Anton Media Group Publisher and Editor Angela Susan Anton recently announced the appointment of Frank Virga to the position of company president. Virga has nearly four decades of experience in newspapers and magazines, and an advertising agency résumé that includes award-winning art, design and production experience. It’s a choice that Anton is clearly thrilled with.
“I couldn’t be more pleased that Frank is now the president of Anton Media Group,” said Anton. “He’s got great foresight regarding the direction of the company and where we want to see it going forward.”
Heading into his sixth year at Anton, Virga has played a major role in overseeing a substantial amount of growth into what was formerly known as Anton Community Newspapers.
“There have been a number of dramatic differences that have gone on [with Anton] from printing in-house with our original presses to now having our papers getting produced at a state-of-the-art facility at the New York Daily News in Jersey City,” he explained.
The Suffolk County resident has spent many years in the community newspaper arena throughout Long Island as a highly successful advertising executive serving as an advertising manager with Suffolk Life Newspapers—one of the largest weeklies in the United States—for nearly 20 years, as regional sales manager at Tribune Corporation’s Star Community Publishing and a number of other high-profile publications. When asked what he credits his longevity in the publishing industry to, he points to the rhythms of his chosen profession.
“No matter what happens each week, you pull everybody together to do the best job that they can and come deadline time and it’s time to wrap up all the editions, you take a breath and on Monday you start it all over again,” he said. “It gives you an opportunity to do better and in some cases it gives you the opportunity to adjust some things for the better. It’s a fine-tuning process that takes place every single week.”
As for the future of Anton, Virga is optimistic about the potential opportunities, particularly given the talents he gets to work with when it comes to the Anton rank-and-file.
“We’re excited about the direction the company is taking right now. We have really put together some great teams within the organization,” he pointed out. “We’re in the midst of what appears to be a very successful year and we’re looking for a big finish.”
Along with further strengthening the community newspaper base of 18 award-winning publications that cover a substantial amount of Nassau County, Anton and Virga’s vision includes expanding the Anton brand to build up the company’s presence as a media group that will include further magazine publishing, continued web development, more interactivity with readership, video and even television. Virga’s vast experience, product knowledge and management skills have also allowed him to tap into long-standing relationships that make it one of the more gratifying aspects of his new position.
“It’s been rewarding to have been able to recruit some key players that I’ve worked with in the past that are still very much a part of this organization as we move forward into the next chapter,” he said. “Looking at the future, things like Anton-sponsored events, unique partnerships and even reader experiences that we’re going to be able to provide are going to be very exciting for people to be able to start to see.”
