News Release Details

DAVENPORT, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2006--Richard R. Cole, dean emeritus of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been elected to the board of directors of Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE).

"We're extremely fortunate to gain such a distinguished journalism educator and longtime leader of one of the top journalism schools in the country," said Mary Junck, Lee chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We're also fortunate in that, as a judge for the Lee President's Awards over the last six years, he has already become familiar with our 58 daily newspapers and shares our emphasis on strong local news. Dr. Cole makes an ideal addition to our terrific group of outside directors, and we look forward to his contributions in helping guide our company."

Dr. Cole will serve on the board's nominating and corporate governance committee.

Others elected to terms on the Lee board of directors today at the annual meeting of stockholders were William E. Mayer, founding partner, Park Avenue Equity Partners, L.P.; lead outside director, and a director since 1998; Mark Vittert, a private investor, and a director since 1986; and Gregory P. Schermer, Lee vice president - interactive media and corporate counsel, and a director since 1999.

Other directors continuing in office are Nancy S. Donovan, founding partner, Circle Financial Group, LLC, and founding partner, Oakmont Partners, LLC, and a director since 2003; Herbert W. Moloney III, president and publisher, Washington Examiner, and a director since 2001; Andrew E. Newman, chairman and chief executive officer, Race Rock International, Inc., and Culinary Essence, LLC, and a director since 1991; Gordon D. Prichett, partner, Cairnwood Cooperative, and professor of mathematics, statistics and information systems at Babson College, and a director since 1998; and Mary Junck, a director since 1999.

Cole served as dean from 1979 to 2005. In addition to building on the school's top-tier national reputation, he is credited with increasing the school's international prestige through programs in Eastern Europe, Russia, Mexico, Cuba and Africa. He continues to serve on the faculty as John Thomas Kerr Jr. Distinguished Professor.

In 1992, he received the Freedom Forum Medal for Distinguished Accomplishments in Journalism-Mass Communication Administration. The award, given for lifetime achievements, had been given only three times previously. Cole, then 50, was the youngest person to have received it.

He was national president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in l982-83 and national president of Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication in l986-87. For 10 years, he was book-review editor of Journalism Quarterly.

He holds a university-wide teaching excellence award, and he has been a member of many national and international boards and task forces. He chaired the Freedom Forum's national Scholarship Committee and also chaired the national Steering Committee of the Hearst Foundation's journalism awards program for 20 years.

He was vice president of the national Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications in 1987-95 and has chaired or been a member of national accrediting teams to more than 40 mass communication schools, more than any other person.

He has been a consultant to two state governments and more than 30 universities in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia and Cuba. For eight years, he was a vice president of the worldwide International Association for Mass Communication Research. He also served as chief judge of the H. L. Mencken Writing Award for eight years.

He is editor of the book titled Communication in Latin America: Journalism, Mass Media and Society (1996) and the co-author of a book and the author of articles in Journalism Quarterly, Gazette: The International Journal for Mass Communication Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, Journalism Educator and other scholarly publications. He has concentrated on research in three areas: international communication, concerns of professional journalists, and education for journalism-mass communication. He is listed in Who's Who in America.

Lee Enterprises is a premier publisher of newspapers in midsize markets, with 52 dailies and a joint interest in six others, a rapidly growing online business and more than 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states. Lee's newspapers have circulation of 1.7 million daily and 1.9 million Sunday, reaching more than four million readers daily, and its weekly publications have distribution of more than 4.5 million households. Lee's newspapers include such diverse markets as Napa, Calif.; Bloomington, Ill.; Billings, Mont.; Escondido, Calif.; Madison, Wis.; and St. Louis, Mo. 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.

CONTACT:
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, Davenport
Dan Hayes, 563-383-2163
Dan.Hayes@Lee.net


SOURCE: Lee Enterprises