P.J. Browning – Post and Courier

Our 2019 Publisher of the Year, P.J. Browning, calls herself a “newspaper brat.” With a journalism career that spans more than 30 years, it’s easy to understand why. Browning, 55, started her career by taking classified ads over the phone for the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader. It was a part-time job for the college student, who was studying marketing at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University).

“I came from a family that read newspapers,” Browning said. “Dad read sports, Mom read features, and I read the classifieds—that’s how I found the job.”

Once Browning was surrounded by the fast-paced energy that took place inside a daily newsroom, she was hooked.

Browning’s career has taken her to Fort Collins, Colo., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Asheville, N.C. Her first job as a publisher was with the Sentinel in Carlisle, Pa. From there, she served as publisher at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa.; the Telegraph in Macon, Ga.; and the Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C. In 2012, she became publisher of the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C. She also currently serves as senior vice president of Evening Post Industries (the paper’s parent company) and as president of the newspaper division, where she oversees one other daily, the Aiken Standard, and several other community weekly publications, all based in South Carolina.

Over the last seven years, Browning has elevated the Post and Courier to a new level. By investing in digital growth, events and other innovative revenue projects, the paper is now charting a course focused on creating a long-term sustainable business model that will keep the Post and Courier going for many years to come.