Management

John Paton

Chief Executive Officer

John Paton is the CEO of Digital First Media which operates Digital First Ventures, MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company with more than 800 digital and online products in 18 states serving 57 million customers per month. Paton is a career newspaper executive who has been responsible for both print and online divisions in the US, Canada, France and Spain.

He is the co-founder of impreMedia, the largest news and information company for Hispanics in the US. In April 2009 he was named Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher. Mr. Paton, who has been involved in more than $4 billion in media transactions and financings involving both private and public companies, is a director of MediaNews Group, Journal Register Company, Postmedia Network and a member of the Board of Advisors for the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Newspaper Association of America and the International Board of Directors of the International News Marketing Association.

Mr. Paton is a graduate of Ryerson University’s journalism program and has successfully completed the Finance for Senior Executives program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. In 2006 his alma mater Ryerson University honored him with their Alumni of Distinction Award.

Mr. Paton lives in New York City. He can be reached at jpaton@digitalfirstmedia.com

Arturo Duran

Executive Vice President, Digital

Mr. Duran is the Executive Vice President of Digital for Journal Register Company.

Until May 2010, Mr. Duran served as Chief Executive Officer of ImpreMedia Digital, LLC. Previously, he was President of Interactive and Business Integration for Canwest Mediaworks, where he led the growth of online revenue of that organization to a record level and converted it into the largest Canadian News and Information Network with more than 50 sites. Much of the revenue growth came from the launch of a suite of online classifieds that quickly grew to the largest in Canada (working.com, driving.ca, remembering.ca, renting.ca etc).

Mr. Duran has a long and distinguished career in the online field. He previously served in executive roles at AOL including those of Vice President, Multicultural, for AOL Media Networks, VP Marketing and Interactive Content for AOL Canada, and Director Business Development for AOL Mexico as member of the Team that launched AOL Latin America. Prior to those appointments, Mr. Duran was the Director of Business Development, Internet Division for the Polaroid Corporation.

Mr. Duran was born in Mexico City, he has lived in Canada, China, Spain, France and now lives in New York City.

Michael Kuritzkes

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Michael Kuritzkes is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Digital First Media which operates Digital First Ventures, MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company with more than 800 digital and online products in 18 states serving 57 million customers per month.

Before joining Digital First Media, Mr. Kuritzkes was General Counsel of Philadelphia Media Network, the owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com. Prior to Philadelphia Media, Mr. Kuritzkes held several senior positions in the energy industry including serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sunoco, Inc. from 2000 to 2010. Mr. Kuritzkes also has extensive experience as a transactional lawyer both in law firms and in-house.

Mr. Kuritzkes is a graduate of Cornell University and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Law Review. He serves on the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, on the Cabinet of the Salvation Army’s Philadelphia Kroc Center and on the Executive Board of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group.

William J. Higginson

President and Chief Operating Officer

William J. Higginson is the Executive Vice President of Operations of Digital First Media, Inc. which operates Journal Register Company, Media News Group and Digital First Ventures with more than 800 digital and online products in 18 states and serves 57 million customers per month. At Journal Register Company he manages the operations of the Company’s 324 multi-platform products and his experience in the industry and knowledge of the Company are unrivaled.

Mr. Higginson started his career as a pressman for Matzner Publications in 1973. He has served the Company in various management and operational positions from Production Director at the Trentonian, in Trenton, New Jersey to operational responsibility for the Company’s Connecticut cluster, including its flagship property, the New Haven Register. In 1994, Mr. Higginson moved to the corporate office as Corporate Production Director where he was instrumental in the formation of Journal Register Company and its initial public offering and listing on the NYSE.

As Vice President of Production for the Company, Mr. Higginson spearheaded the design, equipment selection and building of the Journal Register Offset printing facility in Exton, Pennsylvania which opened in 2001. This facility prints more than 60 newspapers and was accepted into the 2006-2008 International Newspaper Color Quality Club, the printing quality competition run by ifra. This is the highest honor a newspaper can receive for its printing quality with only 50 members from around the world accepted every two years.

Mr. Higginson took on the role of Senior Vice President of Production for the Company in August 2006 and was named President and Chief Operating Officer in March 2010 after managing the Company through a successful restructuring in 2009 through the United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York. Mr. Higginson played a key role in the execution of the Company’s financial restructuring and its drive to move to a digital first multi-media company. His contributions are essential in forming the strategies that will shape the Company’s future.

Mr. Higginson lives in Flemington, New Jersey with his wife, Katie and three sons.

Adam Burnham

Vice President, Local Sales

Adam Burnham, age 34, is Vice President, Local Sales, having joined Journal Register Company in December of 2007 as Corporate Advertising Director. Burnham began his career at the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, a group of weekly newspapers, holding a variety of roles during his 9 years there including outside sales, major account sales, automotive sales, regional sales manager and regional advertising director. His responsibilities in revenue generation were expanded over time to not only the Journal newspapers, but the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Local Values and stltoday.com. He then left for Rust Communications, a family-owned newspaper company with 50 publications throughout the Midwest. As advertising director of the flagship property, the Southeast Missourian, Burnham was responsible for all revenue generating departments at the newspaper. In addition to his duties as advertising director, he was also named publisher of the Banner Press of Marble Hill and took a key leadership role on a variety of initiatives throughout the company. Burnham is a graduate of the Journalism School at the University of Missouri, Columbia where he majored in Advertising.

Robert Monteleone

Chief Human Resource Officer

Robert Monteleone is Chief Human Resources Officer for Digital First Media which jointly manages Journal Register Company and Media News Group with more than 800 print and online products serving 57 million Americans each month.

Having joined Journal Register Company in 2010, Mr. Monteleone has more than 20 years of experience in human resources including serving at the executive level at Covanta Energy, The York Group and Sara Lee Bakery World Wide where he has developed and implemented company-wide training programs.

Mr. Monteleone is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and has been a speaker with the American Society for Training and Development and the World At Work – Professional Association for Compensation, Benefits and Total Rewards.

Mr. Monteleone currently resides in New Jersey.

Jim Brady

Editor-in-Chief

Jim Brady oversees the editorial strategy and operations of all of DFM’s properties. Before joining DFM in August 2011, Brady served as general manager of TBD.com, a Washington D.C.-based startup that combined the values of traditional journalism and the power of citizen journalism. Brady joined TBD after more than four years as executive editor of washingtonpost.com, where he led the site to numerous awards and accolades.Brady was also part of washingtonpost.com’s launch team in 1996, and served in various roles there from 1995 to 1999. In between his stints at washingtonpost.com, Brady spent more than four years at America Online, serving as Group Programming Director, News & Sports; Executive Director, Editorial Operations; and Vice President, Production & Operations. During his time at AOL, Brady was in charge of the service’s coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2000 presidential election. Brady began his career as a sportswriter at The Washington Post in 1987.

Brady graduated with a B.A. In print journalism from The American University in 1989, and serves as president of the Online News Association and as a board member for the American Society of News Editors. Brady and his wife Joan split their time between New York City and Great Falls, Va.

Jeff Bairstow

President and
Chief Financial Officer

Jeff Bairstow is the President of Digital First Media, Inc. which operates Journal Register Company, Media News Group and Digital First Ventures with more than 800 digital and online products in 18 states and serves 57 million customers per month.

Prior to joining Journal Register Company, he served as Chief Financial Officer at CCBR-Synarc, Inc. and was also President of its Global Imaging Division.

Before joining CCBR-Synarc, Mr. Bairstow served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Dendrite International Inc. a publicly traded Pharmaceutical sales and technology services company located in Bedminster, NJ. Mr. Bairstow previously held senior financial and operational positions with Health Net Inc., including President of Health Net’s Government and Specialty Services Division and earlier as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Health Net-California.

Mr. Bairstow also held a number of senior positions in both operations and finance in public and private settings in the healthcare and technology industries holding the title of President at America Service Group, RelayHealth and Managed Health Network. Mr. Bairstow is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and received a MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Business.