CHICAGO, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Interactive President Marc Chase
today named Kim Johnson as Senior Vice President of Local Sales.
"The promotions department was testing a new online contest program, and
somehow her entry form ended up in our human resources department," said
Chase. "The rules said we had to pick a winner, and it was easier to give her
a job than explain it was an accident."
Despite the screw-up, the company appears to have landed an accomplished
sales professional with a ten-year track record of success, including over
$100 million in local and national budgets achieved. In the mid-1990s, just
after Al Gore invented the Internet, Johnson was the founding sales leader of
Clear Channel Radio's Internet initiative, where she grew revenues from
nothing to millions of dollars. She has also lead Interactive sales for
Entercom Communications and Citadel Broadcasting. Additionally, Johnson ran
sales for CityReach Latino, an out-of-home company who served the top eleven
US Hispanic markets.
"I thought I was entering a contest to win tickets to a Guns N' Roses
reunion show, but an invite to this party is even better," said Johnson. "The
'new' Tribune is revolutionizing content, sales, and promotion -- this is the
place to be right now. We're utilizing our brands and serving our audiences
in exciting new ways and we want creative and successful sales professionals
to join us!"
Johnson is a resident of Florida, and a former waitress at
"Knockers -- The Place for Hot Racks and Cold Brews." Asked if she feels
ready to accept the new challenge, Johnson said, "I once won a contest at the
restaurant
up-selling shots to guys who asked for beer -- how different can this be?"
TRIBUNE is America's largest employee-owned media company, operating
businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. In publishing,
Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago
Tribune, Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, Morning Call and Daily
Press. The company's broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN
America on national cable, Chicago's WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball
team. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and
broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience. At Tribune
we take what we do seriously and with a great deal of pride. We also value the
creative spirit and are nurturing a corporate culture that doesn't take itself
too seriously.
SOURCE Tribune Company
Gary Weitman, SVP-Corporate Relations of Tribune Company, +1-312-222-3394,
gweitman@tribune.com
