Veteran journalist, interim NBBJ Editor Allison Gibson takes reins
In her new role as Senior Editor/Business, Allison Gibson will work with journalists on coverage of the local business scene — from upstart entrepreneurs to established companies.
Allison Gibson, interim editor of The North Bay Business Journal who also directs the visual storytelling efforts at The Press Democrat, has been promoted to a new role overseeing all business coverage produced by both publications.
Related Stories
Veteran newsman Anthony Borders is leaving after seven years at the helm of the Business Journal.
In her new role as Senior Editor/Business at Sonoma Media Investments, the parent of NBBJ and The Press Democrat, Gibson will work with journalists across the company to elevate coverage of the local business scene — from upstart entrepreneurs to North Bay’s most established companies and economic drivers.
Beyond serving a stint in Paris (where it helped that she spoke French), Gibson has been a part of TV and digitally focused newsrooms in cities across the nation, including Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Before arriving at The Press Democrat in December 2021, Gibson was news director at KWWL-TV, an NBC affiliate in Waterloo, Iowa.
Since her December 2021 arrival, Gibson has been senior editor of multimedia and innovation for SMI’s flagship, The Press Democrat, which includes supervising the photo and video storytelling team. She will continue those duties.
Gibson has served as NBBJ’s interim editor since editor Anthony Borders left the company in early April.
Richard A. Green, Press Democrat executive editor and SMI chief content officer, announced the selection of Gibson in the permanent role June 21 after conducting a national search. She will report to Green and work collaboratively with Lorez Bailey, the NBBJ publisher.
“Allison is the right person at the right time for such an incredibly important position,” Green said.
“I’ve known Allison since we were journalism students at Ohio University more years ago than either of us want to admit, and I know her commitment to consequential, high-impact content,” he added. “Throughout her career, Allison’s newsrooms have pursued, published and aired award-winning stories that make a difference in the markets and communities she serves.”
Gibson, who said she knew as a child she wanted to be a journalist, labels journalism as her “calling.” She said she’s grateful she gets to practice her craft with SMI, a company that maintains the crucial role in the North Bay and Northern California as the largest media group between San Francisco and Portland.
“That says something about the company with all the losses of newspapers around the country. We’re doing stories that matter to local audiences,” she said. “I love working here — with the culture, weather, vibrant business scene and the people of the region. It’s an incredibly beautiful place.”
Gibson said the people and the memories she’s stacked up in her various journalism roles — including working at a large TV station in New Jersey on 9/11 — have shaped her news skills. There were also the political conventions that command intense coordination of newsrooms, especially those involving on-the-ground cameras.
Whether broadcast or print, Gibson views the news in a seamless way.
“We’re all content providers,” she said about the future of journalism. “It’s all about great storytelling and not worrying exclusively about the platform that’s delivering those stories.”
Gibson has shown through her life that she’s not afraid to pivot, regroup and reinvent her product and herself.
As a first-year college student, Gibson said she initially envisioned working for newspapers until on one snowy night in Athens, Ohio, she watched the airing of a PBS newscast.
“It all clicked. It was an epiphany,” she said.
From there, her focus was on television news.
Gibson has remained unafraid of trying new things outside her comfort zone. Despite her gravitating outside as a big reason for loving where she lives in Sonoma County now, Gibson took her quest to confront her challenges indoors to a rock-climbing gym earlier this year.
She did so as a tribute to her brother, a climbing enthusiast, who died of brain cancer in November 2022.
“He taught me don’t be afraid to try things,” she said.
Bailey applauded Gibson’s promotion.
“When the role was officially given to Allison, it made me pleased. It’s exciting to have her extensive background, with new ideas,” she said. “Change is scary, so the reaction from the team and the level of joy was so important to me.”
First in Indiana and then Illinois, Gibson worked as an executive producer and assistant news director with her mentor, veteran broadcast journalist Perry Boxx.
He, too, said Gibson is a great fit for the expanded business editor role at Sonoma Media Investments.
“Allison is extraordinarily talented,” Boxx said. “I hired her twice, and I’d hire her again. She’s just one of these people who gets stuff done and gets it done right. Everyone respects her, and she doesn’t shy away from a challenge.”
Green predicts Gibson will be visible in the business community and is eager to meet with readers and economic leaders alike. Her first 18 months at The Press Democrat have proven she’s a “creative, strategic partner,” he said.
“I love Allison’s work ethic, coaching skills and the fact she brings greater depth and outside-the-traditional-newspaper-newsroom thinking to our leadership team. I couldn’t be happier she’s on our team.”
You can reach Allison Gibson via email: allison.gibson@pressdemocrat.com, Twitter: agibsonTV; or phone: 707-521-5207 or 732-995-8704
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: