Mark Nusbaum, who has been named president of Times-Union Media to succeed departing publisher Lucy Talley, plans to join community leadership in Jacksonville.
“I am going to have to learn what are the situations or opportunities out there that are available,” he said in an interview Monday afternoon.
“I intend to join full force. That is a very, very exciting aspect of my job,” he said.
Nusbaum, 56, began his duties immediately. Talley, 55, announced Thursday she would join the Hearst Corp. April 16 as group publisher of community newspapers and be based in Midland, Mich.
Nusbaum, most recently vice president of operations of Times-Union parent company Morris Publishing Group in Augusta, Ga., spoke Monday after meeting with the Jacksonville staff.
“The vibration I picked up from employees is that they are very bullish on Jacksonville, feeling that we are on the edge of a lot of good things
happening,” Nusbaum said.
“As the community goes, so often our business goes. For the good of all of us, we want the community to be all that it can be,” he said.
“I see that role as very, very significant,” he said.
“As president of Times-Union Media, we can create a lot of enthusiasm and support for the community as it moves forward,” Nusbaum said.
Times-Union Media publishes The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville.com and several more Northeast Florida publications and websites.
Talley led the media group as publisher since 2009.
Nusbaum said the title was changed from publisher to president of Times-Union Media to reflect changes in the business.
“We think the title is more encompassing,” he said.
“We are in a business and industry that is diversifying very rapidly and digital is becoming bigger and bigger all the time,” he said.
Nusbaum brings 40 years of experience to his role, having begun his career as a copy clerk at the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas while in high school in 1972.
His experience includes serving as publisher of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas from 1999-2004 and publisher of his hometown Topeka Capital-Journal from 2004-11.
Nusbaum has served as vice president of operations at the Morris headquarters since May and also filled in as interim publisher of The Augusta Chronicle the last six months of 2011.
“Mark has tremendous enthusiasm about building a successful new future for local media,” said Derek May, executive vice president of Morris Publishing, in a news release.
“He’s done a great job in helping to launch the transformation of our company, and his energy, vision and can-do attitude are perfect for Jacksonville,” he said.
Nusbaum said he told staff that he has a great deal of respect for what has been accomplished at the Times-Union under Talley’s leadership.
“Lucy joined the company in 2006 and I worked with her five or six years ago,” he said.
“As you know in our industry, there have been challenges across the business in the past few years, particularly revenue challenges,” Nusbaum said.
However, he said the company is positive about the Times-Union.
“We feel good about how the T-U is positioned,” he said.
“The environment continues to improve financially,” he said.
The Times-Union is the largest operation within Morris. “I feel good about where the Times-Union is and where the Times-Union is headed,” he said.
Nusbaum said he asked staff “to be patient with me” in learning about the company’s digital initiatives while also ensuring the print product remains as strong as possible.
“We will continue to strive for excellence on all fronts,” he said.
“I am really looking forward to all this.”
In February 2010, a federal judge cleared the way for Morris Publishing Group to emerge from bankruptcy protection less than a month after it filed under Chapter 11.
Talley said last week that published circulation at the Times-Union has stabilized. She said daily circulation is about 98,500 and Sunday circulation is 159,000.
At the peak, she said the daily circulation was close to the current Sunday circulation and that the Sunday circulation was about 250,000.
Employment at the Times-Union has dropped as well.
Talley said the company has about 360 employees, down from more than 1,000 at the peak.
At the same time, page views on the Times-Union website, Jacksonville.com, were up 21 percent in January to more than 13.2 million, she said.
Morris Publishing Group LLC is a privately held media company. Morris Publishing currently owns and operates 12 daily newspapers and associated websites and other digital assets, non-daily newspapers, city magazines and free community publications in the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Alaska, according to its website.
The company has a concentrated presence in the Southeast, with four major holdings: The Times-Union, The Augusta Chronicle, the Savannah Morning News and the Athens Banner-Herald in Georgia.
Among other newspapers, it also owns the St. Augustine Record.
Nusbaum said he and his wife and two sons are in town and he will be moving in the next few weeks. He and his wife have five children — four sons and one daughter — ages 20-26.
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