Dennis Lyons announced Tuesday he will step aside from his responsibilities as CNHI vice president and national editor on Sept. 1 to focus on consulting roles with the company and other news outlets.
Lyons, a former Gannett and USA T0DAY news executive, joined CNHI in November of 2015 as editor of The Daily Item of Sunbury and The Danville News in Pennsylvania. A year later, he added the role of regional editor for CNHI newspapers in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
He was elevated to national editor in January of 2018, and added the title of vice president in 2022.
“Dennis joined CNHI with a clear vision of how to improve the quality of our journalism,” said Donna Barrett, CNHI president and CEO. “He implemented that vision first in Sunbury, and then across the company as vice president of news. We are a stronger company because of his outstanding work.”
Bill Ketter, CNHI’s senior vice president for news, said Lyons’ achievements included initiating a regional editor system to strengthen local news coverage at CNHI papers in more than 20 states and developing news and sports sharing and collaboration programs within CNHI and with other news outlets, including the Associated Press.
“It’s been a privilege to work with CNHI’s talented and hard-working editors, reporters and publishers,” Lyons said. “There has never been a more pressing need for community journalists who can be counted on to provide accurate news and information that readers can trust. I know our team is up to the task.
“My thanks to Bill Ketter, who brought me to the company and to Donna Barrett, who gave me the chance to share my experience as national editor. Moving to a consulting role will offer my wife Mary and me the opportunity to spend more time with our family, especially our nine grandchildren. But I look forward to helping newsrooms at CNHI and possibly elsewhere face their many ongoing challenges.”
For more than 37 years before CNHI, Lyons worked for newspaper publisher Gannett, capped by eight years at USA TODAY, where he rose to managing editor, focusing on companywide news content sharing and projects.
He also served as the top editor of three Gannett local papers: The Niagara Gazette in New York (1994-1996), The Reporter in Lansdale, Pennsylvania (1996-2000) and The Daily Record in Parsippany, New Jersey (2000-2007).
A native of New York City, he holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and history from Fordham University, and a master’s degree in communications from Fairfield University. He is a former adjunct journalism professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
“It has been our pleasure to have Dennis as part of our executive team,” said Barrett. “We look forward to working with him on special projects in the future.”