The Garden Island president and publisher Shanna Pollard announced yesterday that she has accepted the position as president and publisher of the Record Searchlight, an E.W. Scripps Company newspaper in Northern California. Pollard will leave The Garden Island on June
The Garden Island president and publisher Shanna Pollard announced yesterday that she has accepted the position as president and publisher of the Record Searchlight, an E.W. Scripps Company newspaper in Northern California.
Pollard will leave The Garden Island on June 23, more than three years after coming to the paper on Jan. 7, 2003. Pollard will succeed Deborah Smiddy at the Record Searchlight, who has been named the director of advertising for Scripps.
“Lee enterprises is a wonderful newspaper company. One that believes in local autonomy and is committed to the highest standard of journalistic integrity,” Pollard said yesterday.
The Garden Island is owned by Lee Enterprises, a newspaper group based in Davenport, Iowa.
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with their outstanding leadership team and it is with mixed emotions that I make this choice,” Pollard said.
There is no word who Pollard’s replacement will be yet, but Lee Enterprises has begun the process to find a new publisher.
“As (husband) Chad and I prepare to leave Kaua‘i, we are closing a chapter in our lives. A time that has been filled with adventure, treasured memories, wonderful life-long friendships and the knowledge that I am leaving The Garden Island a better newspaper than I found it,” she said.
When Pollard joined The Garden Island in 2003, she arrived from central California where she had been general manager and vice president of advertising for Pulitzer Central Coast Newspapers.
Pollard says she is happy to return to California. “My family all lives in California. My neices and nephews are growing up and I have been missing attending their Little League games and school programs,” Pollard said. “This job is a fantastic opportunity at a much larger newspaper in a warm and welcoming community much like here in Kaua‘i.”
The Record Searchlight is a 30,000 circulation, daily newspaper. The Garden Island, by comparison, is just under 10,000 circulation daily. Pollard oversaw the newspaper’s transition when Lee Enterprises acquired the Pulitzer-owned paper in 2005. She also saw during her time at the helm, a Pa‘i Award given by the Hawai‘i Publishers Association for photography at The Garden Island.
“The ‘ohana here at the paper I’ll truly miss. As I shared recently with Mayor Baptiste, this Mainland haole came here for the opportunity and the beauty of Kaua‘i. It’s only with time and shared experiences that I’ve come to know in my heart what the spirit of Kaua‘i and its people are all about,” Pollard said. “I have been forever changed by you Kaua‘i … a hui hou.”
• Adam Harju, editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and aharju@kauaipubco.com
