Denver’s ap Inc., owner of The Denver Post, is gaining management control of a newspaper partnership it has in Texas, New Mexico and soon Pennsylvania with industry giant Gannett Co. Inc.
“We’re restructuring our partnership … whereby we will put in more assets to gain economic as well as management control of the partnership,” said Joseph J. Lodovic IV, president of Media News, which will control about 60 percent of the Texas New Mexico Newspapers Partnership. Before the restructuring, ap owned about 34 percent of the partnership.
Terms weren’t disclosed.
Privately held MediaNews owns The Post and 40 other daily newspapers across the country.
Separately, MediaNews announced that Ray Stafford, senior vice president and general manager of the Orange County (Calif.) Register, a Freedom Communications Inc. newspaper, will become president and publisher of The El Paso (Texas) Times when MediaNews assumes management Dec. 26.
He also will oversee newspapers in New Mexico owned by the partnership. Stafford will replace Sherman Bodner, who will move to another Gannett property.
“He’s done a good job from what we can see in Orange County, and we felt he was uniquely qualified to run the Texas-New Mexico group,” Lodovic said.
The Texas-New Mexico partnership was formed in 2003 when Gannett contributed The El Paso Times and MediaNews contributed six New Mexico papers. On Wednesday, Media News agreed to contribute four newspapers in Pennsylvania: the York Daily Record and York Sunday News, the Lebanon Daily News of Lebanon and the Evening Sun of Hanover. Gannett agreed to contribute the Public ap of Chambersburg, also in Pennsylvania.
“Gannett managed it because El Paso was the heavy hitter,” said Tara Connell, vice president of corporate communications for Gannett. “With the addition of the Pennsylvania properties, the weight shifted to ap. The one with the biggest property manages the partnership.”
In a related change, David McClain, publisher of the Sterling Journal Advocate and group publisher of ap’s Colorado Community Newspaper division, will become publisher of the partnership’s Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News and group publisher of its newspapers in New Mexico. He will report to Stafford.
Keith Haugland, former publisher of the partnership’s Farmington (N.M.) Daily Times, will replace McClain.
Gannett and MediaNews also are partners in newspaper ventures in Detroit and, with the Stephens Media Group of Little Rock, Ark., in California.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
