TAMPA BAY, FL — After a career of more than four decades with the newspaper, Paul Tash will retire as chairman of the Tampa Bay Times on July 1 and has named Conan Gallaty, the president of Times Publishing Company, to succeed him.
Tash, 67, came to the St. Petersburg Times as a reporter in 1978 and became chairman and CEO in 2004. Since then, the newspaper changed its name to become the Tampa Bay Times, acquired the Tampa Tribune and won seven Pulitzer Prizes.
“Without question, leading the Times is the honor of my life’s work,” Tash said in a letter to the staff. “I look to its future with bright optimism, recognizing that the next chapter deserves fresh leadership.”
To advance the transition, Tash is turning over the CEO’s role to Gallaty now. “I have full confidence in Conan’s capacity and his character,” Tash said.
Gallaty, 45, came to the Times in 2018 as its first chief digital officer. A native of Rome, Ga., he graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in publication management from the Grady College of Journalism. Gallaty entered the profession as a journalist but has devoted the bulk of his career to building digital products and business lines that reach new audiences. Before joining the Times, he was president of digital for WEHCO Media, an Arkansas company with newspapers, digital marketing agencies and cable systems across six states.
Soon after he arrived at the Times, Gallaty installed a new publishing system for tampabay.com and has led the Times’ substantial growth in digital advertising and subscriptions. He was promoted to president of Times Publishing in 2020.
“I am both deeply appreciative and humbled to succeed Paul. His are big shoes to fill,” Gallaty said. “I am confident that our team will rise to the challenge and that some of our best journalism lies ahead.”
Gallaty will become only the fourth person to take the company’s top leadership post since the death in 1978 of Nelson Poynter, the last individual to own the Times. To keep the Times independent and locally owned, Poynter left ownership of the company to a school he founded, now named the Poynter Institute. After he retires from the Times, Tash will remain chairman of the Poynter board of trustees.
About the Tampa Bay Times
The Tampa Bay Times is widely considered one of the Top Ten newspapers in America and has won 13 Pulitzer Prizes. It is Florida’s largest newspaper and publishes tampabay.com – Tampa Bay’s largest local news Web site. Additionally, the company publishes the free weekly tbt* Weekend, an edition of the Tampa Bay Times, and Bay magazine.
