Newspaper executive Mary Jacobus dies at 52

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mary Jacobus, a veteran newspaper executive who in 2006 became president and chief operating officer of The New York Times Co.'s Regional Media Group, died Friday. She was 52.

Jacobus was former publisher of the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune and the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-entintel when they were owned by Knight Ridder

Jacobus died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, The New York Times Co. said in a statement. She had been hospitalized after she unexpectedly became ill at work Feb. 2.

"Mary was brilliant, dedicated, focused and witty," said Janet Robinson, president and CEO of The New York Times Co. "She passionately cared about all those around her and all that she did, personally and professionally. In many ways, she was one of our company's most popular and effective ambassadors for all that we hold dear as an organization."

Since 2007, Jacobus also had been a member of the board of directors of The Associated Press, and she served on its Revenue Committee.

"Mary was a special leader who took on the big problems, made them smaller and inspired many along the way," AP CEO Tom Curley said. "She was a dear friend who will be missed."

Jacobus had been named president and general manager of The Boston Globe, owned by The New York Times Co., in January 2006, then took the regional newspaper group job later that year.

The New York Times Regional Media Group has 15 daily newspapers and 24 weeklies, mostly in the southeastern United States and California, as well as regional magazines and Web sites.

Before that, Jacobus held a variety of newspaper executive jobs in several states.

In 1998, she became publisher of the Duluth (Minn.) News-Tribune, owned by Knight Ridder Inc. In 2001, she moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., where she was publisher of Knight Ridder's News-Sentinel and president and chief executive officer of Fort Wayne Newspapers.

Before going to Duluth, she had been vice president, sales and marketing, at The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo., owned by Freedom Communications Inc.

She also served as director of sales and marketing at the Times Advocate in Escondido, Calif.; and held advertising and circulation management positions at the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram and the Buffalo News and Buffalo Courier-Express in New York.

Jacobus was one of several news executives who took part in a panel discussion in 2007 about the future of the industry at the North Carolina Press Association's annual meeting.

The group of executives agreed that the challenge facing the industry is to figure out how to profitably deliver the news. But Jacobus said the opportunities on the Internet mean "we have never had a larger audience for our content."

In 2000, she was co-chair of a committee of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which tabulates circulation for the newspaper industry, that developed revised rules to allow papers to count more heavily discounted copies in their totals for paid circulation.

She grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and attended Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., graduating in 1979.

Jacobus is survived by her husband, Dean, and her 15-year-old triplets, Kelly, Kimberly and Bill.

See also the obituary in the Boston Globe, a Media Group newspaper.