Imtiaz Patel, who as CEO guided The Baltimore Banner through its launch last year, will step down early next month to assume an undisclosed leadership position at Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain.
“I’m tremendously proud of what we have achieved to bring locally owned, not-for-profit news to Baltimore,” Patel, who will remain on the Banner’s board of directors, ws quoted by the Banner as saying in a memo to staff.
“We have over 70,000 subscribers with paid access, a growing audience and work that has already had a meaningful impact. With a strong leadership team in place, I am confident that The Banner will go from strength to strength,” he added.
At a town hall meeting, Patel, 56, said he was leaving because his wife’s job required her to be in New York. He has previously worked at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, where he led circulation strategy. He has also advised news organizations, including Gannett.
Former Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory will lead the nonprofit until a new CEO is identified, the Banner said. McGrory is currently a member of the Banner’s board.
Baltimore Banner founder Stewart Bainum, Jr., a Montgomery County businessman and chairman of Choice Hotels International, first hired Patel as a consultant in 2020. But after losing a bid to acquire the Baltimore Sun Media Group and its then-parent, Tribune Publishing, Bainum started the Banner as a nonprofit, hiring Patel as its CEO.
Bainum praised Patel for creating “a healthy culture of openness, collaboration, innovation and respect,” the Banner reported. He credited Patel with hiring talented staff, often interviewing candidates himself.
