Cox Newspapers President Jay Smith on Tuesday said he would step down as head of the privately owned chain that owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 42 other newspapers around the country.

Smith, 58, will be succeeded by Sandy Schwartz, president of Cox-owned Auto Trader, a provider of auto classifieds online and in print. Schwartz will take the post May 1.

Both Cox Newspapers and Auto Trader are operating units of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.

Schwartz, 55, said he will use experience running autotrader.com and blend it with Cox's newspaper Web sites.

"We have to move faster than we've moved" in putting information online, Schwartz said. "Society is moving fast."

He joined Cox Newspapers as a features editor for a group of community newspapers based in Mesa, Ariz., in 1985. He had several newsroom jobs before becoming general manager and then publisher. He was general manager of the Austin American-Statesman and later the AJC. He has been Auto Trader president since September 2006.

Schwartz "is a newspaper guy, but the last few years of his career, he's spent focusing much more online," said Jim Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of family-owned Cox Enterprises. "With his heart in newspapers, and his experience online, he's a great person to help guide newspapers."

Cox Newspapers is among the 10 largest newspaper-publishing operations in the country. The AJC is the largest of its 17 daily newspapers, which include the Austin American-Statesman in Texas and Dayton Daily News in Ohio. It also operates 26 nondaily newspapers and direct mail advertisers Valpak and Saving Source Direct. The company's news syndication network, Cox News Service, is distributed to publications around the world.

The Cox newspaper chain is changing in reaction to a drop-off in circulation, advertising revenue and print readers. Last summer the AJC reorganized, in part to dedicate more staff and resources to its Web site.

The transformation of newspapers will continue, Smith said. It is time to let someone else take the helm, he said.

"There comes a time when you realize that you've given everything you've got to give, and it's time to move on," said Smith, who has been with Cox Newspapers 37 years.

Kennedy said Smith wanted to leave the next round of decisions — the ones that will take years to put in place — to others. He praised Smith's leadership through the industry's changes: "I've worked with Jay for a long time, and he's one of those guys you never want to underestimate. If you're in a foxhole, you want him in there with you."

Smith's newspaper career began at 17 as a reporter at the Cincinnati Post and later at the Cox-owned Dayton Daily News. His tenure there included several editing positions before he was promoted to publisher. Smith also was publisher of the Austin American-Statesman before moving to Atlanta in 1986.

He spent seven years as publisher of the morning Atlanta Constitution and the afternoon Atlanta Journal and was named president of Cox Newspapers in 1994. He also has served as board chairman for the Newspaper Association of America and as a board member of The Associated Press.

In retirement, Smith said, he will continue coaching for the Northside Youth Organization baseball league and focus on his family. He and his wife will become grandparents for the first time this summer.

"I've been a good father to my four kids," Smith said, "and I want to be a terrific grandfather."

Smith credits the AJC with playing a role in the city's evolution.

"To watch Atlanta grow has been, in many ways, one of the best stories I've been privileged to watch," Smith said.

"It's a newspaper, in my heart, that I believe is critical to any community, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now ajc.com have celebrated the greatest successes that Atlanta has had."

Schwartz said he looks forward to returning to news. "I love what I do on the business side, but deep down I've got ink in my veins and still consider myself a journalist," he said.