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Natoli Resigns from Philly Newspapers

Joe Natoli, publisher for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News since January 2004, recently announced that he will be resigning.

Natoli has agreed to take a position with the University of Miami as chief financial officer and senior vice president of business and finance, The Associated Press reports.

Natoli spent 30 years with Knight Ridder, which was recently purchased by The McClatchy Company. There has been some speculation that Natoli was asked to leave after the two Philly newspapers were sold by McClatchy to the Philadelphia Media Holdings company, but Brian Tierney, the chief executive for the newspapers, denies the rumor.

“We wanted Joe to stay,” Tierney wrote in a memo to the newspapers’ staff. “Our plans revolved around keeping the current management team in place, and Joe was an important component of that team.”

Tierney does not plan to name a new publisher immediately, according to the article. Instead, the editorial departments will report directly to Tierney, who has pledged not to interfere with editorial content.

Tierney has brought in consultant Gordon Medenica, former head of strategic planning at The New York Times Co., to deal with editorial issues.