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2012 Forum Forward class graduates during ceremony in Fargo

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The 2012 Forum Forward graduating class and mentors, from left to right: Dickinson Press Publisher Harvey Brock, JobsHQ Employment Specialist/Sales Team Leader Lisa Tillotson, Forum Regional Operations Manager Curt Christensen, Forum Communications Printing-Fargo Customer Service Representative Kari Saylor, FCC Director of Multimedia Sales Operations Amy Fredrickson, Forum Features Editor Heidi Shaffer, Duluth News Tribune Ad Director Roz Randorf, FCC Digital Accounts Manager Chad Jacobsen, RiverTowns Newspaper Group Multimedia Producer Roger Sievers, Echo Press Variety Editor Tara Bitzan, Grand Forks Herald Editor Steve Wagner, WDAY-TV Regional Sales Manager Joshua Rohrer, FCC CEO Lloyd Case, Forum General Manager Aaron Beecher, Forum Reporter Ryan Johnson, FCC Executive Vice President and COO Bill Marcil Jr. and Daily Republic Publisher Korrie Wenzel.

FARGO, N.D. – Eight Forum Communications Co.employees were feted this week as the 2012 Forum Forward class graduated and became alumni of the company’s leadership training program started several years ago. Graduation was held Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Fargo. Members of FCC’s senior management team were on hand to celebrate, as were each of the graduates company mentors, who are an integral component to the program. “This is a culmination of a year spent visiting various divisions within our company, including Broadcast, Commercial Printing, Digital and Newspaper,” said program facilitator Sonjia Anderson. “This has provided them insights into leadership skills, professional growth, and the opportunity to share best practices.” The graduating class also participated in brainstorming session on company innovation to generate ideas relating to reducing expenses and increasing revenue. Projects coming out of the past innovation sessions include the Forum News Service, the Green Team, and the “We Are Forum Communications” branding video. The 2013 Forum Forward participants and mentors also gathered in Fargo this week to begin their year of training.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case presents Forum Forward graduate Tara Bitzen with her certificate. Her mentor, Grand Forks Editor Steve Wagner stands at right.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case presents Forum Forward graduate Ryan Johnson with his certificate. His mentor, Daily Republic Publisher Korrie Wenzel stands at right.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case presents Forum Forward graduate Joshua Rohrer with his certificate. His mentor, FCC Executive Vice President and COO Bill Marcil Jr. stands at right.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case gives Forum Forward graduate Heidi Shaffer and her mentor Amy Fredrickson a hug.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case presents Forum Forward graduate Lisa Tillotson with her certificate. Her mentor, Dickinson Press Publisher Harvey Brock stands at right.

Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case presents Forum Forward graduate Kari Saylor with her certificate. Her mentor, Curt Christensen stands at right.

The 2012 Forum Forward graduating class included: – GRADUATE: Tara Bitzan, life/variety/special projects editor, Echo Press, Alexandria, Minn. MENTOR: Steve Wagner, editor, Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, N.D. – GRADUATE: Chad Jacobsen, digital accounts manager, Forum Communications Co., Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Roz Randorf , ad director, Duluth News Tribune, Duluth, Minn. – GRADUATE: Ryan Johnson, reporter, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Korrie Wenzel, publisher, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D. – GRADUATE: Joshua Rohrer, regional sales manager, WDAY-TV, Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Bill Marcil Jr., executive vice president and chief operating officer Forum Communications Co., and publisher, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, N.D. – GRADUATE: Kari Saylor, customer service representative, Forum Communications Printing-Fargo, Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Curt Christensen, regional operations manager, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Fargo, N.D. – GRADUATE: Heidi Shaffer, features editor, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Amy Fredrickson, director of multimedia sales operations, Forum Communications Co., Fargo, N.D. – GRADUATE: Roger Sievers, multimedia producer, RiverTown Newspaper Group, Red Wing, Minn. MENTOR: Aaron Becher, general manager, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Fargo, N.D. – GRADUATE: Lisa Tillotson, employment specialist/sales team leader, Jobs HQ, Fargo, N.D. MENTOR: Harvey Brock, publisher, The Dickinson Press, Dickinson, N.D.

Forum Communications Co. announces 2013 Forum Forward class

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FARGO, N.D. - Forum Communications Co. has named its Forum Forward class for 2013, company officials announced Friday. This year’s class is comprised of eight individuals, salespeople, reporters, editors and multimedia producers from all over the company’s geographic footprint.

Forum Forward is an internal company leadership program created in 2009 to broaden the leadership skills of the dedicated employees across Forum Communications Co.and to build the company’s next generation of leaders.

This year’s class includes:

Jon Buller, director of finance for the Duluth News Tribune

- Applicant: Jon Buller, Director of Finance, Duluth News Tribune

Phil Frebault, director of advertising for Rivertowns Newspaper Group

Mentor: Phil Frebault, Advertising Director, RiverTown Multimedia

Leah Kastner, supervisor, FCC Media Planning

- Applicant: Leah Kastner, Media Planning Supervisor, Digital

Kirsten Stromsodt, deputy editor of The Forum

Mentor: Kirsten Stromsodt, Deputy Editor, The Forum

Greg Locnikar, customer service representative, Forum Communications Printing-Fargo

- Applicant: Gregory Locnikar, Customer Service Representative, FCP-Fargo

Chris Dorsey, FCC director digital and major accounts sales

Mentor: Chris Dorsey, Director Digital & Major Accounts, Forum Communications Company

Lori Weber Menke, multimedia manager at the Grand Forks Herald

- Applicant: Lori Weber Menke, Multimedia Manager, Grand Forks Herald

Rob Horken, general manager at WDAY TV

Mentor: Rob Horken, General Manager, WDAZ-TV

Jeff Nelson, news director at WDAY TV

- Applicant: Jeff Nelson, News Director, WDAY TV

Mary Jo Hotzler, director of the Forum News Service

Mentor: Mary Jo Hotzler, Director, Forum News Service

Dave Roepke, news editor at The Forum

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Jon Clites, regional sales manager at WDAY

Applicant: Dave Roepke, News Editor, The Forum
Mentor: Jon Clites, Regional Sales Manager, WDAY

Kevin Smith, advertising director at the West Central Tribune

- Applicant: Kevin Smith, Director of Advertising, West Central Tribune

Roger Sievers, multimedia producer for the Rivertowns Newspaper Group

Mentor: Roger Sievers, Multimedia Producer, RiverTown Multimedia

John Svingen, advertising director at The Pioneer of Bemidji, Minn.

- Applicant: John Svingen, Director of Advertising, The Bemidji Pioneer

Carmen Wallander, customer service manager at Forum Communications Printing-Fargo

Mentor: Carmen Wallander, Customer Service Manager, FCP-Fargo

Each year, FCC employees have the opportunity to apply for Forum Forward and company executives choose the finalists who undergo a year of site visits, leadership studies and mentoring. Each graduate is assigned a mentor from inside the company, someone who has demonstrated leadership and the ability to help build the skills of their employees. The class then spends a year traveling to various FCCsites and learning from respected leaders in all aspects of the company’s ventures.

Forum Communications Co. is a multimedia information company based in Fargo, N.D. Forum Communicationsowns dozens of newspapers, websites and television and radio stations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Matt Cory named next editor of The Pioneer of Bemidji, Minn.

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Matt Cory was named the next editor of The Pioneer of Bemidji, Minn. He replaces exiting Editor Steve Wagner who was recently named the editor of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald.

By Justin Glawe

BEMIDJI, Minn. – In a media landscape rapidly changing as outlets and reporters, editors and publishers try to keep up, deadlines are by the minute and priorities are sometimes judged by the second.
Matt Cory, named Wednesday as editor of The Pioneer, has been witness to the sea change still transforming the industry, and it’s a challenge he’s willing to meet.
“As newspapers have learned in the last 10 years, or so, and really ratcheted up in the last five, we have to be a lot of different things to different people,” Cory said. “You want to cover the big stories but you want to tell the stories of individual people within the community as well.”
For the last 19 years, Cory, 42, has been with the Grand Forks Herald in myriad roles. Stints as a reporter in news and sports, time spent policing grammar, style and spelling as copy editor and several years as night and city editor round out a resume soaked in newspaper ink.
“We are fortunate to hire an editor of Matt Cory’s skills and experience,” said Pioneer Publisher Dennis Doeden. “Matt has a passion for newspapers, and I am excited to add him to our leadership team in Bemidji. Matt brings experience as a reporter, editor, page designer and manager to our newsroom. He understands the newspaper’s responsibility in our community.”
Cory will bring a wife and two children with him to Bemidji when he takes over in mid-April. A third child attends college in Nebraska. Cory will replace Steve Wagner, editor since October 2011. Wagner was named the Herald’s editor March 8.
A native of East Grand Forks, Cory attended the University of North Dakota. UND holds his heart in hockey, but Cory said he prefers basketball of the maroon and gold variety.
“It’s kind of like coming home for me in a way,” Cory said, looking ahead to starting his third decade in newspapers at The Pioneer. “I’m excited about being back in Minnesota full-time.”
And while the future of the print product – already reduced in size, circulation and days-printed elsewhere around the country remains to be seen – the future of newspapers as institutions of truth is as imperative as ever.
“Newspapers will always be a vital link in the process of communication,” Cory said. “I’ve heard the saying that radio had the immediacy, television had the video and newspapers had the whole story. Well, now we have to do all three. And that’s a challenge we have to face every day.”

Justin Glawe is a reporter at The Pioneer.

The Pioneer is owned by Forum Communications Co. Forum Communications is a multimedia information company based in Fargo, and owns dozens of newspapers, websites and television and radio stations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Wagner named new editor of the Grand Forks Herald

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Steve Wagner has been named editor of the Grand Forks Herald.

By Brandi Jewett
Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Steve Wagner was named the editor of the Grand Forks Herald Friday.
Wagner, who has served as editor of The Pioneer in Bemidij, Minn., since October 2011, will replace Mary Jo Hotzler, who will be leading Forum News Service for Forum Communications Co.
“I’m delighted that Steve Wagner has accepted the editor’s job here,” Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs said. “He’s a strong newsman who cares about the integrity of the Herald’s journalism, about the company’s relationship with our communities and about its independence as a local newspaper.
“He’s going to have a positive impact on all of those things — exactly the things that I believe are most important to the Herald and our readers.”
Wagner says he’s excited to get to Grand Forks and start learning about the Herald and the community.
“I’m going to use that knowledge to lead this newsroom,” Wagner said. “My goal is to do great work, and you can’t do that alone. It’s a team effort.
“I’m going to listen, learn and build a team that fits the newspaper and that will serve the community.”
An official start date for Wagner has not been set.
Wagner is a Moorhead native and a graduate of North Dakota State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.
Wagner joined Forum Communications Co. as a reporter for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead 14 years ago. He also served as its Minnesota editor, an investigative reporter and news director.
Prior to working for The Forum, Wagner served as a reporter for The Courier in Waterloo, Iowa.

The Grand Forks Herald, The Pioneer in Bemidji and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead are all owned by Forum Communications Co.  Forum Communications is a multimedia information company based in Fargo. Forum Communications owns dozens of newspapers, websites and television and radio stations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald editor to direct Forum News Service

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Mary Jo Hotzler, editor of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, has been named the director of the Forum News Service.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Mary Jo Hotzler, editor of the Grand Forks Herald, will leave her job to become director of Forum News Service.
The current director, Mike Jacobs, will return to full-time duties as publisher of the Herald.
These changes take place Feb. 1.
Jacobs said he’ll begin a search for a new editor immediately.
Forum Communications Co., which owns the Herald, launched the news service in January 2012 to distribute content to news organizations in the Upper Midwest. Jacobs split his time between the news service and the Herald.
“We’ve built the news service to the point where it needs a full-time director,” Jacobs said. “I’m delighted that Mary Jo will carry this work forward.”
Hotzler joined the Herald in March 2012. Previously, she had been deputy editor of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. For 18 months, she’s chaired a company committee examining how Forum company properties gather and distribute news.
“Mary Jo has the background to move the news service to the level of a complete regional wire service,” Jacobs said. “As for me, I’m delighted to be back in the publisher’s chair on a full-time basis.”
Hotzler said, “I’ve been involved with the news service since its creation and look forward to the opportunity to carry it forward. At the same time, this obviously cuts short my time as editor of the Herald. I think the world of the people here who have helped make this past year a truly great one.”