Publisher Who Quit 'Beacon Journal' Will Head Los Angeles Newspaper Group

By: Joe Strupp Edward R. Moss, the former publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal who resigned last week after less than 10 months on the job, has become the new president and CEO of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG), a MediaNews Group division with nine daily papers, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Moss, 52, succeeds John McKeon and will also assume McKeon's role as publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News, the paper reported. The paper stated that Moss "brings 30 years of newspaper experience to his role as head of the ... MediaNews Group newspapers in Southern California. He began his career with the Valley News and Green Sheet in marketing and sales just as it was transforming into the Daily News in the late 1970s."

"Ed is one of the most seasoned newspaper executives in our industry," George Riggs, president and chief executive officer of the California Newspaper Partnership, which oversees all MediaNews Group properties in the state, said in a statement.

Moss raised some eyebrows last week when he announced his resignation from the Beacon Journal after taking the publisher's job there in August 2006. He gave no specifics about his next position at the time, saying only that he had been offered a job he could not turn down.

Moss previously served as corporate vice president of sales and marketing for Media General Inc. He has also held top management jobs at 21st Century Newspapers Inc., Freedom Communications Inc. and the Tribune Company, the paper reported.

"I think what's exciting is this is the most dynamic market in the nation," Moss said in the paper. "I believe we have more opportunities than anyone else within this marketplace. The focus will be on how we can differentiate from others, from a local news standpoint and an advertising standpoint. Our solutions need to include print and online."

In addition to the Daily News and the Press-Telegram, The Los Angeles Newspaper Group includes the Daily Breeze in Torrance, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star News, the Whittier Daily News, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the San Bernardino County Sun and the Redlands Daily Facts.