Gary B. Pruitt (born c. 1957) is an American attorney and businessman, who was as the President and CEO of the

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 ...

. He was the CEO, president, and chairman of the board of McClatchy, an American publishing company that operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states.

Early life and education

Pruitt was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and raised in Satellite Beach, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, Masters of Public Policy from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was ...

Career

Pruitt was counsel for McClatchy from 1984 to 1987, corporate Secretary and General Counsel from 1987 to 1998, publisher for ''

The Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a three-times a week newspaper serving Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the larges ...

'' from 1991 to 1994, general counsel from 1987 to 1991, and Vice President for Operations and Technology from 1991 to 1994. He was Chief Operating Officer from 1995 to 1996. He became President starting in 1995, Chief Executive Officer in 1996, and Chairman in 2001. During his leadership Pruitt led the ill-fated acquisition of Knight Ridder group leading to debt and layoffs at McClatchy Papers. In April 2012 it was announced he would become CEO of the Associated Press. Kevin McClatchy assumed his chairman of the board role and Patrick J. Talamantes assumed the CEO role. He is a former chairman of the

Newspaper Association of America A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, ar ...

and James Irvine Foundation, and a former vice chairman of the

Board of Directors. He is on the Advisory Board of the USC Annenberg School Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruitt, Gary 1957 births Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni People from Satellite Beach, Florida University of Florida alumni McClatchy people American chief operating officers Associated Press people American chief executives in the mass media industry Satellite High School alumni