Zieman is new publisher of The Star Kansas City Business Journal, 03-06-2008 The McClatchy Co. has named Mark Zieman as president and publisher of The Kansas City Star, effective Thursday. Zieman had been editor of the newspaper since 1997 and has been interim publisher since Jan. 28, when Mac Tully stepped down to take a job at MediaNews Group Inc (link to story). McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), based in Sacramento, Calif., is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States, with 30 daily newspapers, about 50 nondailies, and direct marketing and direct-mail operations. As of Feb. 29, The Star had 1,347 employees, of whom 1,037 are full time, McClatchy spokesman Peter Tira said. The paper has 290 newsroom employees. Zieman couldn't immediately be reached for comment. McClatchy gave no indication of who might succeed Zieman as The Star's editor. "Mark understands both the challenges and opportunities facing newspapers today," McClatchy Chairman and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a release. "He is deeply committed to quality journalism and a future that includes print, digital and niche publications. He's a wonderful fit to lead The Kansas City Star." Zieman, 47, has worked in The Star's newsroom for most of his career. He started as an editorial intern in 1982 while attending the University of Kansas. After graduating with a degree in journalism, he joined the Houston bureau of The Wall Street Journal. He returned to The Star as an investigative reporter in 1986, rose through newsroom management, became projects editor in 1989, managing editor in 1992 and editor in 1997. As projects editor, Zieman directed the paper's series about the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Zieman is a trustee of the William Allen White Foundation at KU, a member of the Helzberg School of Management Advisory Board at Rockhurst University and a past board director of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He twice has served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes. He is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., and was a board member of the Associated Press Managing Editors association. He has an executive MBA from Rockhurst University. Zieman is married to Kansas City Star columnist Rhonda Chriss Lokeman. They have four daughters. http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/03/03/daily36.html?f=et65&ana=e_du
