Deb Anselm is leaving her role as president and publisher of the Quad-City Times newspaper in Davenport to take a leadership position with the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA).
Her last day at the Lee Enterprises-owned newspaper will be Friday, Oct. 20. She will begin her new job as executive director of the INA on Oct. 24, according to a news release from the association.
Ms. Anselm joined the Quad-City Times in 2015.
“She combines a deep familiarity with the INA and how it has operated in the past with an outside perspective that will help us take a fresh look at how we do things and ensure we are on the right track for the future,” Amy Duncan, who co-chaired the search committee with INA Board President Terry Christensen, said in the release issued Tuesday, Oct. 3.
The INA first announced that Ms. Anselm will be its new executive director on its Facebook page on Tuesday.
Ms. Duncan called Ms. Anselm a “visionary industry leader of 20 years” and said she brings a wealth of experience to the INA and its 240 member newspapers, most recently serving as the association’s board president and with Lee Enterprises as president, Iowa SBU.
“At the end of that process, the search committee unanimously agreed that Debbie Anselm is the right choice to lead the INA,” Mr. Christensen said. “Debbie has been a leader in the newspaper industry in both Lee Enterprises and Iowa for many years. She also has experience lobbying, managing non-profit organizations, driving revenue and overseeing multiple publications.”
Ms. Anselm will be the fourth executive director to oversee the 40-year-old association. A graduate of Indiana University, she has been an innovative leader in media and served on numerous community-focused boards.
The INA was formed in 1983 when the Iowa Press Association and Iowa Daily Press Association merged, according to information from the INA.
She will take over the vacancy created when Susan Patterson Plank left after a decade of service to the INA to rejoin Gannett Co., Inc. as vice president of strategic initiatives, a newly established position designed to work collaboratively with press associations around the country and champion new initiatives and approaches to public notices.
