Schwartz to succeed Smith as president of Cox Newspapers

ATLANTA — Jay Smith will retire as president of Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers, Inc., a division of Cox Enterprises, Inc., on May 1, the company said Tuesday.

He'll be succeeded by Sanford (Sandy) H. Schwartz, 55, who will become president of Cox Newspapers while retaining his current post as president of Cox Auto Trader. Schwartz will report to Jimmy W. Hayes, president and chief operating officer of Cox Enterprises.

Smith joined Cox in 1971 as a reporter at the Dayton Daily News, where he advanced to assistant city editor, assistant managing editor, business manager and, eventually, publisher. In his 37-year career with Cox Newspapers, he also headed the Austin American-Statesman and served a seven-year stint as publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cox's largest newspaper.

He has been president of Cox Newspapers since 1994. He also was past chairman of the Newspaper Association of America and serves on the board of the Associated Press.

"Jay has left an indelible mark on Cox Newspapers and completes an impressive career with the business where it all started for our company, 109 years ago," said Hayes. "He has done a tremendous job of leading Cox Newspapers aggressively through a number of transformations to respond to a rapidly evolving media environment, and Cox is grateful for his talent, courage, leadership and dedication."

"Sandy brings 27 years of newspaper experience with him, and he has been with Cox for 23 years," said Hayes. "Sandy's experience and success at Cox during times of unprecedented change make him a natural fit to ensure that Cox Newspapers continues to deliver its high-quality content to readers when, where, and how they want it."

Schwartz moves into the new post at a time when the industry is wrestling with revenue and circulation declines for printed newspapers while moving aggressively to build online readership and ad revenue.

"As the newspaper landscape continues to shift rapidly, Sandy is uniquely positioned to meet the challenge head on as our business evolves, the company said, describing him as an executive with "significant digital media experience."

As president of Cox Auto Trader, Schwartz leads one of the world's leading providers of online and print automotive consumer information. He will continue to be responsible for overseeing the company's three operating businesses, including Cox majority-owned AutoTrader.com, the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information Web site; AutoTrader Publishing, a leading producer of classified automotive advertising publications; and AutoMart, the leading provider of print and online classified automotive advertising for dealer customers.

Schwartz joined Cox in 1985 as a features editor for a group of community newspapers in Mesa, Ariz., and rose through the ranks to become editor and was named president and publisher in 1995. He then served as vice president and general manager at both The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Austin American-Statesman, and later as executive vice president of Cox Newspapers. Since 2003, he has complemented his print journalism background with significant digital media experience, first serving as vice president of business development for Cox Enterprises, from 2003-2006, and then moving to his current role, leading AutoTrader.com, AutoTrader Publishing and AutoMart.

Cox Newspapers, one of Cox's six major operating subsidiaries, includes 17 daily and 26 non-daily newspapers and shoppers. The company's major metropolitan newspapers include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Palm Beach Post, Austin American-Statesman and Dayton Daily News. Other operations include Valpak, the nation's leader in cooperative direct mail advertising.

Scott Thurston is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.