Business News
George Le Masurier Named Publisher of The Olympian
Thursday 19. March 2009 - The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) today named veteran newspaper executive George Le Masurier as president and publisher of The Olympian in Olympia, Wash. He replaces John Winn Miller, who resigned in January.
Since 2001, Le Masurier has been publisher of The Peninsula Gateway and The Herald, two McClatchy weekly newspapers serving communities in Washington’s Puget Sound region. Le Masurier has held a variety of newspaper management and executive roles since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1975 from his native Minnesota.
“George is a very capable and experienced community newspaper publisher,” said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy’s chairman and chief executive officer. “George literally was born into the newspaper business and has devoted his professional life to community journalism and community service. He’s an ideal fit to carry on those traditions at The Olympian.”
Le Masurier, 61, was born and raised in Paynesville, Minn., a small farming town in the north central part of the state where his family owned the weekly newspaper, The Paynesville Press. Le Masurier grew up in his family’s apartment atop the newspaper building and, he said, “went to sleep every Tuesday night listening to my dad run the press downstairs.”
Le Masurier took over the family newspaper in 1970 after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. In 1975, Le Masurier married a Canadian, handed control of the family newspaper to his sister, and moved to British Columbia where he eventually became editorial director and then general manager for nine community newspapers published on Vancouver Island by E.W. Bickle Ltd.
Thomson Newspapers acquired the publications in 1989, and in 1992, Le Masurier was promoted to vice president and chief operating officer of Thomson’s Community Publications Division and responsible for 26 non-daily publications across Canada.
Le Masurier worked in Canada until 1998, when he returned to the United States to work for Sound Publishing Inc., a suburban newspaper publisher in Washington state and a subsidiary of Black Press Ltd. In 2000, he was named president of Sound Publishing Inc. and joined McClatchy in 2001 as publisher of The Peninsula Gateway and The Herald.
“Olympia is a viable and growing market and its local newspaper deserves a strong and experienced publisher,” said Bob Weil, McClatchy vice president, operations. “George offers all of that and more as a community leader and enthusiastic advocate for the region.”
Le Masurier is an active Rotarian, a former director of the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce and sits on several community boards in Gig Harbor and Puyallup where The Peninsula Gateway and The Herald are published. He will continue to oversee those community newspapers in addition to his new responsibilities as publisher of The Olympian.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to join a great and storied newspaper as The Olympian, located in our state capital,” said Le Masurier. “I look forward to engaging in The Olympian community and helping this newspaper meet the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.”
Le Masurier lives in Gig Harbor with his wife, Fran Le Masurier, an advertising employee at McClatchy’s News Tribune in Tacoma. The couple have four adult children.