the south side of Des Moines prints not only the Register but also 32 other newspapers. In addition, it does contract printing for a wide variety of customers.
Newspapers printed: 34, including the Ames Tribune, Cedar Rapids Gazette, Des Moines Register, Fairfield Ledger, Iowa City Press-Citizen, Mason City Globe Gazette, Mount Pleasant News, and Washington Journal in Iowa; Aberdeen American News, Sioux Falls Argus Leader and Watertown Public Opinion in South Dakota; Topeka Capital Journal in Kansas; the Kansas City Star in Missouri; USA TODAY, with headquarters in McLean, Virginia; and the Wall Street Journal, with headquarters in New York City.
About the production facility: It occupies 120,000 square feet on seven acres. Its Manroland Geoman press prints 70,000 copies per hour. The facility uses 5,849 metric tons of newsprint a year, and 341 million advertising circulars are inserted in a year. Including distribution staff, 99 employees work at the facility.
Contact: Potential offset newspaper printing clients are asked to contact bptak@gannett.com or 515-471-3532.
Top executive: Beth Ptak, manufacturing director, has worked at the Register production facility for 11½ years and for Gannett for 25 years.
More: 175 years of the Register: See a timeline, 50 photos from Register and Iowa history
Distribution
Mission: Staff members, based in the Des Moines Register production facility, oversee delivery of the Register and other Gannett-owned newspapers in Iowa to print subscribers, plus delivery of other publications on a contract basis.
Register's print delivery footprint in Iowa: Daily home delivery is available in 38 counties; for the Sunday edition, it's 54. Single-copy newspapers are delivered for sale at 1,146 locations in 85 counties.
Contractor network: Delivery is handled by 18 independent contractors and about 360 carriers. The Register also has distribution partnerships with five newspapers, which deliver the Register in their coverage areas: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Fort Madison Daily Democrat, the Quad-City Times and the Omaha World-Herald.
Publications delivered in addition to the Register: Altoona Herald, Ames Tribune, Boone News-Republican, Dallas County News, Door Front Direct Magazines, Epoch Times, Iowa City Press-Citizen, Nevada Journal, Perry Chief, Story County Herald, Tri-County Times, TV Weekly, USA TODAY and the Wall Street Journal.
Contact: Customer service center, 1-877-424-0225
Top executive: Joe Grochala, distribution director, has worked at the Register for 44 years.
Creative services
Mission: The Des Moines-based staff provides full-service print and digital advertising production from concept through design and delivery not only for the Des Moines Register but also for Gannett's hundreds of newspapers nationwide and for contract customers.
Services offered: Ad concepts (compelling ideas for print and digital); static banners (visual elements used in websites, social media and display advertising); motion graphics/video (animated design elements for social media posts and ads); social media ads; billboards; digital displays (content on screens in retail stores or public spaces); copywriting; branding material; package design; prepress services (file preparation for printing, including color correction and optimization); product layout and design/pagination (arranging elements for printing, packaging, websites and marketing materials) and wraps (graphics for vehicles that act as moving billboards).
Volume of work: In the first six months of the year, the 49 Des Moines-based ad services employees produced an average of 4,316.5 ads per month for the Des Moines Register. The staff produced an average of 91,857.5 ads per month for all clients, within and outside Gannett.
Contact: Potential clients with creative needs are asked to contact thumphre@designiq.com or 515-314-5418.
Top executive: Toni Humphreys, vice president of creative operations/DesignIQ for Gannett, has worked at the Register and later Gannett for 25 years.
RAGBRAI
Mission: The seven-person RAGBRAI staff works year-round to plan and conduct the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Founded in 1973, it's the oldest, largest and longest multiday bicycle touring event in the world. RAGBRAI also serves as a vehicle for fundraising, community building, tourism and economic development in the communities that riders visit each year.
Structure: RAGBRAI is run by Ventures Endurance, a Gannett subsidiary. Its staffers are Des Moines-based and operate out of a building at 501 Scott Ave. in Des Moines.
Key partners: Organizing committees in the towns along the route; the Iowa State Patrol and local police departments, which help ensure rider, pedestrian and driver safety; the Iowa Department of Transportation; ambulance services; bicycle repair shops; tour operators; and vendors.
Community impact: In its 51-year history, RAGBRAI has passed through more than 900 of the approximately 940 incorporated places in Iowa. In 2022, RAGBRAI generated a reported $25 million in economic impact for the communities that hosted the ride.
Charitable contributions: In 2023, RAGBRAI's 50th anniversary year, its charity arm, RAGBRAI Gives Back, donated $5,000 to each of the year’s 32 pass-through towns; $10,000 to the seven meeting towns; and $15,000 to eight overnight towns. The RAGBRAI community fund, which riders can donate to during registration, gave an additional $185,253 divided equally between the eight overnight town communities and the Dream Team, a nonprofit cycling club for disadvantaged youths in central Iowa. RAGBRAI also partnered with GoFundMe to allow riders to set up individual fundraising pages. Riders raised a total of $176,275 for the causes of their choice. RAGBRAI also covered over $1.34 million in costs for the overnight communities, for expenses such as the concert series, port-a-potties, LED signs and volunteer T-shirts.
Contact: info@ragbrai.com
Top executives: Matt Phippen, RAGBRAI director, Matt@ragbrai.com, has worked for RAGBRAI for 2½ years, and Anne Lawrie, RAGBRAI marketing and event director, anne@ragbrai.com, has worked at the Register and later Gannett for 9½ years.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: A look inside Des Moines Register operations: news, advertising, more
