Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> October 4, 2004
DOUGLAS H. MCCORKINDALE joined Gannett Co., Inc., in 1971 as General
Counsel and Secretary. He became Chief Executive Officer in 2000 and
Chairman in 2001. Mr. McCorkindale has held numerous positions at the
international news and information company. He became a Vice President
and member of the Operating Committee in June 1972. He was named Senior
Vice President of Finance and joined the Board of Directors on March 1,
1977. He was named Chief Financial Officer in 1979, and added duties as
President of the Diversified Media Division in 1980. He became Vice
Chairman in 1984 and President in 1997, a position he retains. As CEO
and Chairman of Gannett, he has grown the company with a series of
acquisitions that included the traditional, such as Central Newspapers,
and the non-traditional, such as Captivate, a firm that puts advertising
on video screens in office building elevators. The company also has
expanded its holdings in England and Scotland, and is now the second-
largest regional newspaper publisher in the UK. Prior to joining
Gannett, Mr. McCorkindale practiced corporate, securities and banking
law with Thacher, Proffitt & Wood in New York City. He joined that law
firm after graduating cum laude with an LLB degree from Columbia
University Law School in 1964. While there, he was named a Harlan Fiske
Stone scholar for academic excellence. He received his BA in 1961 from
the Columbia College of Columbia University where there is a scholarship
in his name for undergraduate education. Currently, Mr. McCorkindale
serves as a Director of the Associated Press, Continental Airlines,
Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation and Mutual Insurance Company Ltd. He
is also a Director or Trustee of numerous mutual funds in the Prudential
Group of Newark, New Jersey. Profile
today?
Mr. McCorkindale: We are a company with about $7 billion in revenue, 80%
to 85% of which is print and the rest is
