Joe Wirt will retire from CNPA Services, Inc. on Friday, March 15, closing out a successful 24-year career with the association-management company.
His roles have included publications editor, director of affiliate relations and administrator of managed associations. During his tenure, he also coordinated outreach to campus journalism programs and produced on-site training programs in news, advertising and audience for professionals at CNPA-Member news companies.
“I was able to see the state and the country thanks to CNPA and connections to its members,” Wirt said. “The focus for me has always been on the authentic publishers and staff at California’s tireless news companies,’ he said, “but it’s also the sense of place that’s emphasized and supported by CNPA Members: they tell us all about ‘the where.’”
Since 2015, Wirt has administered the association-management contract with the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, and he concurrently has served as administrator of the 145-year-old California Press Foundation.
He is a recipient of the JACC’s Distinguished Service Award, the national Journalism Education Association’s Friend of Scholastic Journalism Award and the California Press Foundation’s Jack Bates Award for distinguished service to the California Press.
“Joe has enjoyed an outstanding career in the news media industry and has made significant contributions throughout his career that enabled CNPA Services to grow and successfully support the news industry throughout California,” CEO Charles Ford Champion II said.
Wirt joined CNPA in October 1999 after 14 years in news at California newspapers including The Sacramento Bee, The Bakersfield Californian and Alameda Newspaper Group (now Bay Area News Group). He is a 1986 Journalism alumnus from CSU Fresno.
