David Dunn-Rankin, president of D-R Media and Investments LLC, was honored with the Frank W. Mayborn Leadership Award on Tuesday during the Senior Leadership Conference of America’s Newspapers.
The award was presented by Leonard Woolsey, president of America’s Newspapers and president of Southern Newspapers, Inc. Woolsey also is president and publisher of The Daily News in Galveston, Texas.
In presenting the award, Woolsey said: “I think David epitomizes the spirit and energy all of us in our industry need today. His constant curiosity, his desire to take apart the engine and figure out how to make it run better, and to never be discouraged by short-term challenges. David is a leader extraordinaire. I’ve known David for decades and in some ways it feels like he is only just getting started.”
Woolsey said Dunn-Rankin has a passion for quality local journalism and for the work done by America’s Newspapers. He is a former member of the America’s Newspapers board of directors, has been a valuable member of the finance and audit committee and currently serves on the SNPA Foundation board of trustees. Dunn-Rankin, like his father Derek, also is a former president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.
He has been a long-time, active participant with the Family Owners Conference, as well as a speaker at conferences. In the early days of America’s Newspapers during the COVID-pandemic, when members weren’t able to meet in person, Dunn-Rankin was one of the discussion moderators at a PIVOT 2020 Idea Exchange for senior executives from mid-sized circulation groups. He later ran a print revenue idea roundtable at the 2022 Mega-Conference. His focus was on ideas submitted by members that had been in place for at least 90 days and which a member was confident would demonstrate increases in print revenue.
Prior to joining the newspaper and media industry, he was a CPA and consultant. He also worked as a technology entrepreneur and successfully developed and led multiple technology startups based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The D-R Media and Investments website tells the story behind the company:
“D-R Media is an extension of a family newspaper business, Sun Coast Media Group, which was founded in 1976. Sun Coast was originally based on the west coast of Florida and gradually acquired papers in Highlands and Polk county. The daily paper based in Sarasota and Charlotte counties was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for its breaking news coverage of Hurricane Charlie and a Pulitzer Prize winner for its editorials on the deplorable conditions inside the state prison in Charlotte County.
“In July 2018, Adams Publishing Group purchased the west coast operations of Sun Coast Media Group from the Dunn-Rankin family. David Dunn-Rankin purchased the Highlands and Polk county newspapers individually and started D-R Media.
“In December of 2018, D-R Media purchased Sun Publications of Florida which had weekly papers in Polk, Lake and Sumter counties.”
Woolsey also shared a comment made about Dunn-Rankin by Heidi Wright, president of FORJournalism, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Oregon and the former chief operating officer of EO Media Group and publisher of The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon. Wright is the immediate past president of America’s Newspapers. Here’s what she had to say about Dunn-Rankin: “It’s a privilege to honor David Dunn-Rankin with this year’s Frank Mayborn award. David’s unwavering commitment to his colleagues and to the newspaper industry has long set him apart — whether leading revenue roundtables at the Mega-Conference or candidly sharing lessons learned through his own journey. His leadership reflects the collaboration and courage that define the Frank Mayborn Award.”
