John Wells

John is a 1978 graduate of Cal Poly with a BS in Journalism and a concentration in Advertising/Public Relations.He also received his MBA with a concentration in Quantitative Analysis from Golden Gate University in 1982.

John retired in 2016 after over 35 years in the newspaper media business. His last 28 years were at TBC Media (parent company for The Bakersfield Californian and www.bakersfield.com ) where he was the Senior Vice President of Revenue and Marketing.

While at TBC Media he oversaw all revenue operations of the family owned Media company, was General Manager of The Tehachapi news (weekly) and was responsible for the creation of The Kern Business Journal and Bakersfield Life Magazine. TBC Media also developed many other news products that have since closed including the Northwest Voice, Southwest Voice and Mas Latino Magazine.

The last 8 years at TBC Media, John also was the lead player in developing revenue generation events. Some of the more successful events included Kern County Health Faire, Kern County Kids Expo and a “Girls Night Out” event. All targeting specific markets and revenue streams.

Previous to Bakersfield, John worked in sales and management roles at The Corna Independent (Corona, CA), Napa Register (Napa CA.), San Luis Obispo Telegram Tribune (now Tribune) and Santa Maria Times (Santa Maria CA).

He served on many local civic boards, was Chairman of the Kern Economic Development Council and was a 2-time President of California Newspaper Advertising Executive Association (CNAEA).

John is currently living on the Central Coast with his wife Karen and his 3 sons live in Bakersfield. He has done some consulting with small daily and weekly media companies.