SAN JOSE, Calif.—Carole Leigh Hutton, executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News, is stepping down just seven months after she was named to the post, the newspaper’s publisher announced Thursday.
Executives, who did not reveal why Hutton was leaving, said she would be immediately replaced by David Butler, vice president for news for ap Inc., which owns the Mercury News.
“I am pleased that we have someone of Dave’s caliber to hit the ground running and lead our news organization,” publisher Jeff Kiel said.
Hutton was named executive editor in May after serving as editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press.
“Carole Leigh has been instrumental in leading the Mercury News’ efforts to understand how we can provide news and information in print and online that is central to readers’ lives,” Kiel said.
In an e-mail to the Mercury News staff, Hutton said she left with “jumbled emotions.”
“I look forward to watching as you continue to confront the challenges we’ve been tackling,” she wrote, saying she planned to remain in the Silicon Valley.
Hutton did not immediately return a call after business hours from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Butler, 57, will be responsible for all news and editorial-opinion operations. He also will maintain his role at MediaNews, coordinating the news and editorial activities of its 68 daily newspapers and Web sites.
“By combining my two roles, the Mercury News will be even more instrumental as a model for other ap newspapers as we continue to adapt to the fast-changing content world,” Butler said.
Before he was named MediaNews’ vice president for news, Butler was editor and publisher of The Detroit News. Earlier, he was editor of the group’s Los Angeles Daily News, executive vice president for news for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, and an editor or reporter at newspapers in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky and Illinois.
Denver-based MediaNews acquired the Mercury News along with the Monterey County Herald and Contra Costa Times from McClatchy Co. in 2006 in a complex deal valued at $1 billion. The San Jose newspaper was previously owned by Knight Ridder, which put itself up for sale in 2005 amid pressure from shareholders.
Butler and his wife, Kate Lee Butler, will move to the Silicon Valley from Denver. She is business development director of U.S. online newspapers for The Associated Press.
W. Dean Singleton, vice chairman and chief executive of MediaNews, is chairman of the AP, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by its member news organizations.
