FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Svihlik Named Regional Editor for Northern Virginia Newspapers

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Media General's Publishing Division has named Susan Jessup Svihlik as executive editor of its community newspapers in Northern Virginia.

A 33-year newspaper veteran, Svihlik assumed her responsibilities April 30 as the newsroom leader for the Potomac News and the Manassas Journal Messenger, both daily newspapers. She also will oversee news operations of the weekly Stafford County Sun and two military publications.

"Svihlik will focus on building a compelling and relevant local news report that reflects the communities in the Prince William Region," said Northern Virginia Regional Publisher Mark Laskowski. "With the recent combining of the newsrooms from both dailies, she will use existing resources to expand local coverage throughout the county while increasing in-depth and enterprise reporting."

An accomplished editor, Svihlik has won numerous journalism awards and has worked closely with investigative reporting teams on a series of stories that uncovered at least two murders and led to the resignation of a local coroner. A graduate of Northwestern University, Svihlik joins Media General from Ogden Newspapers, where she spent the past 10 years as executive editor of the Warren (Ohio) Tribune Chronicle. Previously, she worked in a variety of newsroom reporting and editing positions at the Indianapolis Star and the Richmond (Ind.) Palladium-Item.

About Media General
Media General is an independent, publicly owned communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations, interactive media and diversified information services. The company's publishing assets include The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Winston-Salem Journal and 22 other daily newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, as well as nearly 100 other periodicals and a 20 percent interest in The Denver Post. Media General's 26 network-affiliated television stations reach more than 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast, and nearly 8 percent of those in the United States. The company's extensive interactive media offerings include more than 50 online enterprises. Media General also has a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Co., which operates newsprint mills in Dublin, Ga., and Newberg, Ore.