Douglas Hamilton McCorkindale (born 1939) is an American business executive who formerly served as president (1997–2005), CEO (2000–2005), and Chairman (2001–2006) of

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

, the largest national newspaper publisher in the United States and the owner of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''.

Biography

Early life and education

McCorkindale graduated from Columbia College in 1961 and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1964.

Career

McCorkindale began his career as a lawyer in Thacher Proffitt & Wood and joined the

newspaper corporation in 1971 as general counsel and secretary. He became a SVP of the company in 1977 and a member of the company's board of directors. In 1984 he assumed the post of vice chairman and chief financial officer, adding administrative officer responsibilities a year later and continued in this role until 1997 when he became president and vice chairman. In 2000 he succeeded

John Curley John Curley is a professor, distinguished professional in residence, and co-director of the Center for Sports Journalism at Pennsylvania State University. Under his leadership as head of Gannett, the news service won the Pulitzer Prize for Publi ...

as CEO and Chairman of

. In June 2000, he announced plans to acquire 19 newspapers in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

from

Thompson Newspaper Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reuter ...

s. He later acquired Central Newspapers Inc., whose flagship publications include

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

and

The Indianapolis Star } ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, whe ...

for $2.6 billion. By the end of his first summer as chief executive, he completed $4.5 billion worth of acquisitions. He stepped down from his role as president and CEO in 2005 and was replaced by Craig A. Dubow, while remaining chairman of the company; he retired from

in 2006. McCorkindale also served on the board of

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

and was its lead director from 2005 to 2010. He sat on the board of

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

from 2004 to 2008. In 2003 and 2004, he was named as

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

's "Media Top 100" in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for his $1.7 billion purchase of

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Limited is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in pr ...

, the second-largest regional newspaper company in the United Kingdom, and the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

''. He was also one of the early contenders for

Hollinger Inc. Hollinger Inc. was a Canadian media company based in Toronto which was established in 1985 by businessman Conrad Black. At one time, the company was the third-largest media empire in the world. In 1996, through stock purchases, it took over con ...

before it was purchased by

David and Frederick Barclay Sir David Rowat Barclay (27 October 1934 – 10 January 2021) and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born 27 October 1934), commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaire brothers, of whom Frederick Barclay ...

. McCorkindale served as a director of the Associated Press, Continental Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation and Mutual Insurance Company Ltd. He was also a director or trustee of numerous mutual funds in the Prudential Group.

Awards

McCorkindale received the

John Jay Award The John Jay Award is presented annually by Columbia College of Columbia University to its alumni for distinguished professional achievement. It is named for Founding Father of the United States John Jay, Columbia College Class of 1764. The first ...

from Columbia College in 1988, honoring achievement of its alumni, along with

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

owner Alan N. Cohen, Democratic Party politician Edward N. Costikyan, ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' founder

Jason Epstein Jason Wolkow Epstein (August 25, 1928 – February 4, 2022) was an American editor and publisher. He was the editorial director of Random House from 1976 to 1995. He also co-founded ''The New York Review of Books'' in 1963. Early life and edu ...

, and immunologist

Michael Heidelberger Michael Heidelberger (April 29, 1888 – June 25, 1991) was an American immunologist, often regarded as the father of modern immunology. He and Oswald Avery showed that the polysaccharides of pneumococcus are antigens, enabling him to show th ...

Personal life

An avid golfer, McCorkindale's 5.7 handicap earned him a No.13 ranking on ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...

s annual ranking of

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

and

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

chief executive golfers in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCorkindale, Douglas H. American newspaper executives Gannett people Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Lockheed Martin people Associated Press people American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies 1939 births Living people