No delay in replacing newspaper publisher

In a press release received by Historic City News, Morris Publishing announced that they have selected a sales and marketing vice president living in Jacksonville to take over as publisher of the St. Augustine Record on January 4th.

The next publisher, Ronald Davidson, has been working for Morris at the Times-Union in Jacksonville for more than two years.

After only four years on the job, former publisher Derek May was recently named to a newly-created position of “Assistant to the President” of Georgia-based Morris Communications Co. May will be leaving town and moving to Augusta, Georgia for his new assignment; which is reported to involve a special emphasis on advertising for all the Morris entities.

According to the company’s website, the 59-year-old Davidson got his first job in newspaper advertising by answering a classified ad for a sales position at his hometown paper in Kingsport, Tenn. He has been an advertising executive at newspapers in Georgia, Kansas and Alabama.

Morris Communications owns both the Record and the Times-Union, along with other daily newspapers and publications in the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Alaska.