Steve McLister, general manager of the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead for the past seven years, has been named the next publisher of the Duluth News Tribune.
On July 1, he will succeed Marti Buscaglia, who recently agreed to accept a job as publisher of the Orange County Register in Santa Ana, Calif.
"It will be tough to replace Marti, but if there's a guy who can do it, it's Steve," said Bill Marcil, chairman and CEO of Forum Communications Co., which owns the Duluth News Tribune.
Lloyd Case, Forum's president and chief operating officer, introduced McLister to staff in Duluth today, calling him "one of the most knowledgeable newspaper people I know."
"Steve is extremely community-minded, and he's a really dedicated, passionate newspaper man," Case said.
ADVERTISEMENT
McLister said focusing on community makes good sense.
"As long as we take care of this community's needs, this community will take care of us," he said.
At an all-employee meeting Monday, McLister pledged to staff: "We are all going to do great things together."
McLister, 49, joined Forum in 1995, when the chain purchased the Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic from Thomson Newspapers. He served as publisher of that publication until 1997, when he was tapped to lead the West Central Tribune in Willmar, Minn., also a Forum Communications publication.
A native of Cincinnati, McLister attended Ohio University in Athens. His introduction to newspaper work came in 1979 as an advertising account executive for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. He later became that newspaper's advertising director.
McLister next went to work for Thomson Newspapers corporate offices in Des Plaines, Ill., where he served as an advertising consultant and sales trainer. In 1993, Thomson named him publisher of the Mitchell paper.
For more of this story, read tomorrow's Duluth News Tribune and check back to duluthnewstribune.com.
