The Orange County Register named a new publisher Wednesday to take over for N. Christian Anderson III, who’s run the county’s dominant daily since 1999.
Marti Buscaglia, publisher of the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota, is set to take over as Register publisher next month, according to Irvine’s Freedom Communications Inc., the newspaper’s parent company.
Anderson, who spearheaded reader-friendly changes and prevailed in a coverage war with the Los Angeles Times, is set to focus on Internet and other avenues for growth.
Buscaglia will report to Anderson as president and chief executive of Freedom Orange County Information, the division that includes the newspaper group.
Along with the Register, Buscaglia is set to oversee Freedom’s new OC Post daily and Excelsior Spanish-language paper.
Buscaglia, 54, has been publisher in Duluth for five years. Earlier, she held executive posts with newspaper publishers Tribune Co., Knight-Ridder Inc., Gannett Co. and Times-Mirror.
Before newspapers, Buscaglia ran her own advertising agency in Orange County.
Anderson is set to continue overseeing the Register, OC Post, 24 community newspapers, specialty publications and direct-mail and insert products.
He also plans to concentrate on acquisitions and new interactive ventures.
“I need to be an effective leader and I can’t do that while I am spending so much time trying to solve the riddle of newspaper print revenue,” Anderson said.
Last year, he turned over oversight of Freedom papers in Arizona and Colorado to focus on the Register and OC Post, where he’s editor.
