President, CEO of Colorado Springs Gazette's parent company named recipient of newspaper industry award

Rich Laden, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·4 min read

Oct. 18—Chris Reen, president and CEO of Clarity Media Group, the Denver-based owner of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, The Denver Gazette, Colorado Politics and the Washington Examiner, has been honored with the 2022 Frank W. Mayborn Leadership Award from America's Newspapers, a leading newspaper industry group.

Reen was presented with the award Monday during America's Newspapers' senior leadership conference, which took place in New Orleans, according to a post on the group's website.

America's Newspapers was formed in 2019 after the merger of the Inland Press Association, based in suburban Chicago, and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, headquartered in Atlanta.

At the time, America's Newspapers pledged to double down on the mission of its legacy associations and committed to "explain, defend and advance the vital role of newspapers in democracy and civil life."

The group added it would "put an emphasis on educating the public on all the ways newspapers contribute to building a community identity and the success of local businesses."

Reen served as America's Newspapers' inaugural president; in that role, he was instrumental in guiding the group during its first year, said Nat Lea, president of America's Newspapers and president and CEO of WEHCO Media, a Little Rock, Ark.-based media company.

"We all owe Chris a huge debt of gratitude for putting this new merged association on firm footing, especially in the face of the challenges that COVID threw at us just a few months after he took office," Lea said in announcing the award.

Reen, he added, "was exactly the right person to steer this association through its first year as president and to play a vital role in the planning process as the merger of Inland and (Southern Newspaper Publishers Association) took shape."

Lea also cited Reen's commitment to education being at the core of America's Newspapers' mission: educating the public about its stake in newspapers' future; educating local businesses about the reach and effectiveness of newspapers' products and services; and educating group members on the trends, strategies and best practices for a sustainable path to prosperity, according to the post on America's Newspapers' website.

The annual Frank W. Mayborn Leadership Award is named for Frank Mayborn, who served as president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association in 1961-62. The owner and publisher of newspapers in Temple and Killeen, Texas, and the owner of a television station, Mayborn died in 1987, according to online posts; the journalism school at the University of North Texas is named for him.

The Mayborn award is presented to an industry executive to recognize his or her vision, community leadership and contributions to the newspaper industry.

"To receive this award and even be announced in the same sentence as Frank Mayborn is an incredibly humbling honor," Reen said. "He was an icon and leader in the newspaper industry and publishing and broadcast media. He had a distinguished military career. A leader in his community and he was incredibly important and influential in our industry for many, many years."

Reen said he also was gratified to receive the award from America's Newspapers.

The trade group is a "tireless advocate and champion for the newspaper industry" and "continues to advocate for the important role that newspapers play in our local communities," Reen said.

"Which, of course, fits right into the mission of The Gazette in Colorado Springs and Denver," Reen said. "Our role is to make a positive contribution and a difference in the communities in which we operate. That's what America's Newspapers supports and, like I said, really advocates for."

America's Newspapers has taken a lead role in lobbying Congress for passage of the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act, Reen said.

The proposed bipartisan legislation — co-sponsored in the House of Representatives by Republican Ken Buck of Colorado — would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate for fair compensation from big tech companies that use and profit off news organizations' content, according to online posts in support of the measure.

"That is legislation that would positively impact community newspapers all over the country, instead of Facebook and Google making as much money as they do on our backs and our content," Reen said.