NORTHAMPTON – As a young man in his early 20s, Michael Rifanburg began selling advertisements for his hometown newspaper, the Evening Sun in Norwich, New York.
He loved the job so much that he turned it into a career spanning more than three decades in the industry, working for local newspapers, niche publications, a stint in the financial sector, as well as some of the country’s largest publishing companies.
His next stop is as publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Recorder, the Valley Advocate and other print and digital publications located in the Pioneer Valley and operated by the family owned Newspapers of New England company.
Rifanburg, 56, will succeed publisher Dennis Skoglund, who is retiring after a long career in the news business, the last 27 years of which were at the Greenfield and Northampton papers. Skoglund and his wife, Jan, have two grown children and four grandchildren. He retires April 1; Rifanburg starts Monday.
“I consider it a very exciting time for community newspapers, the way people get information,” Rifanburg said. “I really like the direction Newspapers of New England is going in, working with the community, with their audience and advertisers in a much different way than they have in the past.”
Rifanburg and his wife, Nance, arrived in the Pioneer Valley this week, having relocated to Deerfield from Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, he was publisher of Finance & Commerce, a daily business newspaper, as well as a twice-weekly political newspaper, a weekly law newspaper and related digital publications.
He earlier worked as advertising director and publisher of The Citizen newspaper in Auburn, New York, which is owned by Lee Enterprises. He also worked in advertising and sales roles with Gannett Company and Ottaway Newspapers, which was acquired by Dow Jones Media Group.
“Mike’s combination of a career spent in community newspapers, decades of experience in sales, love of news, quiet leadership and creative thinking made him a perfect successor to Dennis,” Aaron Julien, president of Newspapers of New England, said in a statement. “Like Dennis, he’s solid as a rock.”
Skoglund said Rifanburg emerged as the strongest candidate in a national search.
“The future of NNE is bright,” Skoglund said. “The challenge is to continue navigating from print to digital publication, but not giving up print totally because it’s still our main revenue generator.”
His successor will inherit a strong team of news, advertising, circulation and business staff members devoted to producing strong community journalism, Skoglund said. “Our Pioneer Valley publications are in great shape, and Mike is well-suited to continue that tradition.”
Rifanburg said he was attracted in particular to the Gazette’s and The Recorder’s ongoing work to keep pace with changes in how people read, shop and interact with each other online – and the newspapers’ commitment to journalism and contributions to the communities they serve. He noted that while some newspapers have been slow to change over the years, the Pioneer Valley operations are taking creative approaches to reaching today’s audiences, including through use of social media and new digital offerings.
“I’m excited to join the dedicated and award-winning teams at the Gazette, The Recorder and the Advocate,” Rifanburg said. When asked how he plans to approach his first few months on the job, he said: “I’m interested in listening to the staff, the audience, the advertisers to try to evaluate what the needs might be” and make any decisions from there.
“My goal is to continue to try to grow the operations, grow in terms of some of the digital offerings that we have,” he continued. “We certainly want to try to continue to grow our audience. That’s something that should be done on a regular basis.”
Rifanburg and his wife have a son and daughter, ages, 25 and 21, who live in Minnesota and California. He said the couple enjoys the outdoors, and plans to explore the area once they get settled in, as well as take in the arts and music scene.
“I’m looking forward to getting started,” he said.
As Skoglund exits, he said he and his wife are looking forward to retirement. “After working for so many years, it will be different,” Skoglund said. “But I’m looking forward to the chance to relax, play golf and enjoy the family.”
Staff writer Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.