As WebNewser reported earlier this month, Valleywag managing editor Owen Thomas is joining NBC in the Bay Area. He'll be editorial director and oversee nbcbayarea.com, as well as mobile applications and syndicated offerings.

Click continued to see the press release...

OWEN THOMAS NAMED EDITORIAL DIRECTOR FOR NBC BAY AREA'S DIGITAL EFFORTS

San Francisco, CA-May 14, 2009-- In a move signaling NBC's dedication to transforming its local strategy by recruiting top digital talent, Susan Sullivan, NBC Bay Area's VP of News, announced today her appointment of Owen Thomas as Editorial Director for NBC Bay Area's digital efforts, effective May 26th. Thomas will also report to Gregory Gittrich, VP of Content and Editor-in-Chief, NBC Local Integrated Media.

Thomas, a 14-year veteran of online media, will oversee the local digital content efforts in the Bay Area, including the recently launched website for the region, nbcbayarea.com, as well as mobile applications and syndicated offerings. No longer an extension of the on-air newscasts, nbcbayarea.com features local commentary, analysis, lifestyle coverage, news, and information created by local contributors, blogs, online publications, print media, and the television station to capture the pulse of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.

"Owen joins NBC Local Media with a well-versed background in a variety of digital platforms. He has an impressive track record of increasing web traffic and transforming digital sites, and I am confident he is the right person to continue building on our digital momentum," said Sullivan.

Thomas joins the NBC Local Media Group from Gawker Media, where he served as Managing Editor of Valleywag, the company's 24/7 online publication about technology and business, since 2007. During his tenure, Thomas worked to reinvent and expand the site, quadrupling its monthly traffic from 1.5 million pageviews to 6.5 million pageviews.

Prior to that, Thomas held several positions of increasing responsibility at Time Inc. from 1999 through 2007, culminating with his position as Online Editor at Business 2.0. There, he launched a network of 16 staff blogs and worked to increase the site's monthly traffic from 2 million to 19 million pageviews.

Earlier, Thomas worked as an online reporter and copy editor for Red Herring from May 1997 to June 1999, where he covered startups, venture capital, and the technology industry. He also worked at Suck.com, Wired's groundbreaking online publication, which has been cited by many as an inspiration for today's blogosphere. Thomas began his career in 1995 as an Electronic Publishing Fellow at Mother Jones, the first general-interest magazine to go online.

Thomas graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He currently resides in San Francisco.