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Longtime Journal publisher Sutton to retire; interim publisher named [The Providence Journal, R.I. :: ](Providence Journal (RI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 29--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Howard G. Sutton, publisher, president and chief executive officer of The Providence Journal, will retire in September after a 41-year career at the news organization. His retirement comes as New Media Investment Group Inc. (New Media), parent company of GateHouse Media, completes its $46-million purchase of the paper from Dallas-based A. H. Belo Corporation. Sutton will serve as a consultant to New Media through the end of the year. Bernie Szachara, senior vice president for publishing and group publisher at Local Media Group, a division of Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media, will succeed Sutton as interim publisher. A national search for a permanent publisher will take place in 2015. "I'm very proud to have been here for 40-plus years," Sutton, 64, said. "I'm extremely proud of spending the last 15 years as publisher. It was something I never thought was a possibility when I started working here." In addition to being publisher, Sutton has held the titles of president and CEO of The Providence Journal Company since April 1, 1999, when he succeeded the late Stephen Hamblett, who negotiated the 1996 sale of The Providence Journal Company to Belo Corp. "I am truly honored to be following Howard as interim publisher of The Providence Journal," Szachara said. "His leadership has been defined by integrity, honesty and an unflappable commitment to Providence and the State of Rhode Island​. Howard has truly embodied the spirit of the newspaper itself. We are fortunate that he will be consulting with us on an ongoing basis and helping shape our plans for the coming years." A. H. Belo announced the sale of The Providence Journal on July 22. New Media is buying "substantially all of the assets" of the newspaper and its Kinsley Avenue production plant, though not the paper's 75 Fountain Street headquarters, its downtown parking lots and other property. New Media expects to lease the headquarters and lots for a year after the sale closes, which is expected by the end of the third quarter. Son of a blue-collar Warwick family, Sutton had recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame when The Journal hired him as a circulation statistician in 1973. He ascended the ranks quickly, becoming circulation director in 1980 and vice president of administration seven years later. In 1998, he was promoted to president and assistant publisher. A year later, he had the top job. When Sutton started at The Journal, newspapers were set in hot type; classified advertising, which generated healthy profits, filled several pages. The Journal published an afternoon edition, The Evening Bulletin. In 1994, when the paper won its fourth Pulitzer Prize, for investigative reporting, the combined daily circulation was 188,217. Today, the Monday to Friday average circulation is 74,400, with an average of 99,100 on Sundays. But the online audience has grown exponentially. The Journal's site, www.providencejournal.com, records 1.4 million average monthly unique users, with 10.3 million average monthly page views. "Clearly the web had the biggest impact on the financial stability of The Providence Journal and all medium- to metro-size newspapers," Sutton said. He said he did his best to bring Rhode Island's leading media outlet through such challenging times, continuing a tradition of award-winning journalism while remaining profitable -- and building providencejournal.com into a competitor in the online-media world. Sutton's former boss, Robert W. Decherd, agreed that Sutton has preserved the core mission of quality journalism at The Journal, founded in 1829, America's oldest continuously published daily newspaper. "Howard guided The Providence Journal through the most difficult period ever for American newspapers, compounded by economic factors that affected Rhode Island disproportionately," said Decherd, vice chairman and former chief executive officer of A. H. Belo. The Great Recession hit the state particularly hard. "As publisher," Decherd said, "Howard has been totally dedicated to the superb journalism that is The Journal's hallmark, and with his colleagues he has always found ways, despite economic pressures, to invest in this important work that enriches the city of Providence and all of Rhode Island." Szachara, 49, becomes interim publisher after a long career in newspapers that dates to his undergraduate years in the 1980s at Rochester Institute of Technology, when he served an internship with USA Today. He spent 20 years at Gannett, including a position from 2002 to 2007 at the media giant's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, where he was vice president of operations. After more than four years as a senior executive at The Denver Post and a year of consulting and other work, he joined Local Media Group in September 2013. GateHouse Media CEO Kirk Davis praised Szachara's "adaptive leadership style, digital acumen and passion for newspapers. That will be evident to our employees. He'll also jump in and engage with the local business community and organizations that understandably have high expectations of us." Davis also spoke highly of Sutton. "I've had a long-standing relationship with Howard that I value very much. He's been a wonderful and highly successful steward of The Providence Journal," Davis said. "We are most grateful that Howard will continue to assist us through the end of the year." ___ (c)2014 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) 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