Tampa Bay Times adds board members, names new president

The region's largest newspaper shook up its leadership ranks on Friday, adding multiple board members under 60 in an effort to prep the company as it heads deeper into a more digital 21st century.

The Tampa Bay Times says it has made Joe DeLuca its president, replacing Conan Gallaty, who will remain as the paper's CEO and chairman. Gallaty was named president in 2020. 

Additionally, four members are joining the board of the company, Times Publishing Co., which publishes the Tampa Bay Times and other publications, the newspaper wrote on Friday. (Gallaty discusses the strategy of younger board members in the Times story.) 

Times Publishing Co. says its four new board members are David Denor, 52, publisher of Florida Trend; Jay Rey, 44, Tampa Bay Newspapers publisher and president; Carolyn Fox, 41, Tampa Bay Times managing editor; and Jessi Navarro, 40, Poynter Institute CFO and COO.

Times Publishing Co. owns Florida Trend and Tampa Bay Newspapers. St. Pete's Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism and ethics think tank, owns the overall companies.

The Times says DeLuca, a former reporter, is 65 and has been with the Times since 2001. He has held several executive roles with the newspaper.

Gallaty told the Business Observer in an interview that the younger board members are a sign "we're planning ahead, not just for the next future." Gallaty says the board members are the "next wave of leadership."