Tribune Company Press Release

Daily Press Media Group Appoints Advertising Executive To Lead Multimedia Sales


(HAMPTON ROADS, VA) Veteran advertising executive Orestes Baez (Oh-RESS-tez Bah-yez) has joined the management team of the Daily Press Media Group as vice president of advertising sales.

Coming to Hampton Roads from the Baltimore metro area, Baez has held leadership positions with advertising-supported publications, both privately and publicly owned, during his nearly quarter-century in the business.

Most recently, he served two years as president and CEO of the Maryland Pennysaver Group, Inc., publisher of the country’s largest privately held, advertising-only shopper magazine, with weekly direct mail delivery to more than 1 million homes in eight Maryland counties. The company’s portfolio includes 66 print editions and several websites.

During his tenure there, Baez was credited with leading the company through the toughest economic downturn in 50 years, successfully reversing revenue declines and shrinking profit margins.

Before leading the Maryland Pennysaver, Baez was associated for 21 years with Harte Hanks Communications, a publicly traded company that provides advertising solutions in print and online for local and regional clients. He started with Harte Hanks in 1986 “on the street” as a field sales representative for the company’s Flyer shopper in Miami, Fla., moving up to manage the company’s employment and real estate advertising initiatives. His career then took him to southern California, where he served 12 years as regional vice president/telemarketing for the company’s 5.5 million free circulation weekly, also called The PennySaver, before returning to Florida in 2005 to serve as president of Harte Hanks’ Tampa-based Flyer magazine. Through much of that time, he was integrally involved in developing and executing digital strategies to increase the reach and advertising effectiveness of the company’s product line.

“Orestes’ multimedia experience is a tremendous asset for the ongoing transformation of our sales team, from a transactional product sales focus to a true multimedia marketing solutions group,” said Digby A. Solomon, president, publisher and CEO of the Daily Press Media Group, in announcing the appointment. “He is a competitive sportsman who has both a drive to win and a great sense of humor, and he knows how to grow our customers’ businesses.”

A native of Cuba, Baez holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management from Clemson University in South Carolina. He currently serves as the elected president of the Association of Free Community Newspapers, having been a member of the organization’s board of directors since 1999.

“The greater Peninsula is a solid, thriving urban area that’s experiencing some economic improvement in advance of other regions around the country,” said Baez. “The Daily Press and the team assembled by Publisher Digby Solomon have continued to achieve successes for our business clients even in the face of the most difficult economic environment we’ve ever seen. I am excited to join the team in developing customer-centric solutions for the marketplace.”


About Daily Press
The Daily Press Media Group is a diversified company engaged in gathering, packaging and distributing news, information and advertising on the Virginia Peninsula, located in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia, and in surrounding communities. Headquartered in Newport News and a subsidiary of Tribune, the company publishes the Daily Press newspaper seven days a week, the twice-weekly Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, the weekly Tidewater Review serving the greater West Point area, and several special interest publications. The Daily Press Media Group also distributes news, advertising and other information through various multimedia channels, including its online affiliates (dailypress.com, hrtownsquare.com, hrvarsity.com, hrmilitary.com and others), radio, television, direct mail, event marketing, promotions and social media.