Lee hires former Times Mirror exec

By: Lucia Moses Mary E. Junck, who ran Times Mirror's big East Coast newspapers for two years until resigning in March, is heading home to the Midwest.
Junck, 51, who was president of Times Mirror's Eastern Newspapers Division, was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc.
She will fill the position held by Lloyd G. Schermer, who will retire in January 2000. At that time, Junck also will become president and Richard D. Gottlieb, current Lee president and CEO, will become chairman while remaining CEO.
Junck says she welcomes the job opportunity and chance to return to Iowa, where she grew up and still has family. The move was an unexpected one for Junck, who in March said that she planned to pursue business opportunities in the Baltimore area, where she is heavily involved in the community. She plans to move with her husband and two children and start at Lee in the summer.
Gottlieb says he has known Junck since the late 1980s, when she was publisher of Knight Ridder's St. Paul Pioneer Press and he was general manager at the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison. He says in addition to her experience, he admires her direct style and team approach to management.
Junck worked for Knight Ridder for 20 years before coming to Times Mirror in 1993. At Times Mirror, her realm included Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, and The Hartford Courant. At Lee, she will oversee a large number of small- and medium-sized papers, as well as classified papers, shoppers, and television stations.
Lee owns 21 daily papers and 16 television stations, more than 75 weekly, classified and specialty publications, and a commercial printing division. Its papers include, in addition to the State Journal, the Lincoln (Neb.) Star Journal, the Quad-City Times in Davenport, and the Billings (Mont.) Gazette.
Lee had revenues of $517 million in its 1998 fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 15.8% increase over the prior year. Revenues were driven by acquisitions. Net income was $62 million in fiscal year 1998, down 3.1% from the year before, reflecting the cost of new investments.

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