How To Use Digital Media To Build Relationships for Print Publications With Lisa DeSisto, CEO and Publisher of the Maine Trust for Local News – Episode 47

The PR Maven Podcast

How are these Maine newspapers adapting to the digital age? CEO and Publisher of the Maine Trust for Local News, publishing Central Maine News, Portland Press Herald and Sun Journal publications, Lisa DeSisto explains in this episode. Lisa shares how she was initially hired at MaineToday Media in 2012 because of her digital expertise, helping balance the existing print publications with all the digital possibilities. Using social media and email as well as industry tools to focus on trending topics and headlines that perform the best, these publications have been able to reach readers where they are and build relationships that result in subscriptions. This episode is also filled with fun Maine stories from lobster roll-snatching seagulls to a whoopie pie theft.

00:00 Introduction to the PR Maven® Podcast

01:03 Introducing Guest: Lisa DeSisto

02:05 Lisa’s Career From Boston to Maine

04:14 Balancing Print and Digital

07:02 How Social Media Is Used To Spread Journalism

10:26 Using Email To Acquire Customers

11:25 How Stephen King Helped the Portland Press Herald Gain Subscribers

14:10 Former President Trump’s Opinions of the Media

19:27 Important Forms of Measurement for Publications

24:28 Using Social Media To Build Your Network

31:11 Helpful Resources

33:07 How Special Events Connect the Community

Related Episodes

How This Magazine Is Growing In The Digital Age: Owner of Journey Magazine, Carolyn Delaney – Episode 277

Episode 265: How To Help Journalists and Create Quality Content, With Deirdre Stires, Former Portland Press Herald Outdoor Reporter

Episode 106: Telling the Stories of Maine, With Erin Ovalle, Host of Maine Life

About Lisa

Lisa DeSisto oversees the publishing of five daily newspapers in Maine – the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Morning Sentinel, Kennebec Journal, Sun Journal and Times Record – and their websites. The network also includes 17 weekly newspapers and a commercial printing operation in South Portland.

Lisa serves on the board of the Associated Press and the board of the Portland Regional Chamber. She hosts a live event series, “Like a Boss,” in which she interviews other Maine CEOs on their leadership principles. Before joining the Maine Trust for Local News (then MaineToday Media) in November 2012, Lisa spent 17 years at the Boston Globe, where she served as chief advertising officer and vice president/general manager for Boston.com.

A native of Stoneham, Massachusetts, she is a 1985 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Lisa lives with her family and a herd of alpacas in North Yarmouth.