CINCINNATI – Bruce R. Hartmann, an executive with nearly three decades of experience in the newspaper industry, has been named group publisher in the newspaper division of The E. W. Scripps Company.
As group publisher, Hartmann, 51, will oversee operations for the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., while continuing to serve as president and publisher of the Knoxville News Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn.
Within this new structure, Frank “Butch” Hughes III will continue as the Independent-Mail president and publisher, the role he assumed in 2007, and will report directly to Hartmann.
“Bruce and Butch will work together to leverage resources and ideas between the Knoxville and Anderson papers,” said Mark Contreras, senior vice president of newspapers for Scripps. “Bruce is a gifted results-oriented newspaper publisher whose energy, drive and focus will be enormous assets to both newspapers as our business continues to undergo transformation.”
Hartmann started with the News Sentinel in 1990 as advertising director, working his way up to general manager before beginning his current role as president and publisher in 1998.
While publisher of the News Sentinel, Hartmann directed a $50 million building project that included a new press installation. Under his leadership, the News Sentinel has expanded its footprint. It successfully acquired and integrated the Halls Shopper publications, The Metro Pulse and Knoxville Magazine in addition to operating one of the most successful newspaper Web operations in the country.
Hartmann shares the Scripps belief that newspapers have a commitment to enhancing the community. In this spirit, he led the Knoxville Chamber Partnership, directed a recent United Way Campaign, and spearheaded the successful restoration of the historic Tennessee Theatre.
Before joining the News Sentinel, he held advertising management positions at the Lowell (Mass.) Sun from 1987 to 1990 and the Nashau (N.H.) Telegraph from 1985-1987. He worked in advertising at The Baltimore Sun for six years before going to Nashau.
Hartmann holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism/advertising from West Virginia University with minors in English and marketing. He attended the Executive Management Development Program at Northwestern University in 1996 and graduated from the Scripps Leadership Institute in 2003.
The Knoxville resident and his wife, Tami, have three children, Melissa, Jacquelyn, and Brian.
About Scripps
The E. W. Scripps Company (www.scripps.com) is a diverse, 130-year-old media enterprise with interests in broadcast television stations, newspaper publishing, and licensing and syndication. The company’s portfolio of locally focused media properties includes: 10 broadcast TV stations, with six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; daily and community newspapers in 15 markets and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the Scripps Howard News Service; and United Media, the licensor and syndicator of Peanuts, Dilbert and approximately 150 other features and comics.