our leaders
conan Gallaty
Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing Company
contact
Tel: 727-893-8703
E-mail: cgallaty@tampabay.com
Conan Gallaty is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Times Publishing Company. He oversees all business operations of the company, including advertising, circulation and operations.
Prior to his current role, Conan was the Company’s president. He also has served as its chief digital officer, responsible for digital strategy and business development as well as all technical operations for the Times. Before coming to the Times, he was President of Digital for WEHCO Media, an Arkansas-based company with newspapers, digital agencies and cable systems across six states. Before joining WEHCO, Conan was the Director of Online Strategy and Operations for Herald-Tribune Media Group in Sarasota, then a division of the New York Times Regional Media Group as well as Online Director for The Augusta Chronicle, a Morris Communications newspaper located in Augusta, Georgia.
In more than 20 years working in digital media, Conan has received numerous awards for his work in news coverage, design, advertising innovation and development of new digital businesses.
Conan began his career as a journalist, starting in the newsroom of the News-Tribune in his hometown of Rome, Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in Journalism and Business.
News
Mark Katches
Vice President/ Editor
contact
Tel: 727-893-8441
E-Mail: mkatches@tampabay.com
Twitter: @markkatches
Mark Katches is the vice president and editor of the Tampa Bay Times. He assumed the role as the top editor in August 2018. In that time, the newsroom has won the Pulitzer Prize twice and has been a finalist once. He previously served as editor and vice president of content at The Oregonian/OregonLive in Portland, where his newsroom grew its digital audience by more than 70 percent while winning numerous national journalism awards for investigative reporting, breaking news coverage and narrative writing.
Before moving to Portland, Mark was editorial director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, where he helped launch a start-up investigative website focusing on accountability reporting in the state of California. He helped grow the center’s newsroom from a team of about a dozen watchdog journalists into what was at the time the largest investigative reporting newsroom in the country with about 50 journalists. Mark also built investigative reporting teams at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Orange County Register, and he directly edited Pulitzer winning projects in local reporting in 2008 and 2010. He served as a consulting editor on another Pulitzer winner, in the public service category, in 2015. Before joining the Times, stories he directed have been named finalists for the Pulitzer five times.
A California native who earned his journalism degree at San Jose State University, Mark has taught journalism as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford University. He completed the year-long Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University in 2013. Mark served on the board of directors at Investigative Reporters and Editors, where he oversaw the organization’s mentorship program for six years. He is a member of the Kaiser Health News advisory board. He also serves on the advisory board of the University of Tampa journalism school, is a board member of the Florida Society of News Editors and chairs the Affordability Task Force for IRE.
Graham Brink
Editor of Editorials
contact
Tel: 727-893-8406
E-mail: gbrink@tampabay.com
Graham Brink is the Editor of Editorials for the Tampa Bay Times. He assumed the position in 2020, after having served as the Times’ business columnist and separately, as assistant managing editor of Metro/Business. In his previous editing role, Graham oversaw much of the Times’ local and state coverage, including the Tallahassee bureau.
Graham joined the Times in 1997 as an intern in the Pasco County bureau. He spent the next 10 years as a reporter, working out of Hernando and Hillsborough counties, before moving to a general assignment beat in St. Petersburg. He became an assistant metro editor in 2007. The next year, he moved to business, where he edited a series of stories about nuclear power plants that won a Gerald Loeb Award, one of only two the Times had received at that point. In 2014, he was promoted to metro editor. He was named assistant managing editor for Metro/Business in 2016.
His work as a reporter won many awards, including in 2016 for a first place finish in the Society for Features Journalism contest for a story about becoming the second person ever to complete the official Florida Divide mountain bike race from Georgia to the Everglades. His writing about Morocco was selected for the 2003 edition of Best American Travel Writing.
Graham earned a bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University and master’s from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Before joining the Times, he eked out a meager living as a freelance photographer and ran a small lawn care company. The best decision he every made was asking his wife to marry him. They live in St. Petersburg with their son.
Traci Johnson
contact
Tel: 727-432-1542
E-mail: traciljohnson@tampabay.com
Twitter: @TBHomeTeam
Traci L. Johnson oversees all sports coverage, including the area’s professional teams: the Buccaneers, the Lightning, the Rays and the Rowdies.
She joined the Times 20 years ago as a summer intern. Throughout her tenure at the Times, Traci has held a variety of posts in the newsroom. Most recently, she was the editor in charge of directing coverage of high school and college sports and Sunday enterprise. She also was the assigning editor for all major non-beat sporting events such as the Grand Prix, Valspar and the Gasparilla Distance Classic.
A native of Alabama, Traci is the first woman to hold the position of sports editor at the Times.
Michael Van Sickler
Managing Editor for News and Engagement
contact
Tel: 727-580-9650
E-mail: mvansickler@tampabay.com
I’ve been with the Times for more than two decades. As a Times reporter, I’ve covered growth and development, St. Pete City Hall and state government in Tallahassee. Since I covered Tampa Bay more than a decade ago as a reporter, this bustling region of more than 3 million has changed dramatically. Back then, our local economy was badly shaken by the Great Recession. Today, our teeming downtowns have been transformed and our property values have rebounded. Still, fundamental problems persist. I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and moved to the Sunshine State to attend the University of Florida. I’ve called Lakeland, West Palm Beach, Tampa, and Tallahassee home. I’m now in St. Petersburg with my wife, Kat, and son Robert.
Claire McNeill
Deputy Managing Editor/Enterprise
Internship Director
contact
E-mail: cmcneill@tampabay.com
Claire McNeill is the deputy managing editor for enterprise at the Tampa Bay Times, working with the enterprise team and the broader newsroom to produce signature narrative and explanatory journalism. The enterprise team is home to a decorated roster of storytellers, including a Pulitzer Prize winner and a nationally syndicated columnist.
McNeill co-leads the Times’ internship program, hiring and shaping future Times reporters. She started at the Times as an intern in the summer of 2013, returning the next year after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked as a reporter covering general assignment news and features, higher education and nightside breaking news before becoming an editor in 2022.
Rebecca Woolington
Deputy Managing Editor/Investigations
contact
E-mail: rwoolington@tampabay.com
Rebecca Woolington is the deputy managing editor for investigations at the Tampa Bay Times. She was previously an investigative and criminal justice reporter at The Oregonian, where she began her career. At the Times, her work has chronicled the rise and fall of a troubled small-town mayor, discrepancies in the state’s counting of coronavirus deaths and dangerous working conditions inside a Tampa lead factory. The latter earned her and her reporting partners, Corey G. Johnson and Eli Murray, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting, a George Polk Award and several other national honors.
Rebecca grew up in Portland and attended Portland Community College before graduating from the University of Oregon. She joined the Times in 2018.
Allison Ross
Assistant Managing Editor for Local News
contact
E-mail: aross@tampabay.com
Allison Ross is the assistant managing editor for local news. She oversees the coverage of local and state politics and government news, as well as the culture team.
Allison joined the Tampa Bay Times in 2019 as a reporter. Before becoming an assistant managing editor, she was a senior editor of the state politics and government team.
Before coming to the Times, she previously worked at the Louisville (Ky.) Courier Journal, Bankrate and the Palm Beach Post.
She and her family live in St. Petersburg.
Business
Bala Sundaramoorthy
President and Chief Operating Officer
contact
Tel: 404-683-4746
E-mail: balas@tampabay.com
Bala is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Times Publishing Company. He oversees all business operations of the company including digital, print, finance, technology, product and operations across all divisions.
Prior to his current role, Bala spent 10 years with Cox Enterprises, a $21B global company, leading several business units with full P&L responsibilities. In his most recent role, he transformed a legacy media company into a thriving digital multimedia company boosting subscriber growth, revenue, and EBITDA. Key accomplishments include concepting a new business model, diversifying revenue streams, and expanding market presence.
Bala’s 30 career history includes expertise in business strategy, operations, mergers and acquisitions, product, technology, ecommerce, customer relationships and management consulting. His industry experience includes software services, financial services, media & entertainment, insurance and professional services. He accelerated digital transformation by leveraging industry-leading talent in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Digital Platforms, Data & Analytics and Customer Experience.
Bala’s passion is in driving innovation at the intersection of business and technology.
Bala maintains an active schedule of professional and community activities. He has served on the board of professional organizations and provides advisory consulting to industry peers in media and technology. He has engaged his leadership skills as a board member to help kids in need via Empty Stocky Fund and those with disabilities via Bobby Dodd Institute.
Bala holds an MBA from Emory University and certifications in COO program, AI and IoT from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jay Rey
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
contact
Tel: 727-543-0960
E-mail: jrey@tbnweekly.com
Justo (Jay) Rey, a seasoned leader in the media industry, is the President of Tampa Bay Newspapers, where he has played a pivotal role in the company’s remarkable growth and expansion. Jay, 44, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Florida International University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.
Jay’s career began at Tampa Bay Newspapers in 2007 when he relocated from South Florida to join the company as the Sales Manager. His leadership and strategic vision facilitated the successful integration of the Tribune’s Suncoast News team, leading to his promotion to General Manager in 2016. In 2019, he advanced to Associate Publisher, and by 2021, he was appointed President. Under his stewardship, Tampa Bay Newspapers has seen its circulation soar from 185,000 to over 350,000, encompassing 13 titles.
In addition to his role at Tampa Bay Newspapers, Jay serves as the Vice Chair of the Florida Press Association Board, where he contributes to the advancement of the press industry in Florida. He is set to oversee the launch of the St. Petersburg Beacon in January, marking another milestone in his impressive career.
Jay is supported by his wife Jessica and their two children, JD and Samantha.
Stephanie Bonnell
Finance Director
contact
Tel: 727-893-8190
E-mail: sbonnell@tampabay.com
Stephanie Bonnell is the Finance Director of the Tampa Bay Times.
She began her appointment in June 2023.
Sebastian Dortch
Human Resources Director
contact
Tel: 727-893-8084
Fax: 727-892-2990
E-mail: sdortch@tampabay.com
Sebastian Dortch has enjoyed a wide-ranging career at the Tampa Bay Times, having served as a newsroom editor before joining the business side as Human Resources Director. He was appointed as a director for Times Publishing Company in 2016 and named to the company’s editorial board in 2020. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s in speech communication theater, completed Northwestern University’s Advanced Executive Program, and earned a Master of Arts in Leadership, Theology & Society from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sebastian and his wife, Sibyl, have seven children and three grandchildren. His interests include reading, chess, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
Michael Hyer
Information Technology Director
contact
E-mail: mhyer@tampabay.com
Michael Hyer is the IT Director for the Tampa Bay Times. He assumed this role in 2020 after working at the Times for four years.
Hyer began his career at the Times as an intern in the IT department and eventually became the Development Manager. In his tenure at the Times, he has helped the company through multiple website migrations as well as major changes in core technology.
A Florida native, he attended the University of Central Florida and received a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.
Morgan Peterson
Director of Philanthropy and Communications
contact
Tel: 727-893-8134
E-mail: mpeterson@tampabay.com
Morgan Peterson serves as the director of philanthropy and communications at the Tampa Bay Times. She is responsible for managing both internal and external communications, leading corporate fundraising initiatives for the Times’ Journalism and Investigative Funds and overseeing the Newspaper in Education program.
Morgan earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and brings more than 15 years of expertise in event management, advertising, media planning and buying, sales, marketing and business development to her current role. Prior to joining the Times, Morgan was a nonprofit strategy consultant.
She also previously worked as the senior marketing, event and project manager at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she played a key role in launching and expanding an in-house experiential marketing and event agency.
Kerry O'Reilly
Marketing Director
contact
Tel: 727-893-8411
E-mail: koreilly@tampabay.com
Kerry O’Reilly was named Marketing Director for the Tampa Bay Times and tampabay.com in December 2010. He leads the marketing creative, research and special publications teams.
He joined the Times in 2000 as the marketing communication manager and later was promoted to deputy marketing director. During his newspaper career, he has been involved in more than 30 award-winning campaigns and led many marketing efforts at the Times, such as “How do you take your Times,” “In the know, in the Times,” “One Bay, One Buy” and “Preferred 2 – to – 1” campaigns.
In 2005, O’Reilly was tapped to help lead the growth of tbt* — a free daily publication of the Tampa Bay Times tailored to 25- to 39-year-olds – and served as both general manager and brand manager.
Prior to joining the Times, O’Reilly was the marketing manager at The Tennessean. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and received an M.B.A. in 2004 from the University of Phoenix.
O’Reilly has served as President of the Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts, Kids Voting Tampa Bay the Newspaper Association of America’s Marketing Federation and the Ronald McDonald House of Tampa Bay. He serves on the Board of Governors for the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trustees for the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay.