CINCINNATI – George H. Cogswell III, who has more than 20 years experience in newspaper management, has been named president and publisher of the Ventura County (Calif.) Star, effective today.
Cogswell, 48, has been president and publisher of the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News for four years.
The Ventura County Star and the Abilene Reporter-News are owned and operated by The E. W. Scripps Company.
"George Cogswell is an exceptional, results-oriented leader who will guide the Ventura County Star to new levels of success," said Mark Contreras, senior vice president of newspapers for Scripps. "He has an innate passion for the newspaper business and creates operating environments that tap the creativity and ideas from all areas of the newspaper."
Cogswell was named president and publisher in Abilene in 2003 after leading the circulation and marketing efforts for the Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers in Florida. He was director of circulation and marketing for the Treasure Coast newspapers – The Stuart News, The Tribune in Fort Pierce and the Vero Beach Press-Journal – for three years. He previously had been circulation director of the Scripps-owned Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News from 1997 to 2000.
Before joining Scripps, Cogswell worked from 1993 to 1996 for Freedom Communications, first at the company's newspaper in Fort Pierce (before it was acquired by Scripps) and then at Freedom's Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette Telegraph. He served as assistant circulation director and then circulation director for The Tribune before accepting the position of subscriber sales and retention manager in Colorado Springs.
Cogswell began his newspaper career in 1985 as a district circulation manager at the Middlesex News in Framingham, Mass. From 1986 to 1993 he held various positions in the circulation department at the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette before serving a year as circulation director for The Call in Woonsocket, R.I.
At the Ventura County Star, Cogswell succeeds Tim Gallagher who is leaving the position to establish his own media consulting business and work for Scripps as an assistant to Contreras.
Cogswell is a graduate of the Scripps Leadership Institute.
About Scripps
The E. W. Scripps Company (www.scripps.com) is a diverse and growing media enterprise with interests in national cable networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, interactive media, and licensing and syndication.
The company's portfolio of media properties includes: Scripps Networks, with such brands as HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and Great American Country; daily and community newspapers in 17 markets and the Washington-based Scripps Media Center, home to the Scripps Howard News Service; 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; Scripps Interactive Media, including leading online search and comparison shopping services, Shopzilla and uSwitch; and United Media, a leading worldwide licensing and syndication company that is the home of PEANUTS, DILBERT and approximately 150 other features and comics.