News Release Details

DAVENPORT, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 2006--Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) announced today that publishers have been appointed in Northwest Indiana and South Dakota.

• Bill Masterson Jr., who has been publisher in Rapid City, S.D., since 2000, will become publisher of The Times of Northwest Indiana, based in Munster.
• Rosanne Cheeseman, who has served as Lee vice president for sales and marketing since 2004, will become publisher of the Rapid City Journal.

"These are terrific moves for two outstanding executives," said Mary Junck, Lee chairman and chief executive officer. "Both are top-notch leaders who are keenly focused on Lee's top priorities, including revenue growth, strong local news, circulation and audience growth, online innovation and people development."

Kevin Mowbray and Greg Veon, Lee vice presidents for publishing, made the announcements in Munster and Rapid City.

Of Masterson, Mowbray said: "Bill's extensive publishing experience, including his long record of accomplishments in South Dakota, makes him an ideal leader for Lee in Northwest Indiana. Also worth noting, in Rapid City he has been a strong proponent of economic development and actively participated with civic and congressional leaders to help reverse the decision to close Ellsworth Air Force Base. Within Lee, he has been an innovator in driving political advertising at all of our newspapers, for which he was honored with a Lee President's Award in 2004."

Of Cheeseman, Veon said: "In all of her roles in our company, from corporate to field, Rosanne has inspired enthusiasm, creativity and remarkable success. Over the last two years as our top sales leader, before that as associate publisher and the key advertising executive in Oceanside/Escondido, and before that as Lee's sales development director, she has helped make Lee an industry leader in driving advertising revenue. Now, we look forward to seeing her work more magic in South Dakota."

Masterson, 46, began his newspaper career as a carrier for the Daily Oklahoman and was selected in 1976 as a Parade magazine's Young Columbus Carrier of the Year. That year he was also awarded the key to the city of Lawton, Okla., for outstanding achievements as a youth. His career path took him through the Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado Springs Sun and the Manhattan Mercury before he became publisher of the Black Hills Pioneer in 1988 at the age of 27. There, he was responsible for combining three small dailies in three cities into one regional product. He also designed and built a new production facility in 1996, launched a successful weekly newspaper negotiated the purchase of another. He joined Lee in 2000.

Masterson serves on the board of Community Rewards Fund and is first vice-chair on the executive council of the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce. He is secretary on the executive council of the Black Hills Vision economic development group and serves on the board of Arrowhead Country Club. He is a former president of the South Dakota Newspaper Association and previously served as regional director of the National Newspaper Association. He also previously served as president of the Spearfish Optimist Club and was chosen Optimist Man of the Year in 1989 and 1990. He was honored as Green and Gold Foundation Booster of the Year in 1995. He and his wife, Julie, have two sons, four daughters and two grandchildren.

"It is with mixed emotions that I am leaving this beautiful Black Hills area after 20-plus years," he said. "The people I work with at the Journal are the best in the business, I care about them very much, and I'm very excited that someone the caliber of Rosanne Cheeseman will be leading this team. Although I'll miss Rapid City, I couldn't pass up the opportunity that Lee has given me to operate one of the top five newspapers in our company. I am very excited to work with the team in Northwest Indiana. It is in a highly competitive growth market with a tremendous amount of opportunity."

James W. Hopson, a Lee vice president for publishing who is retiring at the end of the year, has been serving as interim publisher in Northwest Indiana since May, when the former publisher, Kevin Mowbray, was promoted to publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cheeseman, 52, has been Lee's vice president for sales and marketing since 2004. She previously was advertising director and associate publisher of the North County Times in Oceanside/Escondido, Calif. Before that, she served as director of sales development for Lee's daily newspapers, weeklies and shoppers. She began her career in 1986 at Edgerton (WI) Reporter/Directions Publishing, advancing to director of sales and marketing. In 1995, she joined Insiders Publishing as a regional manager and was promoted to national advertising director a few months later. She joined Lee in 1998.

She has been active in many industry organizations and is a member of the Newspaper Association of America's Display Federation's Board of Directors, the American Press Institute Advertising Advisory Board, the San Diego North Economic Development Council and the San Diego Ad Club Board of Directors. She is a native of South Dakota and holds a master of fine arts degree from Idaho State University. She and her husband, James Van Deurzen, will move from Davenport to Rapid City.

"Bill Masterson has built a superb organization devoted to strong local news and advertising, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to follow in his footsteps," she said. "I've loved working at the corporate office and with so many people all across Lee, but I'm thrilled to be returning to my home state and becoming part of the Rapid City community."

Lee Enterprises is a premier publisher of local news, information and advertising in primarily midsize markets, with 51 daily newspapers and a joint interest in five others, rapidly growing online sites and more than 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states. Lee's newspapers have circulation of 1.6 million daily and 1.9 million Sunday, reaching more than four million readers daily. Lee's online sites reach more than two million users, and Lee's weekly publications have distribution of more than 4.5 million households. Lee's newspaper markets include St. Louis, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; Madison, Wis.; Davenport, Iowa; Billings, Mont.; Bloomington, Ill.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Napa, Calif. Lee is based in Davenport, Iowa, and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee Enterprises, please visit www.lee.net.

Photos: www.lee.net/newsphoto/bill-masterson.jpg

www.lee.net/newsphoto/rosanne-cheeseman.jpg

CONTACT: Lee Enterprises
Dan Hayes, 563-383-2100
dan.hayes@lee.net

SOURCE: Lee Enterprises