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Jeff Sigmund
Communications Manager
(571) 366-1088
Jeff.Sigmund@naa.org

April 13, 2008

Washington – Gary Pruitt, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The McClatchy Co. in Sacramento, Calif., has been elected to serve as the Newspaper Association of America’s next chairman. The gavel was passed to Pruitt from last year’s chairwoman Susan Clark-Johnson, president of the Newspaper Division of Gannett Co. in McLean, Va., during the Association’s Capital Conference held April 12-16 in Washington, D.C. Clark-Johnson will continue to serve on the NAA Board of Directors as immediate past chairperson.

Gary Pruitt assumed the role of McClatchy Co. chairman in 2001. He has been chief executive officer since 1996 and president since 1995, the year he also became a director. He served as chief operating officer from 1995 to 1996 and as vice president, operations and technology from 1994 to 1995. Before that, Mr. Pruitt was publisher of The Fresno Bee from 1991 to 1994, served as corporate secretary and general counsel from 1987 to 1991 and was counsel from 1984 to 1987. He currently serves as a director of The Associated Press and The James Irvine Foundation.

Other officers elected were: Michael E. Reed, president and CEO of GateHouse Media Inc. in Fairport, N.Y., as treasurer; George B. Irish, president, Hearst Newspapers, a subsidiary of The Hearst Corp. in New York City, as vice chairman; and Mark G. Contreras, senior vice president/newspapers for The E.W. Scripps Co. in Cincinnati, as secretary.

Elected to two-year terms on the NAA Board of Directors were: Stephen Hills, president and general manager, The Washington Post; Carol Hudler, president and publisher, The News-Gazette, Fort Myers, Fla., and group president of Gannett Co.’s Sun Coast Newspaper Group; and Michael R. Romaner, president of Morris DigitalWorks, a subsidiary of Morris Communications Co. in Augusta, Ga.

Members of the Board of Directors elected to an additional two-year term are: Donna Barrett, president and CEO, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., Birmingham, Ala.; Scott Flanders, president and CEO, Freedom Communications Inc., Irvine, Calif.; Harold W. Fuson, executive vice president, The Copley Press Inc., La Jolla, Calif.; Joseph J. Lodovic IV, president, MediaNews Group Inc., Denver; David R. Lord, president, Pioneer Newspapers Inc., Seattle; James M. Moroney III, publisher and CEO, The Dallas Morning News; Marshall N. Morton, president and CEO, Media General Inc., Richmond, Va.; Charles Peters, president and CEO, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Scott C. Schurz, chairman, Hoosier-Times Inc., Bloomington, Ind.; Gary K. Shorts, president and CEO, Calkins Media Inc., Levittown, Pa.; and Steven J. Smith, chairman and CEO, Journal Communications Inc., Milwaukee.

Sponsors of NAA’s Capital Conference ‘08 are: A. H. Belo, American Express, Associated Press, Audit Bureau of Circulations, Avid Technologies, Bloomberg News, Brainworks Software, Dario Designs, DPS – Database Publishing Systems, EidosMedia, Inc., Flint Group, Gannett Newspapers, Goss International Corp./Ferag, Hearst Newspapers, Houston Chronicle, KBA-North America, Inc., Media News Group, Inc., Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mutual Insurance, Newseum, Nstein Technologies, OCE North America, Parade Publications, Profitpackaging, Inc., Publishing Group of America, Reuters, SAXOTECH, The Washington Post, TKS USA, Inc., Transcontinental Printing, US Ink, USA WEEKEND Magazine, Washington Times.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies and other publications published throughout the world. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.