Providence Journal announces key managing editor positions
The Providence Journal has announced two major appointments.
Whitman Littlefield was named the new managing editor of digital and Eryn Dion was named the new managing editor of content. David Ng, executive editor of The Providence Journal, announced the appointments to the staff on Thursday.
“Whitman and Eryn are two of the most talented journalists that I know, but more importantly, they’re fun to work and have a vision for the future of journalism,” Ng said.
Littlefield, 34, who lives in Providence, has been with The Journal for nearly eight years. Most recently, he was The Journal’s digital editor and previously served as assistant managing editor of social media and innovation. In his new role, he will oversee and supervise the organization’s strategy in growing its digital subscriptions, identify new audience opportunities and enhance The Journal’s digital brand.
Dion, 32, who lives in Coventry, joined The Journal's parent company, Gannett, in 2015 and was most recently co-director of the Gannett New England Planning Desk, which coordinated most of the content produced in the New England region by Gannett papers, not including The Journal. As the managing editor of content, she will be responsible for developing and executing content strategy, retaining audiences and executing newsroom projects.
Littlefield and Dion will report directly to Ng.
After graduate school at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communication, Littlefield returned to his native Rhode Island and began working at the nation’s oldest continuously published daily newspaper.
"It's been a lifelong dream to work at The Journal,” he said. “Growing up, we'd sit down to lunch after finishing up the morning chores on the farm and pass around the sections of The Journal as we ate. During those meals, I learned about issues facing the state, politics, business, even what antics Garfield was up to.”
Dion graduated from Roger Williams University in Bristol with a degree in communications.
"Working with The Journal is what brought me back to New England from Florida a few years ago, and while I moved away from that newsroom, I've stayed invested in them as the local paper," she said. "Coming into the fold, and finally working at a paper my family actually reads, is exciting and humbling. I truly believe in what The Providence Journal can be, and I truly believe in having The Journal be a paper for all Rhode Islanders."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Journal announces key managing editor positions
