Gary Lavariere began his career in news right after college as a consumer sales manager for the Berkshire Eagle, where he eventually helped launch a digital consumer strategy. He then implemented a similar digital plan for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. After getting married and wanting to be closer to his family, Gary returned to New England Newspapers as its director of audience in digital. He’s currently the company’s chief revenue officer.
Gary shares his company’s holistic approach to innovation, what he thinks the future holds for the industry and what excites him about news media.
How did you choose your career?
I always loved sales and marketing. I also believe in the power of local journalism to empower communities. When I was presented with the opportunity to help launch a new product on the digital consumer side of the Berkshire Eagle, I couldn’t pass it up. This career is a perfect fit for me.
What surprises you about the industry?
Seeing the industry give away its content. As digital grew, many expected to see the same strong advertising revenue that we did in print, but Google and Facebook changed that. Now we’re teaching consumers about the value of news and why they should pay for quality content.
Share an initiative that helped your company innovate.
One of our biggest initiatives has been launching subscriber-only content. I loved that this took effort from all departments to make it a success. Our industry tends to be siloed, but this plan brought everyone together and created a lot of buy-in from the newsroom. They looked at conversions from articles each week and made content decisions based on those analytics. As a result, we grew digital subscriptions. It was a true team effort.
What excites you about your role?
I enjoy how fast paced the industry is and how each week our team is presented with new challenges and opportunities. I also like the challenge of building a strong digital consumer strategy that will allow us to continue to provide our community with accurate, reliable news and information for the next 100 years.
Describe your organization in one phrase.
The Town Square.
What are you most proud of in your career?
I'm most proud of being trusted to lead our organization into the digital future.
What advice would you give someone starting out in your field?
Be nimble and keep an open mind. If you don’t like change, this isn’t the career for you.
Where do you see the industry in 10 years?
Digital consumer revenue will continue to be a larger piece of the pie. Also, there will always be a need for content curated by a team that knows the community, whether that’s a weekly printed product, e-edition or website.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to spend time with my wife and two children. I also enjoying hiking and travelling.
What goal would you like to achieve?
My biggest goal is to find a way for our organization to find solid footing in our digital consumer business so we can sustain our business for many years to come.