After a couple of weeks of coyly avoiding comment on his next career move departing Valleywag Owen Thomas has been outed as an NBC employee.
We asked Owen what changes, if any, he expected to make at NBC11’s site. First, he got shitty with us for calling it NBC11.
“What’s NBC11, darling? Not even the station calls itself that these days.” Woah, branding party foul!
Fine, what’s your plan with NBC Bay Area’s site? “The first thing I want to do is get to know all the great talent at NBC Bay Area and start figuring out how to get their journalism in front of a web audience.” So, apparently, no big changes as of May 26, but we’ve got our eye on you, NBC whatever you’re calling yourself.
Here’s the release — we cut out the boring bio stuff about how darling Owen is and all that, and stuck with the dirt on what they say he’s going to be up to at NBC11.
OWEN THOMAS NAMED EDITORIAL DIRECTOR FOR NBC BAY AREA’S DIGITAL EFFORTS
San Francisco, CA-May 14, 2009– In a move signaling NBC’s dedication to transforming its local strategy by recruiting top digital talent, Susan Sullivan, NBC Bay Area’s VP of News, announced today her appointment of Owen Thomas as Editorial Director for NBC Bay Area’s digital efforts, effective May 26th. Thomas will also report to Gregory Gittrich, VP of Content and Editor-in-Chief, NBC Local Integrated Media.
Thomas, a 14-year veteran of online media, will oversee the local digital content efforts in the Bay Area, including the recently launched website for the region, nbcbayarea.com, as well as mobile applications and syndicated offerings. No longer an extension of the on-air newscasts, nbcbayarea.com features local commentary, analysis, lifestyle coverage, news, and information created by local contributors, blogs, online publications, print media, and the television station to capture the pulse of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
“Owen joins NBC Local Media with a well-versed background in a variety of digital platforms. He has an impressive track record of increasing web traffic and transforming digital sites, and I am confident he is the right person to continue building on our digital momentum,” said Sullivan.
