Gray Media has named two senior executives to new roles as the broadcaster continues to expand its local news operations and accelerate its digital transformation across content gathering, production, workflow and distribution.
James Finch has been promoted to serve as Senior Vice President of News Services, while Joanie Vasiliadis will join Gray as the Senior Vice President for Transformation in June, the broadcaster announced in two separate statements this week.
Finch has served as the Vice President of News Services for the past 10 years, acting as the primary corporate liaison for news directors across the company. In that role, he managed key relationships with vendors and suppliers that provide Gray’s news technology and third-party content. He also launched Gray’s newsroom training program, which provides onboarding and advanced skills development for reporters, photographers and producers.
Before moving into his corporate role, Finch served as a local station news director, corporate regional news director and journalism trainer. He began his journalism career as a military correspondent while serving as an active-duty U.S. Marine, contributing to newspapers and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service overseas.
Finch’s professional development includes a fellowship with the Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism and completion of the NAB Education Foundation’s 10-month Broadcast Leadership Training Program, which is aimed at aspiring station executives and owners.
Vasiliadis is joining Gray from TEGNA, where she most recently served as Vice President of Content and oversaw content strategy and operations across 64 brands. Gray said she will help accelerate the company’s ongoing digital transformation efforts, including content creation, newsroom workflow, distribution and platform growth.
At TEGNA, Vasiliadis led initiatives focused on newsroom modernization and platform expansion. She helped launch the company’s national breaking news desk, audience team and streaming team. Her background includes more than a decade of experience across digital, streaming and broadcast platforms, with work spanning editorial strategy, product integration, audience development and organizational change.
Gray said Vasiliadis has also led enterprise-wide operational transformation efforts, developed AI and digital training programs for thousands of journalists and worked with executive leadership on long-term growth initiatives. Before joining TEGNA’s leadership team, she served as Digital Director at WUSA (Channel 9), the company’s CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C.
The appointments are part of a concerted effort at Gray to support a growing roster of journalists and local TV stations while broadening the distribution of local news programming across streaming, digital and other platforms, the company said in two statements.
