The Herald Staff
“We continue to bring ‘news you can’t get anywhere else’ and advocate for the African American community – that has not changed,” said Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, the former publisher of The Cincinnati Herald. Kearney was appointed to Cincinnati City Council in mid-March to fill the seat vacated by Councilmember Tamaya Dennard. “It was better for the paper that I leave my position as publisher. I know our editorial team takes a hard line on making sure our stories are fact-solid, reliable and fair, but if I were to remain publisher, there would be an added layer of difficulty that can be avoided,” Kearney said. “And besides, new blood can be a good thing for any business. I’m excited about our new leadership!” Kearney recently was elected president of Region 3 of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade organization of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers across the country. “NNPA will keep me plenty busy in the media business,” said Kearney, “but my day to day main focus is working for and serving the people of Cincinnati!”
Walter Lee White, Senior Vice President of Sesh Communications, is The Cincinnati Herald’s new publisher. White brings to the position more than 40 years of advertising and marketing experience. He also leads the organization’s innovation, advertising, and marketing sales strategies. White has partnered and consulted with Fortune 500 clients, educational organizations, and non-profits in various sectors including healthcare, retail, financial services, telecommunications, and others. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, and prior to joining Sesh Communications, Walter severed as a project manager for Burke Marketing and a Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for Johnson Products in Chicago, IL.
Walter and his wife, Stephanie have a daughter, Jamie White Frey, grandson Aiden White, and two sons, Zachary and Bradford. Walter serves on numerous community boards and has coached basketball at the high school level for almost three decades.
“My goal as publisher is to create a more robust, and profitable digital media platform that complements our strong print products,” White said. “We have more than 60,000 readers across our publications in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Dayton each week, as well as a quickly growing online presence on our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms. Our more than 18,000 HeraldTV (YouTube) subscribers and viewers have logged in more than 7 million views during the past few years.”
Camille Allen is an experienced writer and digital strategist who has worked with publications across the Midwest and East Coast regions. She grew up in Cincinnati, graduated from Walnut Hills High School and the University of Michigan. Camille interned in New York City and now is excited to return to the place where her writing career began. As the Digital Editor, she will oversee the company’s social media content production and assist with programming across all its digital platforms.
Andria Carter is a media consultant with an innovative and
enterprising background in the communications industry. She is a
veteran journalist with more than 24 years of experience in the news industry, having worked with weekly and daily newspapers on the local and national level, including being the former editor of The Cincinnati Herald.
In her role as managing editor for several publications, she oversaw the implementation of the digital strategy and helped create digital marketing strategies. In her role as communication director, she helped implement both internal and external communications on digital platforms, and community engagement strategies on a variety of issues including health, neighborhoods, crime prevention and government policy.
The rest of the talented, hard-working Sesh Communications team remains in place: Dan Yount as Editor-in-Chief, Wade E. Lacey, Sr. as Circulation Manager, Michele Bennett as Office Manager and Classified Ad Manager, John A. Reese as Web Master and Social Media Director, Patrice Logan and Brittany Fletcher as Layout Design Artists, Lizzie Cottingham, Barbara Thompson and Larry T. Hill as Circulation Assistants. The Influencers, now seen Saturdays at 11 a.m and 6 p.m. on The Cincinnati Facebook Live page until RadioOne opens up again, are Morgan A. Owens, John A. Reese, Jourdan Ivory, Michael Higgs, Nailah Edwards, Asia Harris, and Tai Sims. Edwards, Sims, as well as Treauhna Chaplin and Deja Mapp worked as interns with The Herald this summer. Lillian Brown, Medina Muhammad, and Brittany Hunter of Northern Kentucky University just joined the intern team, and is expected to produce print as well as digital media.
Sesh Communications currently publishes weekly, The Cincinnati Herald, The Northern Kentucky Herald and The Dayton Defender, and the quarterly publications seshPRIME and PIX. The growth of Sesh Communications and the quality of its publications have been recognized on the local, regional, and national levels. Editor and Publisher Magazine acknowledged The Cincinnati Herald’s excellent coverage of local issues, and The Cincinnati Herald was recognized in Ad Age Magazine and Essence Magazine.
The Cincinnati Herald is known for its sold-out signature events such as the popular Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance with more than 1,200 attendees each year, the Nefertiti Awards honoring extraordinary women, and the BRIGHT Awards highlighting 18-30 year olds in community service, entrepreneurship, and corporate positions. Due to the pandemic the 2020 events are on hold. Meanwhile, Sesh has partnered with Fifth Third Bank and the African American Chamber of Commerce to produce online “Owning It!” homeownership workshops, as well as organizing upcoming small business growth and financial empowerment webinars.