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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8211; The Times Leader Media Group has been acquired by Avant Publications, a privately held company with the bulk of its properties in Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>Avant is owned and operated by industry leaders in newspaper management, circulation and technology. The leadership group includes CEOs Scott Champion and Andrew Mok, Chief Financial Officer Corey Champion and Chief Technology Officer Nick DeLorenzo.</p><p>&#8220;We are excited to become part of this community,&#8221; Scott Champion said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t buy newspapers, we join communities.</p><p>&#8220;And this is a great community.&#8221;</p><p>This will be the first time that the Times Leader Media Group or its predecessors have been privately held in more than four decades.</p><p>The group consists of the Times Leader, which primarily covers Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County; the Weekender, an arts and entertainment publication; the Sunday Dispatch, which covers Pittston; the Abington Journal, which covers Clarks Summit; and numerous digital properties.</p><p>Scott Champion owns and operates various community newspapers, including properties in Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Minnesota and Kentucky.</p><p>Mok is a veteran media executive who owns a technology consulting company, providing services to some of the country&#8217;s largest media organizations. He has worked in major metropolitan markets.</p><p>Corey Champion and DeLorenzo are also veteran media executives. Corey Champion is currently controller for Champion Media, while DeLorenzo, a Luzerne County native, began his career at the Times Leader. </p><p>&#8220;We are newspaper people, through and through, and we see great things ahead for the Times Leader,&#8221; Mok said.</p><p>DeLorenzo is excited to be returning to Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;To be able to return to the place where I began my career in a leadership role is absolutely amazing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I grew up reading the Times Leader. Later, in the years I worked at the Times Leader, I did everything from graphic design to writing columns, to managing the TL&#8217;s web presence.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my intention to once again put the very best journalism technology and tools in the hands of our reporters. Local journalism is about telling the story of your community, and local newspapers, especially during this period of tremendous transition for our nation, must be engaged with and answerable to their communities, not the bottom line &#8212; so the Times Leader returning to private hands after decades is of tremendous significance for the region, and I&#8217;m delighted to be a part of it.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Avant Publications Chief Technology Officer Nick DeLorenzo, left, is seen with CEOs Scott Champion and Andrew Mok outside of the Times Leader building Friday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL080319TimesLeader1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Avant Publications Chief Technology Officer Nick DeLorenzo, left, is seen with CEOs Scott Champion and Andrew Mok outside of the Times Leader building Friday afternoon. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL120514buildings-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Times Leader building is seen on East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL120514buildings-4.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Times Leader building is seen on East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL080319TimesLeader2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Members 0f the Times Leader staff who were present Friday afternoon are seen with the organization&#8217;s new owners outside the paper&#8217;s headquarters on East Market Street, Wilkes-Barre. Other employees from several departments were away from the office when the photo was taken.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL080319TimesLeader2-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Members 0f the Times Leader staff who were present Friday afternoon are seen with the organization&#8217;s new owners outside the paper&#8217;s headquarters on East Market Street, Wilkes-Barre. Other employees from several departments were away from the office when the photo was taken.  </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Avant Publications acquires Times Leader Media Group</subheadMeta></div>

A new day: Avant Publications acquires Times Leader Media Group