Gannett Declares Dividend, Names New Director
ARLINGTON, VA – At its regular October meeting, the Gannett Board of Directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 22 cents per share, payable on Jan. 2, 2001, to shareholders of record on Dec. 15, 2000.
In addition, Gannett directors elected to the board James A. Johnson, chairman and CEO of Johnson Capital Partners, a private investment company.
“Jim Johnson is a very successful executive who has had a highly distinguished career in business, government and public service,” said Douglas H. McCorkindale, Gannett president and CEO.
Johnson was employed by Fannie Mae from 1990 to 1999. He served as Vice Chairman (1990), Chairman and CEO (1991-1998), and Chairman of the Executive Committee (1999).
Prior to joining Fannie Mae, he was a managing director in corporate finance at Lehman Brothers. Before joining Lehman, he was the president of Public Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm he founded to advise corporations on strategic issues.
From 1977 to 1981, Johnson served as executive assistant to Vice President Walter F. Mondale, where he advised the Vice President on domestic and foreign policy and political matters. Earlier, he was employed by the Dayton Hudson Corp., worked as a staff member in the U.S. Senate, and was on the faculty at Princeton University.
Johnson serves as chairman of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is chairman of the board of trustees of The Brookings Institution.
He also serves on the board of the following organizations: Cummins Engine Co., Inc.; The Enterprise Foundation; The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; Kaufman and Broad Home Corp.; National Association on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; National Housing Endowment; Target Corp.; Temple-Inland, Inc.; and UnitedHealth Group. He is also a member of The Business Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Johnson received a B.A. degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and an M.P.A. degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.
Gannett’s directors serve for staggered terms, with one-third of the board standing for election each year. Johnson’s term begins Dec. 1, 2000. He joins the class of directors who will stand for re-election at the shareholders meeting in May 2001. With his election, Gannett directors number nine.
Gannett Co., Inc. is an international news and information company that publishes 99 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in excess of 200 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary Newsquest plc publishes nearly 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers. Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.