13 Facts About Penny Abernathy

Penelope Muse Abernathy was born on August 28,1951 and is an American journalist, former media executive, author and researcher who specializes in the study of news deserts.

Penny Abernathy received a bachelor's degree in history with a secondary emphasis in English literature and journalism from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1973.

From 1986 to 1999, Penny Abernathy held several positions with The New York Times.

Penny Abernathy was the senior vice-president strategic planning and human resources, which made her responsible for planning a number of major business initiatives that included the nationwide delivery of the paper that began in 1997.

In 1998, Penny Abernathy became president of the newly created News Services Division, which oversaw development of a new media division, as well as syndication and licensing.

Penny Abernathy was publisher of the Harvard Business Review between 1999 and 2002.

Penny Abernathy joined The Wall Street Journal in 2003 and, as senior vice president was responsible for the business operations of the newspaper's international publications and for planning major US initiatives, such as the launch of weekend edition in 2005.

Penny Abernathy is currently a visiting professor at the Medill School, Northwestern University and previously was Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Penny Abernathy was inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Alumni Professional Achievement Award from UNC at Greensboro in 2023.

Penny Abernathy's research has focused on the impact of news deserts and the development of business models that would help to sustain community journalism.

Penny Abernathy has examined how ownership of newspapers by investment groups, including private equity and hedge funds, has contributed to the rise of news deserts and ghost newspapers while diminishing local accountability and transparency for both news organizations and elected officials.

Penny Abernathy co-authored "The Strategic Digital Media Entrepreneur," published in 2018, which focused on how the Internet has changed business models in the media; leadership challenges and opportunities that face media entrepreneurs; and help to develop strategies to create new and sustainable business models.

Penny Abernathy authored or co-authored six reports exploring the political, social and economic consequences resulting from the loss of local news:.