• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Lee Enterprises has named Nathan Bekke, operating vice president and vice president of audience strategy since 2020, as chief operating officer.

Bekke has served at Lee for three decades. 

“Nathan has played an integral role in Lee’s transformation and has been a key leader in driving revenue and greatly increasing our digital audience that’s led to industry leading digital-only audience growth,” says Kevin Mowbray, president and chief executive officer of Lee Enterprises. “He has also been a significant contributor to Lee with strong operational knowledge driving excellent results across the company.” 

Mowbray adds that Bekke has successfully consolidated “legacy print costs that drive necessary efficiencies that allow the company to reinvest in our digital future.”

Lee has been enjoying digital success despite a harmful ransomware attack earlier this year that cost it $2 million. 

Digital revenue reached $73 million in Q2, a 3% increase YoY and represented 53% of the publisher’s total operating revenue of $137.8 million.