Released: 07/30/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 30, 2008 -- The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) today named David A. Zeeck as president and publisher of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.

Zeeck is executive editor and senior vice president for news at The News Tribune, where he has been the top news executive since joining the newspaper in 1994. He replaces Cheryl Dell, who became president and publisher of The Sacramento Bee in April.

"Dave has demonstrated strong leadership during these challenging times in our industry," said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chairman and chief executive officer. “He has fully embraced the multimedia future and is just as committed to continuing The News Tribune's legacy of public service journalism."

Zeeck, 57, joined The News Tribune from The Kansas City Star, where he began his career and spent 20 years as a reporter, city editor, managing editor and executive editor. At The Kansas City Star, Zeeck was an editor on two projects that won Pulitzer Prizes. He was city editor when The Kansas City Star shared the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for coverage of a Hyatt Regency Hotel skywalk collapse that killed 114 people. He was executive editor and part of the editing team on the paper’s examination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

Zeeck has held leadership roles in several national journalism organizations and capacities. He has been a Pulitzer Prize juror on multiple occasions, including the past two years. He is a past president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and has served on the boards of the Associated Press Managing Editors and New Directions for News, an industry research and development organization. He also is active in journalism education.

"Dave's broad understanding of industry challenges makes him a great choice to lead The News Tribune during this time of transition,” said Bob Weil, McClatchy vice president, operations, who oversees the company’s Northwest newspapers. "He also cares deeply about the community, the paper and its employees, which makes him a great fit going forward."

Zeeck is a native of West Texas, born and raised in the small city of Plainview. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Rockhurst University in Kansas City.

As executive editor of The News Tribune, Zeeck said he was most proud of expanding the quantity and breadth of investigative reporting and growing the bond between the paper and the community -- something he hopes to build on as publisher.

"This paper and this community have a real affection for each other," he said. "That’s why we hold our public institutions and public agencies to such a high standard of behavior."

He is married to Valarie S. Zeeck, a lawyer and former judge. They have two adult children, Phillip and Michael.

About McClatchy

The McClatchy Company is the third largest newspaper company in the United States, with 30 daily newspapers, approximately 50 non-dailies, and direct marketing and direct mail operations. McClatchy also operates leading local websites in each of its markets which extend its audience reach. The websites offer users comprehensive news and information, advertising, e-commerce and other services. Together with its newspapers and direct marketing products, these interactive operations make McClatchy the leading local media company in each of its premium high growth markets. McClatchy-owned newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer.

McClatchy also owns a portfolio of premium digital assets, including 14.4% of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online job site, and 25.6% of Classified Ventures, a newspaper industry partnership that offers two of the nation's premier classified websites: the auto website, cars.com, and the rental site, apartments.com. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

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