Boss of biggest rural paper leaves to run schools

The chief excutive of the largest rural newspaper in the U.S., which has editorially supported use of private-sector managers in public education, has left to help run the local school system.

Billy Crews, right, of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo became chief operating officer of the Tupelo Public School District on Jan. 1. In the new, $122,000-a-year position he oversees non-instructional departments such as finance, human resources, technology and communications, the Journal reports.

Crews, 54, worked for the newspaper for 32 years and had been CEO since 1992. He remains chairman of Journal Inc., a part-time position. He is a protege of George McLean, who made the paper a leader in regional development and left it to a foundation that he created to benefit Tupelo and Northeast Mississippi.