20 Under 40 - 1997 Profile: Doris G. Rush, The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: December 1997

In 1996, when Doris Rush gained the top spot at The Citizen in Auburn, N.Y., she wondered if youth alone precluded her from succeeding. There aren't many 29-year-old publishers—particularly 29-year-old female publishers—available to counsel her.

A year after she moved up from the role of advertising director at the 14,579-circulation evening daily, she now comfortably gives counsel. Ad revenue has increased an average 9 percent. Added newsroom staff provide a more comprehensive editorial product. A redesign increased pages and sections, and a zoned edition now finds its way into neighboring Seneca County. And circulation has stabilized during the last six months after a 20-year decline.

"The news product has been transformed from the best a bare-bones staff could provide to the best the community has seen from this or neighboring newspapers," boasts Managing Editor Don Rogers. In an area that doesn't have many women leaders, Rush also strives for "a strong community image," personally attending countless neighborhood events to show Auburnites that employees at the paper, owned by Howard Publications in Oceanside, Calif., care about readers.

"She represents a new breed of customer-oriented executives who are really listening to the consumer," adds William Howard, the parent company's vice president of newspapers and president and publisher of The Times in Munster, Ind.

"My staff [members] tell me they are proud to work for this newspaper," Rush says thoughtfully. "That is my greatest achievement."