DALLAS, Sept. 10, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- The Dallas Morning News and
Slingshot LLC today announced the creation
of Speakeasy (http://yourspeakeasy.com), a joint venture
between the two companies that is majority-owned by The
Dallas Morning News. Speakeasy is a social content marketing
company that will conceive, develop, manage and execute turnkey
social campaigns and promotions for both local and national
brands.
Activities for the firm will include content creation, social
media management and associated SEO activities, newsletter
development and delivery, video creation and distribution and
reputation management.
Jim Moroney, publisher and CEO
of The Dallas Morning News, was named Chairman of
the Board of the newly created company, and Owen Hannay, founder of Slingshot, was named
CEO.
Moroney said, "Speakeasy will leverage the assets of both
partners. Slingshot has a track record of innovation in the
digital realm and has demonstrated an ability to manage a superior
service operation for the past seventeen years."
Moroney added, "The Dallas Morning News has many
advertisers who look to us for marketing solutions and have been
asking us to help them with their social media
needs. Speakeasy is committed to meeting that trust by
delivering superior results with a strong team and efficient
operations."
Hannay said, "We have felt for a long time that, executionally,
social media needs a publishing partner, and we can think of no
better partner in that activity than The Dallas Morning
News."
Mike Orren, formerly the founder
and president of Pegasus News, has been hired as the president of
the organization. (The Dallas Morning News acquired
Pegasus News in July 2012 in an
unrelated transaction.) Orren has also served in senior leadership
roles at American Lawyer Media and D Magazine and has
served as a consultant on digital content and marketing to numerous
media companies including Examiner.com and CBS Local. He is a
frequent speaker at industry conferences like BIA Kelsey, Online
News Association and SXSW Interactive.
"Speakeasy uses great content to develop and maintain meaningful
relationships between companies and their customers—relationships
that benefit both sides and deliver real, measurable sales results
that go beyond 'likes' and 'follows,'" said Orren. "We have built a
launch team of experienced and award-winning editors, journalists
and marketers who will focus more on communications and guerilla
marketing than on the mere ability to use social platforms."
In addition to hiring additional strategists, account managers
and fulfillment specialists in coming months, Speakeasy is building
a network of freelance writers, photographers and videographers
with deep local and niche expertise. Interested parties can apply
at http://yourspeakeasy.com/join/.
The Dallas Morning News and Slingshot already serve
several clients who will benefit from the turnkey content marketing
solutions provided by Speakeasy and are working with an elite group
of technology partners including locally based MutualMind,
Copyblogger, PocketStop, Tactics Digital and Cinsay, as well as
out-of-market partners such as Kapost, Orange Soda and
LocalEdge.
About Slingshot, LLC
Incorporated in Dallas in 1995,
Slingshot is a privately held, full-service agency that provides
marketing and advertising solutions to clients who understand that
their consumers are changing dramatically due to the digitization
of their lives and media fragmentation. The agency's clients
include Texas Tourism, Joe's Crab Shack, Borden Dairy, IHOP@Home
and the American Heart Association. Services include traditional
and interactive advertising, social media strategy, web
development, media planning and buying, and brand development.
Slingshot was ranked in Advertising Age's Best Places to Work in
Media and Marketing in 2011 and 2012. For more information, please
call (214) 634-4411 or visithttp://www.davidandgoliath.com.
About The Dallas Morning News
Established in 1885, The Dallas Morning
News (dallasnews.com) is Texas' leading newspaper and the flagship
newspaper subsidiary of A. H. Belo Corporation. It has
received nine Pulitzer Prizes since 1986, as well as numerous other
industry awards recognizing the quality of its investigative and
feature journalism, design and photojournalism. Its portfolio of
print and digital products reaches an average daily audience of
more than 1.1 million people and includes online news and
information sites; iPhone, Android and iPad apps; Al
Día (www.aldiatx.com), the leading Spanish-language daily
in North Texas;
neighborsgo (neighborsgo.com), a consumer-generated
community news outlet; and Briefing, the free,
home-delivered quick-read.
To advertisers, the portfolio of products is represented by
DMNmedia (www.DMNmedia.com), the marketing solutions group
of The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
About A. H. Belo Corporation
A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC), headquartered in
Dallas, Texas, is a distinguished
newspaper publishing and local news and information company that
owns and operates four daily newspapers and related
websites. A. H. Belo publishes The Dallas Morning
News, Texas' leading newspaper
and winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes; The Providence
Journal, the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in
the United States and winner of
four Pulitzer Prizes; The
Press-Enterprise (Riverside,
CA), serving the Inland Southern California region and
winner of one Pulitzer Prize; and the Denton
Record-Chronicle. The Company publishes niche publications
targeting specific audiences, and its investments and/or
partnerships include Classified Ventures, owner of Cars.com, and
the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium. A. H. Belo also owns and
operates commercial printing, distribution and direct mail service
businesses. Additional information is available
at www.ahbelo.com or by contacting Alison K. Engel, Senior Vice President/Chief
Financial Officer, at 214-977-2248.
Statements in this communication concerning A. H. Belo
Corporation's (the "Company's") business outlook or future economic
performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses,
dividends, capital expenditures, investments, impairments, pension
plan contributions, real estate sales, future financings, and other
financial and non-financial items that are not historical facts,
are "forward-looking statements" as the term is defined under
applicable federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are
subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those statements.
Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not
limited to, changes in capital market conditions and prospects, and
other factors such as changes in advertising demand and newsprint
prices; newspaper circulation trends and other circulation matters,
including changes in readership methods, patterns and demography,
and audits and related actions by the Audit Bureau of Circulations;
challenges implementing increased subscription pricing and new
pricing structures; challenges in achieving expense reduction
goals, and on schedule, and the resulting potential effects on
operations; technological changes; development of Internet
commerce; industry cycles; changes in pricing or other actions by
existing and new competitors and suppliers; labor relations;
regulatory, tax and legal changes; adoption of new accounting
standards or changes in existing accounting standards by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting
standard-setting bodies or authorities; the effects of Company
acquisitions, dispositions, co-owned ventures, and
investments; pension plan matters; general economic conditions and
changes in interest rates; significant armed conflict; and other
factors beyond our control, as well as other risks described in
the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2011, and other
public disclosures and filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
SOURCE The Dallas Morning News