Leadership transition begins at North County Times
OCEANSIDE/ESCONDIDO, Calif. (June 26, 2007) — **** High, founding publisher of the North County Times, announced today that he is passing leadership to a successor as he prepares to retire at the end of September.
The successor is Peter York, 57, of Longview, Wash., where he has been publisher of another Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) newspaper, The Daily News, since 1999.
Greg R. Veon, Lee vice president for publishing, said York's appointment is effective July 1. He said High will take the role of publisher emeritus until the transition is complete and then will serve the company as a consultant.
"**** High has represented the heart and soul of the North
County Times since he helped found it 12 years ago, and he's going to be missed greatly," Veon said. "We're fortunate that **** is staying for three months in a senior role to help his longtime colleague Pete York get to know the people and the market. We're also fortunate that **** is being succeeded by one of the most skillful publishers I've known."
High, who turns 65 this summer, said, "It has been my honor to lead the wonderful people who built this fine newspaper for North San Diego County. I am optimistic about its future and am delighted to have Pete take the reins. Now, Judy and I look forward to more time for our family, travel and amateur astronomy."
York, who began meeting the staff today after the announcement, said, "I'll miss the wonderful and talented people at The Daily News, but this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. The North County Times is a terrific newspaper in a great market and I'm excited to be joining and working with the very good team that **** has assembled."
High has been publisher of the North County Times since 1995, when he led the creation of the newspaper through the merger of three daily newspapers in north San Diego and southwest Riverside counties — the North County Blade-Citizen of Oceanside, The Times Advocate of Escondido and The Californian in Temecula, along with a weekly, The Enterprise, in Fallbrook. The Californian has continued to be published as an edition of the North County Times. Lee Enteprises acquired the North County Times in 2002 from the founding company, Howard Publications.
High grew up in a farm family in Twin Falls, Idaho. He attended Yale University as an undergraduate and in 1978 received a master's degree in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He started out as a reporter and in 1970 was made editor of his hometown newspaper, The Times-News. From 1978 to 1990 he was editor of the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming. He became general manager of The Times of Northwest Indiana in Munster in 1990, serving five years before moving to California.
In 1985 his economic reporting was honored as one of three jury nominees for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He later served two terms on the Pulitzer Prize Jury. He and his wife, Judy, have three grown children and three young grandchildren. His avocation is amateur astronomy.
York began his newspaper career in 1976 in advertising sales in Klamath Falls, Ore., and worked in advertising management positions in Pocatello and Twin Falls, Idaho, before moving to Longview.
In 2006, under York's guidance, The Daily News was selected as a finalist for Lee's Enterprise of the Year award for exceptional performances in news, circulation, online growth and revenue. In 2002, The Daily News was honored as Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspapers of America, and in 2006, for the second year in a row, The Daily News received national honors from SNA, finishing third both years in its Newspaper of the Year contest.
York serves on the St. John Medical Center Governance Board and the Cowlitz County Economic Development Council Board, is a member of Rotary and is involved in many community organizations.
He is a native of Portland, Ore., and earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and forest engineering from Oregon State University. He and his wife, Merlene, have two grown sons.
