Los Angeles Times Media Group names advertising executive
Michael J. Tannourji has been named executive vice president of advertising for the Los Angeles Times Media Group.
The former director of business development for the Ernst & Young accounting firm will be responsible for generating revenue at the media organization, which publishes the Los Angeles Times and the Hoy Spanish-language newspaper and operates latimes.com and other websites.
Tannourji replaces John T. O’Loughlin, who left the company this year.
“Mike Tannourji’s strong track record in transforming businesses for growth and profitability makes him uniquely suited to his new position,” said Kathy Thomson, president and chief operating officer of Times Media. He has “the experience necessary to drive the cultural shifts that are imperative to our future growth.”
Tannourji, 50, earned a business degree at UCLA and a master’s in business administration at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business.
Before joining Ernst & Young, Tannourji led the sales and marketing division of Onvia Inc., a Seattle information technology company. He also held senior positions at Experian Business Information Services and Dun & Bradstreet.
The Times and other newspaper companies are seeking ways to offset the loss of advertising dollars, mainly to online sites.
Slumping advertising revenue, in part, pushed Times owner Tribune Co. into bankruptcy almost four years ago.
In a recent filing with the Bankruptcy Court, Tribune said its publishing revenue is expected to fall 2% to $1.96 billion this year from last year. It is projected to fall an additional 3.6% in 2013.
The Times is the largest source of advertising revenue for the publishing division, which includes the Chicago Tribune and six other newspapers.
Last month, a Bankruptcy Court judge approved a Tribune reorganization plan, which will allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy this year under an ownership group led by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles investment fund.
