Crutchfield to teach in Arizona

Former Akron Beacon Journal Publisher James N. Crutchfield will spend the spring semester of 2007 as the first Edith Kinney Gaylord visiting professor in journalism ethics at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Crutchfield, 58, served as publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal from April 2001 until July 2006, when he stepped down following the sale of the newspaper to Black Press Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

A graduate of Duquesne University, Crutchfield worked for the Pittsburgh Press and Detroit Free Press before serving as press secretary for Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., for two years. Following that, Crutchfield returned to the Free Press, where he held a variety of positions, including deputy managing editor.

He came to the Beacon Journal in 1989 as managing editor and served until 1993, when he became executive editor of the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Calif. In 1997, Crutchfield joined Philadelphia Newspapers as an assistant to the publisher.

He returned to Akron in 2000 as general manager of the paper.

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