Veteran journalist Kirk LaPointe has been named Editor-in-Chief of Business in Vancouver Media Group and a Vice-President of parent company Glacier Media.
Mr LaPointe has served as Vice President, Audience and Business Development, for BIV (www.biv.com) since October 2015 and helped lead it to revenue and audience growth and strengthened editorial content. During this time BIV has expanded into video, radio, podcasting and a much larger portfolio of magazines and special public events.
He has also worked during this time at Roundhouse Radio 98.3 FM as a daily talk-show host. In his new capacity, he will continue to lead the BIV editorial team, contribute to Glacier Media projects, and reduce his Roundhouse commitment to the daily hour-long BIV business-related program.
"I am grateful and privileged to be given the opportunity to lead a strong team in business journalism," LaPointe said. "Glacier and BIV are committed to high-quality coverage in our newspaper and across digital platforms, and we are proud to be the market leaders in our element of journalism."
Sue Belisle, President & Publisher of BIV, said: “Kirk's commitment to our platform of products during the last two years required a significant amount of time and energy, and this new position is well deserved. I look forward to continuing to work together and lead our teams into our next areas of growth and expansion.”
LaPointe has served in a variety of senior editorial roles with The Vancouver Sun, CBC, CTV News, The Canadian Press, Southam News and National Post. He is an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.
Glacier Media CEO Jon Kennedy added: “Kirk’s experience, vision and leadership have been integral to the development and growth we have enjoyed at BIV. We are demonstrating in tangible fact that both revenue growth, reader satisfaction and marketing effectiveness for our customers are attainable in today’s media landscape through increased focus on content quality, product utility and brand, combined with sales effort and creativity. We also look forward to the contributions Kirk can make to our broader Glacier Media efforts.”
BIVMG operates a leading weekly regional business publication, biv.com, a suite of two-dozen magazines, a weekday radio program, English and Chinese podcasts, and video journalism.