Paul Tash to retire from Tampa Bay Times; Conan Gallaty will become next chairman
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, Georgia, 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.