MCLEAN, Va., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — USA WEEKEND Magazine and USA TODAY Your Life content teams have merged into one editorial team to broaden the audience base throughout the U.S. to better serve the current female readership of the magazine, newspaper and websites.

Charles Gabrielson will continue in his role as president and publisher of USA WEEKEND and oversee Sales, Marketing/Research and Affiliate Relations. USA WEEKEND will continue to publish 22.6 million copies weekly, distributed by its more than 840 Affiliate Newspapers.

“The merging of these two groups will not only increase the digital content for USA WEEKEND Magazine,” cited Gabrielson, “but will also provide greater multi-platform audience reach for advertisers, marketers and USA WEEKEND affiliates.”

The editorial teams will be united under a new content management group with extensive print experience as well as deep digital experience in the arenas of women’s health, parenting and lifestyle. The new management team will report to Heather Frank, vice president of Consumer Media for USA TODAY.

“The combination of the highly tenured content teams represents an opportunity to bring together the core editorial strengths of USA WEEKEND Magazine – engaging, celebrity-driven coverage of social issues, entertainment, health, food – with the core strengths of USA TODAY’s Your Life – outstanding health, medical and fitness coverage and a vibrant online platform,” noted Frank.

Christine Allegro has been named general manager of the USA TODAY Your Life group, now including editorial and design for USA WEEKEND Magazine, Allegro joined USA TODAY in 2010 with responsibilities to drive new content strategies across multiple content niches.

Prior to joining USA TODAY, Allegro held leadership positions with AOL for ten years. In her most recent role at AOL, she served as General Manager of the video portal business where she oversaw audience development, content aggregation, product management and revenue generation. She originally joined AOL to lead the team that developed content partnerships with women’s media brands in support of the AOL Women’s Channel launch. Allegro’s experience also includes that of Regional Publisher for WHERE Magazines, the network of travel magazines for visitors to major cities around the world, where she led WHERE Washington to become one of the top-grossing magazines in the network.

Nancy Kerr has been named Editor of USA TODAY Your Life. In this capacity, Kerr will oversee the edit and design teams responsible for the generation of content for the Your Life newspaper section and website, as well as USA WEEKEND Magazine.

Kerr has 17 years of combined experience in print and digital media, and most recently was Innovations Editor and Assistant Managing Editor for features with WashingtonPost.com. She developed the editorial vision and managed teams that produced day to day content for Style, Food, Travel, Post Magazine, Books, KidsPost and Home & Garden. Prior to joining WashingtonPost.com, Kerr was Director of Women’s Programming for AOL, aggregating and programming content from publishers such as Oprah, Ladies Home Journal, iVillage, InStyle and Real Simple. Kerr has also held posts with CBS New Media, developing CBS Daytime’s website.

USA WEEKEND is a national weekly newspaper magazine with 22.6 million circulation and 47 million readers in print and online. It is distributed through more than 800 newspapers. Awarded for its journalism and design, USA WEEKEND focuses on social issues, entertainment, health, food and travel. It has an expanded presence in the social media arena with active participation on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. USA WEEKEND is a Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) publication.

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY’s mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation’s number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than eight million downloads on mobile devices. The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

SOURCE USA TODAY