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 employees in Duluth on Monday, calling him "one of the most knowledgeable newspaper people I know."
"Steve is extremelycommunity-minded, and he's a really dedicated, passionate newspaper man," Case said.
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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 a meeting Monday, McLister pledged to employees: "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 (Ohio) Eagle-Gazette. He later became that newspaper's advertising director.
McLister next went to work at 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.
Newspapers are in the midst of an exciting transformation, McLister said, adding that he looks forward to helping the News Tribune evolve.
"Ten years ago, we would have been proud to call ourselves a newspaper company," he said. "But we've become an information company whose core product happens to be a newspaper."
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While traditional newspapers have been losing circulation nationwide, McLister said that companies such as the Duluth News Tribune have widened their audience by embracing new delivery models, such as the Web.
"If you combine our newspaper readership with our Web viewers, we touch more people now than we did 10 years ago," he said.
McLister has been an active community member, serving on the board of trustees for the United Way of Cass-Clay, the board of the Fargo-Moorhead Chamber of Commerce and the advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America's Northern Lights Council.
McLister and his wife, Penny, have three sons in college: Jared, Nick and Derek.
Forum purchased the Duluth News Tribune just over a year ago. Its holdings include the Superior Daily Telegram and the weekly Duluth Budgeteer News, Cloquet Pine Journal and Lake County News Chronicle in Two Harbors, along with three zones of a local shopper. As News Tribune publisher, McLister also will oversee operations at those locations.
PETER PASSI covers business and development. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 279-5526 or by e-mail at ppassi@duluthnews.com .
