ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Paul Tash is retiring as CEO of the Tampa Bay Times, a media organization he joined 47 years ago as a summer intern, the Times announced Thursday.
Tash, 67, became editor of what was then the St. Petersburg Times in 1992. During his tenure, the newspaper won nine of its 13 Pulitzer Prizes and became the Tampa Bay Times in 2012 to reflect a broader regional outlook.
Succeeding Tash as CEO will be Conan Gallaty, 45, who is now chief of Times Publishing Co. Tash will continue to chair the board of trustees at the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns the newspaper.
At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the paper reduced its print edition to two days a week, eventually outsourcing its print operations to a facility in Lakeland and selling its St. Petersburg printing plant. The sale enabled the company to repay a $15 million loan and steady its finances.
Gallaty, who began his journalism career at the Rome News-Tribune in Georgia, has focused on improving the Times’ digital products, according to the newspaper.
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