RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Media General (NYSE: MEG) is creating a new production and distribution unit within its Publishing Division, effective February 1, 2009. The new Operations and Distribution Solutions Group will be responsible for all printing and distribution for the company's 24 daily newspapers and more than 275 weekly newspapers and niche publications. A key focus for the new unit will be to expand outside sales for commercial printing, including pursuing opportunities for high-speed offset web printing, primarily with other newspapers and specialty publications.

Dale Lachniet, vice president and controller for Media General's Publishing Division, has been named president of the new unit. The financial performance will be consolidated in the Publishing Division segment results.

"Media General has long recognized that the core competencies of our newspapers are gathering and distributing news and information and bringing advertisers and consumers together," said Graham Woodlief, president of the Publishing Division. "Moving printing and distribution into a separate unit will allow publishers and managers to focus on content, sales and new products, including online opportunities. We expect this innovative approach to provide operating efficiencies."

Media General has already consolidated manufacturing for its daily newspapers from 25 sites to 11.

Three regional vice presidents will report to Mr. Lachniet. They are Bill Barker, in charge of the unit's operations in Tampa, Fla.; Sam Hightower, in charge of the Richmond, Central Virginia and Northern Virginia operations, and Bob Rogers, in charge of the operations in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the remainder of the company's community newspapers, including six other Media General production sites.

Mr. Lachniet has been controller since 1996 and was named vice president in 1999. Before joining Media General, he worked for Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse, where he worked with media and entertainment companies as well as other industries.

About Media General

Media General is a leading provider of local news, information and entertainment over multiple media platforms. The company serves markets primarily in the Southeastern United States. Media General publishes 24 daily newspapers, including The Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal; and community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; plus approximately 275 weekly newspapers and other targeted publications. The company owns and operates 19 network-affiliated television stations that reach approximately 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast and nearly 9 percent of those in the United States. The company's interactive media operations include Web sites and portals that are associated with each of its newspapers and television stations as well as with many specialty publications, and three growing interactive advertising services companies, Blockdot, Inc., DealTaker.com and NetInformer.

SOURCE Media General