Liz White Notarangelo to join Jay Small as co-CEO; Nancy Lane to serve as CEO emeritus

This represents a thoughtful and well-executed plan by the staff and officers of LMA/LMF. We are thrilled to add Liz to the team.”

Tom Shaw, chair of the LMA board of directors

Liz White Notarangelo, former fifth-generation owner and publisher of the Record Journal (Meriden, Connecticut), will join Local Media Association as co-CEO effective in January. This move is the next stage of a five-year succession plan first announced in 2022.

White Notarangelo will join current co-CEO Jay Small to manage both LMA and the Local Media Foundation. Nancy Lane, the organization’s long-time CEO, will remain an employee in the new role of CEO emeritus, with a focus on fundraising, Word In Black, and supporting the leadership and boards.

“I am extremely excited to step into this new leadership role alongside the fantastic LMA team. My company was an LMA member for over 15 years, which helped us transform and evolve our organization through programs, Innovation Missions, conferences and connections with other members. One reason we were able to remain family owned as long as we did was the inspiration, ideas and support from LMA and collaboration with its members across the country,” said White Notarangelo. “I grew up in this industry and my passion for LMA’s mission to reinvent business models for news makes this opportunity feel right. I’m ready to pay it forward and continue to learn from LMA’s innovative team and members.”

White Notarangelo currently serves as second vice chair of Local Media Association, an officer of the organization. She previously served as chair of the Local Media Foundation board of directors, and treasurer of both organizations. She also leads statewide cohorts for the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, in which she guides publishers in Pennsylvania and Colorado. White Notarangelo worked for her family’s newspaper, the Record Journal, for 15 years, including four years as publisher, before the company was sold to Hearst in late 2023.

“This represents a thoughtful and well-executed plan by the staff and officers of LMA/LMF,” said Tom Shaw, chair of the LMA board of directors. “We are thrilled to add Liz to the team. She knows the organization well and has been one of our biggest ambassadors over the years. Jay and Liz will make a great team. And Nancy’s work is by no means done — she will remain an employee of the organization and a key part of the leadership team.”

The LMA five-year succession plan has evolved quite a bit since 2022. Last year, Jay Small was promoted from chief operating officer to co-CEO as a major component of the plan. Lane and Small co-managed the CEO duties in 2024, and that alignment has worked exceedingly well. The co-CEO model was developed with the help of a business consultant during a year-long process in 2022-23. It is meant to be multigenerational, with professional development plans in place to identify and prepare future leaders.

Flexibility was a hallmark of the plan from Day 1, as was thinking outside the box. White will work a four-day week, which suits her needs as well as LMA’s, while Small will remain full-time. Lane will work 2-3 days per week in her new role starting in February, after a month of transition.

“I’m proud of the succession plan and couldn’t be more excited for Liz, Jay and the future of LMA/LMF,” said Lane. “Next year will mark 25 years of leading LMA for me. It’s been a dream job and I am excited for this new phase. Jay and Liz will take our organization to the next level, and I’m thrilled to remain on the team to support them and continue to focus on Word In Black and fundraising efforts.”

“I have known Liz since well before I joined the LMA/LMF team,” said Small. “I respect her leadership abilities, industry knowledge and overall vision for the future of local news media. I’m excited to work with her. Plus, Liz and I will have the benefit of an amazing team as well as Nancy’s experience to guide us in the coming years — can’t beat that!”

About Local Media Association / Local Media Foundation:

Local Media Association brings all media together to share, network, collaborate and more. More than 3,000 newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, digital news organizations, and research and development partners engage with LMA as members or constituents of our programs. As a 501(c)(6) trade association, LMA is focused on the business side of local media. Its programs and labs focus on revenue growth and new business models. LMA helps local media companies develop their strategies via cutting-edge programs, conferences, webinars, research and training.

Local Media Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable trust, serves as the innovation and transformation affiliate of LMA. Incorporating our four strategic pillars — business transformation, journalism funded by philanthropy, industry collaboration and sustainability for publishers of color — LMF helps provide local media companies the strategies and resources for meaningful innovation and impactful journalism projects.