Newspaper & Mailroom
HEARST NEWSPAPERS NAMES MIKE LEARY EDITOR OF THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Wednesday 11. July 2012 - Hearst Newspapers announced today that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mike Leary has been named editor of the San Antonio Express-News. The announcement was made by Hearst Newspapers President Mark Aldam and Express-News President and Publisher John C. McKeon.
Leary, who starts at the Express-News on August 6, replaces Robert Rivard, who resigned from the paper in September.
“We are thrilled to welcome an experienced journalist like Mike to Hearst Newspapers as he assumes management of the Express-News newsroom,” Aldam said. “Mike joins President and Publisher John McKeon in leading one of the industry’s strongest newspaper teams, full of experience, vision and inventiveness.”
Leary comes to Hearst from the Philadelphia Inquirer where most recently he was deputy managing editor of news and investigations. Beginning his career at the Inquirer in 1972, he returned in 2007 as managing editor and then investigations editor from 2011 to 2012. As investigations editor, Leary directed and edited a print and online series on school violence that won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize gold medal for Meritorious Public Service.
“Mike has proven himself a leader and innovator in today’s multimedia newsrooms,” McKeon said. “His dedication to quality investigative journalism serving local audiences is unwavering and will be a huge benefit to the Express-News team and our readers across platforms.”
Previously, Leary was at the Baltimore Sun as assistant managing editor from 2005 to 2007 and national editor from 2000 to 2005. Prior to that, he spent 28 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer including working as editor of sports projects and investigations; editor of the commentary page and book review section; a foreign correspondent for the paper based in London and covering all of Europe; night city editor; and national correspondent, where he was based in Houston and covered the Southwest, including the Mexican border.
Leary has a master’s from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s from Notre Dame.
Commenting on joining the Express-News Leary said, “I’m excited about returning to Texas, where I spent some of the best years of my career. And I’m looking forward to working with John and the news staff to extend the Express-News’ position as the premier information source in South Texas and to enhance its commitment to public-interest journalism.”
The San Antonio Express-News, established in 1865 and acquired by Hearst Corporation in 1993, is the fourth largest daily newspaper in Texas. San Antonio is the largest major U.S. city with a Hispanic majority and is home to three major military bases.
The Express-News is the largest distributor of news and information in South Texas, with dedicated news bureaus located in Austin (together with the Houston Chronicle) and Brownsville. The Express-News owns MySanAntonio.com, the leading local website that San Antonians trust for current news and information, and introduced the San Antonio Express-News for iPad app last year.