Maribel Perez Wadsworth Named 'USA Today' Publisher

Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA Today Network, will be the next publisher of USA Today. As a Cuban-American, she is the first person of color to hold the title at the daily publication.

The USA Today Network consists of USA Today and 109 other media brands across the country.

Wadsworth succeeds John Zidich, who is retiring after 40 years at parent company Gannett.

As both president and publisher, Wadsworth will continue to lead the USA Today Network’s $1 billion consumer division, overseeing content strategy and operations.

“We are still in the process of looking at the realignment of resources from a news perspective to really focus on our priority areas," Wadsworth said in a USA Today article. "We have to continue to evolve and make sure we are really focused on the biggest things, the most important work."

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Wadsworth is the second female publisher of USA Today. In February, the publication named Nicole Carroll its editor-in-chief (the second female editor-in-chief in its history), “bolstering the paper’s continued effort to add more women leadership to their team,” a USA Today Network spokesperson told Publishers Daily.

Wadsworth played a key part in leading the digital transformation of Gannett and its media properties, as well as overseeing investments in emerging technologies, such as the launch of the first virtual reality weekly news program, "VRtually There."

Wadsworth has been with Gannett for more than 20 years. She started as a reporter on the agriculture beat at the Rockford Register Star.

In 2015, Wadsworth became Gannett’s first Chief Strategy Officer and in 2016, its Chief Transformation Officer. She became president of the USA Today Network last November.

USA Todayhas a daily circulation of 3.1 million. Its sites reach nearly 92 million unique visitors each month across digital platforms. 
Digital advertising revenue now accounts for two-thirds of its total advertising business.
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