David Arkin named chief strategy officer at American Hometown Publishing Inc.

David Arkin

Fast-growing local media company American Hometown Publishing Inc. has hired content and product specialist David Arkin as its chief strategy officer.

In the role, Arkin will be responsible for new product development positioned for attractive markets, audience growth strategies and he will help identify future acquisitions. AHP owns newspaper properties in five states (Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia) and has completed two acquisitions and a merger in the past 100 days.

Most recently, Arkin served as chief content officer for the Local Media Association. Previously, Arkin was senior vice president of content for GateHouse Media Inc. where he launched the company's design and product center in Austin, Texas, which employed more than 200 people and provided print and digital services for internal and external clients. He also led audience growth strategies for GateHouse newsrooms and coordinated more than 400 print and digital redesigns.

"David is one of the brightest minds in the local media industry and has a strong track record of delivering outstanding products at scale," said AHP CEO Brad Dennison. "His addition to our senior management team demonstrates our commitment to the highest-quality user experience for our print and digital products, and supports our vision of becoming the preeminent hyperlocal media business in the nation."

This will mark the second collaboration for Dennison and Arkin, who previously paired up for eight years at GateHouse Media in arguably the world's largest test tube for hyperlocal print and digital news. The duo built the company's news and digital division, developed the digital strategies, and scaled technology for hundreds of newsrooms, resulting in significant audience growth.

"The chance to reunite with Brad at American Hometown Publishing was impossible to resist," Arkin said. "AHP is a strong company with the resources and capital structure to scale new concepts and innovate in the hyperlocal space. That's really exciting to me."

Arkin will begin his role with AHP in February.