Publisher Joe Natoli Leaving Philly Newspapers for Miami

By: E&P Staff Joe Natoli, publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, is leaving the papers. He has accepted a job with the University of Miami as chief financial officer.

The Inquirer reported that Brian Tierney, CEO of Philadelphia Media Holdings, and consultant Gordon Medenica will share Natoli's duties.

"For some time now, I have thought about taking on a new challenge, this after 30 years in the newspaper business. I wanted an opportunity where I could learn new things, contribute to the community and spend some more time with my family," Natoli wrote in a staff memo.

Natoli was appointed chairman and publisher of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. (PNI), in January 2004. Under his tenure, both papers tried to regain its financial footing. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News dragged down results for its former parent company Knight Ridder with weak advertising revenue.

In September 2005, a few months before three of Knight Ridder's biggest shareholders demanded a sale of the company, Natoli announced that both papers would have to make drastic cuts, roughly 15% of the Inquirer newsroom and 19% at the newsroom of the Daily News.

"We looked at the future and said, 'is it going to get any easier?'" Natoli told E&P in November 2005 about the decision to make the cuts. "Well, probably not."

Not long after, Knight Ridder put the company on the block. McClatchy agreed to purchase the company, though the deal came with a twist: It would divest 12 of Knight Ridder's newspapers including the Inquirer and Daily News because they did not fit McClatchy's strategy of investing in high growth markets.

McClatchy, in turn, agreed to sell the two Philadelphia papers to Philadelphia Media Holdings, a group of local investors led by Brian Tierney for $562 million or 7.6 Times 2005 EBITDA.

"I depart pleased that our company is in local hands," Natoli wrote. "While the change in ownership won't affect the fundamentals of our business, most particularly, the competitive environment in which we operate, it does provide a chance to reinvigorate our efforts."

Before heading PNI, Natoli was publisher of the San Jose Mercury News a position he held since March 2001. Before that he had been president of The Miami Herald Publishing Co. since 1994.