The Times Media Co. named Joe Battistoni as its new digital advertising director.
Battistoni’s background in digital made him a good fit for the job at the Munster newspaper, said Times Media Co. Publisher Chris White.
Battistoni started out of college as growth representative for RedEye a Tribune Media Group product. He soon moved into national advertising, then cars.com, where his digital sales career started.
He returned to the Tribune Media Group, working as a sales manager for RedEye before starting an initiative at Tribune focusing on digital services, such as social media management and search engine optimization.
He most recently worked as digital category manager for all local retail for Tribune Media Group.
A 2005 graduate of Southern Illinois University, Battistoni holds a bachelor’s degree in political science.
He maintains a relationship with the school’s student paper, the Daily Egyptian, where he spent time as advertising manager, serving on the paper’s Policy Review Board.
Battistoni was inducted into the student newspaper’s hall of fame as its first inductee.
The accolade is the most recent among the 31-year-old’s career awards.
He was Daily Egyptian Rookie of the Year 2004, Senior of the Year 2005, Chicago Tribune Rookie of the Year 2006, and he earned the National Newspaper Association Media Innovation Award of Excellence in 2007 and cars.com Rookie of the Year in 2008.
— The Times (Munster)
