Two new advertising managers are leading revenue initiatives at Wick Communications Company newspapers in Arizona.

Monica Akyol has been named ad manager of the Tucson Weekly and its related events, and Andrew Saenz will take on the same role for the Green Valley News and its related publications.

Akyol joined the Tucson operation in June 2006 as an advertising sales representative. In September 2008, she was named inside sales manager, which included oversight of The Daily Territorial, our public notice newspaper. Before joining the Tucson operation, Akyol managed a boutique clothing store in Tucson.

She is a 2005 graduate of the University of Arizona, where she majored in political science and philosophy. Akyol and her fiancé, Brian Pracko, plan to be married in 2014. Akyol will work with Jill A’Hearn, who is ad manager for Inside Tucson Business and its related events.

Andrew Saenz

Saenz is a member of the Wick family, and carries on a tradition of generations of family members learning all facets of the newspaper business. He is the son of Pat Wick and grandson of Walter Wick, both of Sierra Vista. His first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Sierra Vista Herald. He enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year tour of duty followed by one year in the Arizona National Guard. He returned to the Herald and worked in a variety of departments.

Saenz was graduated from the University of Arizona in 2010 with a degree in journalism, business, and geography. He spent 16 months as an advertising sales representative at the Wick-owned Daily Iberian in New Iberia, Louisiana. He then worked in the news and circulation departments at the Green Valley News, followed by a short stint at Territorial Newspapers in Tucson. He and his wife, Jerusha, are the parents of two children, A.J., 4; and Danika, 15 months.

Marisa Gerber

Stories about Border Patrol shootings, cage-like waiting areas at a local port of entry, a dynamic drama teacher and a community-centered radio station in Sonora Mexico earned writers from the Nogales International a fistful of accolades Saturday from the Arizona Press Club.

In all, NI journalists past and present took home two first-place prizes, one second-place award, two third-place finishes and two honorable mentions in the non-metro division of the press club’s contest for reporting during 2012. Marisa Gerber, an area native who interned at the NI in the summer of 2010 and then returned to the paper for much of last year, led the way with five total prizes.

The awards came in the categories of Public Safety Reporting, Human Interest Writing, Personality Profile and Arts Writing. And for the second consecutive year, the NI took first and second place in the contest’s Immigration Reporting category.

Curt Prendergast

Managing editor Jonathan Clark and reporter Curt Prendergast were awarded first place in the immigration category for their combined and sustained coverage of the fatal shooting of a Mexican teenager amid a rock-throwing incident on Oct. 10, 2012. In that case, a Border Patrol agent or agents standing behind the border fence in Nogales, Ariz. repeatedly shot 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez on a sidewalk below in Nogales, Sonora. Since then, the Border Patrol, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office have refused to offer any details of the investigation into the shooting.

“Undeterred by the U.S. Border Patrol’s stonewalling, Clark uses the state open records law to provide a detailed and expertly written account of a hot-button shooting with big implications, calling into question the actions of the federal agents,” wrote contest judge Sarah Ryley, assistant city editor at the New York Daily News.

“Prendergast does a good job of exploring the issue of deadly force from multiple perspectives, and raises the question of why non-lethal disbursement tools such as pepper balls weren’t used first.”

Jonathan Clark

Clark took second place in the immigration category with another investigative look at a contested Border Patrol shooting.

Relying on police reports obtained through channels outside the federal government, the story “Agent charged with corruption now at center of civil suit” revealed that Agent Abel Canales, who shot an illegal border crosser near Walker Canyon on Nov. 16, 2010, had been observed taking a bribe for allowing contraband to pass through the I-19 checkpoint more than two years earlier, yet had been left in the field with his gun.

5 recognitions

Gerber, who now works as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, won first place in the Public Safety Reporting category for “Cage-like waiting areas spawn complaints at port,” a story that voiced concerns from border-crossers and civil rights advocates about new waiting facilities at the Mariposa Port of Entry.

“Gerber's work was compelling, very well-written, and trained a bright light on an inhumane practice,” wrote contest judge Carol Marbin Miller, an enterprise and investigative reporter with The Miami Herald. “The decision of Customs and Border Protection to dismantle the ‘cage’ within days of the story is a testament to Gerber’s fine reporting.”

Gerber also received an honorable mention in the public safety category for “Death puts spotlight on behavioral health center,” a story about the March 11, 2012 murder of 23-year-old Katie Lynn Lemar by her husband Timothy Lemar at a transition home in Nogales where she had been placed by the organization The Living Center.

In the Personality Profile category, Gerber won a third-place prize for “Celia Concannon knows the power of a play,” a feature about the retiring Rio Rico High School drama teacher who used the realities of life on the border to give students opportunities for creative expression.

Gerber also took third place in the Human Interest Writing category for “Radio station in sister city takes a hands-on approach.” For that story, she spent a day with on-air reporters at Radio XENY in Nogales, Sonora as they tried to help a local woman get her dead brother’s body back from law enforcement officials.

In addition, Gerber was awarded an honorable mention in the Arts Reporting category for her coverage of a grass-roots effort to turn a wall on private property in downtown Nogales into a public canvas for young urban artists. In the end, the mural they created was destroyed by the city government.

John Mathew

John M. Mathew has resigned as chief executive officer of Wick Communications Co. and as a member of the board. His departure will coincide with the naming of his successor as CEO, a process expected to take up to six months, and he will continue to run the company during that period.

Steve Phillips, chairman of the board of Wick Communications Co., said the search for Mathew's successor will begin soon.

Mathew, 56, has been Wick's CEO since 2001. During his time with the company, Wick acquired newspapers in Pierre, S.D., and Anchorage, Alaska; built three new production facilities and one office building; installed more than 60 refurbished press units; converted to computer-to-plate in every location; won countless state and national awards for editorial quality; and greatly enhanced the company's websites.

"I've enjoyed my time with Wick and appreciate the support of the board, the Wick family, our management team and all Wick employees," Mathew said.

Phillips said, "On behalf of the Wick Communications board of directors, I thank John for his 12 years of excellent leadership of the company and steering us successfully through many economic cycles."

He added "The community newspaper business has a good future and the board of directors is committed to completing a diligent search for a new CEO who will successfully lead this company through the challenges presented by an ever-changing business environment. As the board conducts that search, we want all our stakeholders to understand the continuing commitment of the board and the Wick family to Wick Communications. Additionally, at this time of CEO transition, we ask all of our employees to maintain their focus and engagement on playing their part in ensuring the Wick business performs at the very highest level possible."

Walt and Bob Wick, family and company leaders for more than 60 years, commended Mathew for the quality of his leadership, his concern for the company personnel and his personal commitment to seeing that Wick Communications has the economic strength and infrastructure necessary to meet the challenges of the coming years.

Jim Keyes

Jim Keyes, digital sales manager for Territorial Newspapers in Tucson, has been named digital media sales manager for Wick Communications Company.

Keyes fills a new revenue position in the company and will work closely with Christian Ramirez, who, as digital media manager, handles web technology for the company.  Keyes will report to Cindy Hefley, advertising director for Wick Communications Company.  Keyes takes on his new role effective immediately.

“Jim has already traveled to several Wick locations to help build digital sales,” Hefley said.  “Every time Jim travels, we see good results and hear positive feedback from those who work with him. Jim is an experienced trainer and mentor to the sales staff and managers”.

In late 2011, Keyes joined Territorial Newspapers.  Before that, he worked at the Santa Fe New Mexican as digital sales manager.  There, he helped lead a website redesign and increase online revenue by 35 percent in an eight months.   Prior to that, Keyes worked at Tucson Newspapers  Inc., as a senior online specialist.

Keyes graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

He and his wife, Lorenza, will continue to live in Tucson. 

Lou Major

By Bob & Walt Wick

"There will always be a need for good story telling," Lou Major Sr. often said. Besides being a good story teller, we think the long-time newspaperman turned out to be a pretty good story himself, starting as a cub reporter and ending as the CEO of our family-owned newspaper company, overseeing more than 25 newspapers.

Lou, 82, died this week/recently after a several-year battle with lymphoma.

He started at The Daily News in Bogalusa, La., now part of Wick Communications, as a cub reporter in 1951, fresh out of journalism school at Louisiana State University.

"We had a lot of red beans and Spam back then," Lou would tell about his early days in the newspaper business.

He went on to become that newspaper's editor and publisher, then on to become the CEO of Wick Communications, our family's company that owns more than 28 newspapers and specialty publications in 12 states. After Lou got into management at The Daily News in 1963, he started working with our father, Wick's founder, Milton Wick, and with Milt bought and started newspapers all over the country.

After Milt Wick's death the company was reorganized with the two of us, Milt's sons, becoming co-chairmen and Lou taking over as CEO. He retired as CEO in 2002, but continued to work with us on the company's board through 2012, marking more than 60 years with the same company where he started as that cub reporter.Lou was honored in 2012 by being inducted into the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Hall of Fame, which recognized him for his efforts with The Daily News to report on civil rights issues through the racial unrest in his community in the 60s, despite several attempts of intimidation from the Ku Klux Klan that included burning crosses at the newspaper's office and on the front lawn of his home, and personal threats to him and his family.

Lou credited Bascomb Talley Jr., a Bogalusa businessman and stockholder with the paper when Lou first started working there, for seeing potential in him and encouraging the company to develop him as a manager.

"He really went to bat for me," Lou would later say about Talley's efforts on his behalf. Lou evidently remembered Talley's mentorship, as he would go on to nurture numerous Wick newspaper employees' careers, giving dozens a chance to take over as publishers of papers in our company, like Will Chapman, currently publisher of The Daily Iberian in New Iberia, La., and a group manager for Wick. Chapman tells how he was hired to be ad manager in New Iberia and thought he'd be there "a couple of years" as he sought to become a publisher.

"Twenty-six years ago, Lou Sr. gave me the chance to take over one of Wick's largest operations, despite it meaning I'd be their youngest publisher." Like happened for Lou, Chapman said, "Lou Major really went to bat for me."

From starting as a cub reporter covering high school sports at a small town paper, later battling the Ku Klux Klan, and then working his way up to publisher,and then CEO of our company, Lou Major never forgot that it all starts with telling a good story. We think his career in newspapers and especially his story with Wick Communications is a story worth noting.