Mark G. Contreras

Mark G. Contreras (born 1961) is an American (U.S.A) Media C.E.O, President and Trustee at the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. He has led several institutions through digital disruption and transformation. Contreras’ background includes digital media, television broadcasting, higher education, administration and publishing .

Contreras’ digital, media, publishing and broadcasting experience spans several decades. He has led public, private and non-profit organizations since the 1980s.

He is also an experienced company board director of private and ESOP companies and several non-profit organizations.

Biography

Contreras received an A.B in History from the University of Chicago in 1984. He was a Harvard Business School graduate in 1988 with an MBA in Business Administration. In 2000, Contreras became a Fellow of the Henry Crown Fellowship at The Aspen Institute and obtained an Advanced Media Management Certificate from the Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management).

He began his career as an Associate at the Management Analysis Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts in June 1984. In January 1985, Contreras became Legislative Assistant to Paul Simon (politician), Paul Simon ( and ) moving onto Marketing Services Director at The Oakland Press-Capital Cities/ABC Inc. in 1988.

From 1989 to 1995, Contreras was the Retail Display Director at The Kansas City Star-Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. moving on to become President and Publisher at Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., The Times Leader. One of Contreras’ editorial page projects won The Walker Stone Award for Editorial Excellence from Scripps Howard Foundation. While leading the The Times Leader, the newspaper went through three different ownership groups in two years .

In 1999, Contreras became Senior Vice President of Pulitzer, Inc.. At Pulitzer, Contreras led 13 local media markets and oversaw more than twenty acquisitions during his tenure.

In 2005 he went on to become Senior Vice President/Newspapers, E. W. Scripps Company, responsible for the newspaper and digital businesses which included daily, weekly and digital publications in 13 markets including Memphis, TN and Naples, FL, among others, .

In 2011, following a consultancy role at Taboola, a digital video start-up, Contreras took the role of C.E.O, Calkins Media. The local media company was among the first to launch a 24/7 OTT channel from a local broadcast affiliate, as well as the first local newspaper company to launch a 24/7 OTT channel, .

In August 2017, Contreras became Dean of The School of Communications at Quinnipiac University. While Dean, he attracted the Hearst Foundations Award to create scholarships for underrepresented students enrolled in The School of Communications as well as creating an Advisory Board of notable media leaders for the benefit of current students and faculty, .

Contreras was a Member of the Board of Directors, GFR Media (2015-2021). He is also Member Board of Directors and Chairman of the Compensation, Governance and Board Development Committee for Woodward Communications (2015-present), and Independent Board Director, Highlights for Children (2021-present).

Currently, Contreras is President, C.E.O and Trustee, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. (). ().

Contreras is listed in the 15 over 50 Leaders Driving The News Forward (Editor and Publisher ).

In 2017 Contreras won the while at Calkins (and and ).

Early Life

Contreras was born in Minneapolis, MN in 1961 to Mario G. Contreras and Mary Elizabeth Carroll. His Mexican immigrant father was a former tailor. His mother is an Irish- American former schoolteacher and social worker. Contreras grew up with his brother and sister. The family later moved to the Chicagoland area and settled in La Grange, IL.

Education

Contreras graduated from Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, IL and received an A.B. in History from The University of Chicago in 1984. He later earned a M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School in 1988.

In 2000, Contreras became a Fellow of the Henry Crown Fellowship at The Aspen Institute and also obtained an Advanced Media Management Certificate from the Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management).

Career

He began his career as an Associate at the Management Analysis Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts in June 1984.

In 1985, Contreras served as a Legislative Assistant on the Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs (including immigration reform, judicial nominations and refugee issues) for U.S. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL).

He then started a career in local media, beginning as Marketing Services Director – The Oakland Press-Capital Cities/ABC In. responsible for marketing, creating The Oakland Press Perspective and publishing The Oakland Edge economics magazine.

From 1989 to 1995, Contreras held the Retail Display Director role for The Kansas City Star-Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Contreras’ media career continued with leadership roles within Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. in Pontiac, MI; Kansas City, MO; and Wilkes-Barre, PA. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. was sold The Walt Disney Company in 1997. During his time at Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Contreras led the workforce through three ownership changes within two years and oversaw the launch of LeaderNet (Digital Publishing and Marketing Company) leading to publishing on www.timesleader.com (The Times Leader) from 1995 to 1999.

From 1998 to 2000, Contreras was a Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute.

In 1999, he joined Pulitzer, Inc. in St. Louis, MO where he served as Senior Vice President in charge of the 14 markets where Pulitzer operated local media franchises including the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, AZ and The Daily Herald in Provo, UT, among others. During his time at Pulitzer, Contreras completed more than 20 acquisitions and several start-up publications (including several Spanish language publications):. Pulitzer was sold to Lee Enterprises in 2005.

In 2005, Contreras joined the E.W. Scripps Company and became Senior Vice President/ Newspapers (. while at Calkins.

In 2010, Contreras introduced the Scripps Fellows Program to improve cross-platform coverage of local news and opening up 40 job opportunities for graduates and others involved in web and/or journalism ().

He then became C.E.O of Calkins Media, Inc. a privately held, female-owned media company headquartered in Bucks County, PA. Calkins owned several local publishing and digital operations on the East Coast of the U.S.A as well as three ABC-affiliated local broadcasting stations based in the South. During this period, Calkins was regularly recognized for innovation as it became the first local media company to train all print journalists how to shoot, edit and post videos and launched the first 24/7 OTT linear channel for a local newspaper company. The company was sold in 2017.

Contreras then became the Dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, acquiring a Hearst Foundations Award of $500,000 for underrepresented students.

In 2019, Contreras was named President and CEO of Connecticut Public Broadcasting, the PBS and NPR affiliate serving the state of Connecticut where he remains today (January 2023 ).

Awards and Recognitions

In 1996, The Times Leader won the Scripps Howard Foundation’s 1995 National Journalism Award (under Contreras’ leadership ). Also in 1996, The Times Leader gained various Keystone Awards under Contreras’ leadership, including: Breaking News, Dawn Shurmaitis (). Furthermore, in the same year, The Times Leader won the Scripps Howard Walker Stone Award under Contreras’ leadership (Times Leader Editorialist Wins National Award) Page: 3A CINCINNATI (AP) — one of several newspapers, television stations, radio stations and five individuals winning the Scripps Howard Foundation Award ().

In 1997, Contreras was named a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute (). See AGLN - Aspen Global Leadership Network User Profile - AGLN - Aspen Global Leadership Network.

In 2010, Contreras received the Lifetime Achievement Award () from the American Press Institute

In the same year (2010), Contreras was elected by his peers to serve as Chairman of the Newspaper association of america, the country’s leading advocacy organization serving the U.S. newspaper industry. He was the first Mexican-American chair to serve in this capacity. Furthermore, many institutions led by Contreras have consistently been recognized for high-quality journalism and business innovation.

In 2011, the Knoxville News Sentinel owned by The E.W. Scripps Company won the Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association) usually reserved just for TV and Radio. (). This was under Contreras’ leadership.

In August 2017, the Quinnipiac University gained the Hearst Foundations Award, a $500k grant providing scholarships for those students underrepresented in The School of Communications. This was during Contreras’ time as Dean of the university ().

Calkins Media was cited two years in a row (2017 and 2018) as Innovator of the Year for the company’s pioneering work in OTT media development by the Local Media Association under Contreras’ leadership ( and and Inland Press Association Over the moon about Over-the-Top: Why Calkins Digital won the 2017 Mega-Innovation Award and NEWSCYCLE's 2017 Innovator of the Year Award - Presented to Calkins Media).

Contreras is also listed in the 15 over 50 Leaders Driving The News Forward (Editor and Publisher ).

Pulitzer Prizes

In 2006, Todd Heisler of The Rocky Mountain News was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in journalism (Feature Photography). (). In the same year, Jim Sheeler of The Rocky Mountain News won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, also during Contreras’ tenure at Scripps. ().

In 2008, Kevin Vaughan was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing, during Contreras’ tenure ().

Calkins Media was cited two years in a row (2016 and 2017) as Innovator for the Year for.

Special Interests/Charitable Activities

Contreras serves on two company boards: Woodward Communications, Inc. in Dubuque, IA; and Highlights for Children in Columbus, OH.

He also serves as a Trustee of Connecticut Public Broadcasting (), a Board Director of PBS, The Avangrid Foundation, Report for America (GroundTruth Project as off 2020 ) and The Breakthrough Collaborative ().

Previously, he has served as volunteer Chairman of The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) and The American Press Institute (API) , (2010).

He is a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), The Private Directors Association (PDA) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Publication and Articles

Below are a selection of publications, articles and videos either written by Contreras or by others about him. Some of these publications contain quotes made by Contreras.

Publications About Contreras

2004: Contreras Moves to Scripps to become Vice President:

2009: Article on how the media news abuses borrowing against future distributions:

2009: Article on the importance of protecting and licensing content from online poachers:

2009: Article on what’s next for newspapers (post-recession)?

2010: Piece covering E.W Scripps $15 million investment in Ebyline content marketplace: therefore helping freelance journalists to pitch and sell finished work to news’ companies. Additionally, to enable more revenue opportunities for news publishers.

2011: Newspaper Association of America leadership (NAA), campaign for newspapers to work together to communicate news cross-platform, to better the digital shopping experience, to agree mobile advertising standards, protect intellectual property and improve ways to monetize content:

2015: Contreras speaking at The Aspen Institute’s Latinos and Society Inaugural Summit on America’s Future:

2017: Piece on why Calkins Digital won the 2017 Mega Innovation Award: Over the moon about Over-the-Top: Additionally, another piece covering the same topic, Innovator of the Year Award goes to Calkins Media:

2019: Article about Contreras moving to Connecticut Public as C.E.O:

2021: Series of pieces covering the Faces of Modern Leadership (with a spotlight on Contreras):

2022: Article about the collab between Connecticut Public and The Connecticut Mirror:

Publications By Contreras

2011: An article about defining transformation at mediaXchange:

2020: A piece about Connecticut Public stepping up educational efforts for students, parents and teachers ref. distance learning:

2020: A piece centered around George Floyd, The Pain That Underlies The Tragedy In Our Streets – piece on George Floyd and beyond by Contreras:

2021: An article by Contreras about the importance of the liberal arts:

2021: An article about white supremacy by Contreras:

2022: Braver Angels – Strengthening American Democracy, opinion piece by Contreras:

2022: Piece by Contreras: Debate Should Spark a Clash of Ideas, Not Fists:

Video Content Featuring Contreras

2015: The Aspen Institute; An Inclusive Leadership Vision for the Future:

2020: State of Latinos in Media:

2022: A speech by Contreras on the role of public media in Connecticut:

2022: Truth in Journalism, by Contreras:

2022: Piece about the growing role of public media in serving local communities, by Contreras:

Personal Life

Contreras married Marybeth Sughrue in 1986, in Clearfield, PA, Marybeth’s hometown. They have one son, Michael Patrick Contreras, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Maja Contreras.

External links

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