Tribune Staff Reports
Bud Hunt has been named vice president and group publisher for Columbus-based AIM Media Indiana LLC with responsibility for all of the company’s media properties in Indiana, including The Tribune.
Hunt’s appointment, effective Jan. 1, was announced jointly Friday by Jeremy L. Halbreich, chairman and chief executive officer, and Rick Starks, president and chief operating officer, of AIM Media Indiana LLC.
In this new role, Hunt will be responsible for the daily newspapers in Columbus, Franklin, Greenfield and Seymour; weekly newspapers in Nashville, Brownstown, Pendleton, New Palestine and Fortville-McCordsville; DigitalAIM, the digital marketing services operation; a magazine and special publications division; and all affiliated websites and digital assets.
Most recently, Hunt, 64, served as vice president and group publisher for AIM Media Midwest LLC, an affiliated AIM Media company, with responsibility for media operations in southern Ohio, southeastern Ohio and western West Virginia.
Hunt and his wife, Lee, will relocate to Columbus from Wilmington, Ohio, shortly after the New Year.
“It is a great privilege for us to welcome Bud to Columbus and to join our team in Indiana,” Halbreich said. “He is a highly experienced, accomplished and successful publishing executive who will bring a great deal of energy, enthusiasm and strong leadership to The Tribune and to the entire Indiana community. Bud is deeply committed to the communities he serves through our various media properties. He is fair, open-minded and always a straight-shooter.”
Earlier in his career, Hunt’s roles included:
Regional publisher and regional sales director for Civitas Media, 2014 to 2016.
Various roles, including publisher, regional publisher and vice president for Rust Communications, 1992 to 2014.
Editor and general manager for Park Newspapers, 1987 to 1992.
Prior to the entering the publishing industry, Hunt worked in sales at Whirlpool and RCA Service.
Hunt has always been active in local civic and community affairs with his past and present service ranging across chambers of commerce, United Way, Boy Scouts, Rotary, the health and transportation needs of his local communities and his church. He also has served on the boards of state press associations in Missouri and Ohio.
Hunt is a native of West Virginia and a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, a private Christian liberal arts college founded in 1901 with the mission of providing education for leadership and service.
Hunt’s appointment follows the announcement last week by Chuck Wells, his predecessor in these roles, resigning to acquire a private business serving Columbus and southern Indiana.
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AIM Media Indiana LLC is an affiliate of AIM Media Texas LLC and AIM Media Midwest LLC. All entities are managed by AIM Media Management of Dallas, Texas, where Jeremy L. Halbreich serves as chairman and chief executive officer and Rick Starks serves as president and chief operating officer. Both are 40-plus-year veterans of the newspaper publishing industry.
The company focuses on local content across all forms of media, including print, digital and video.
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