• by Sara Guaglione , June 14, 2018

Bill Nagel is the new publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. He succeeds Jeff Johnson, who was named president of Hearst Newspapers in February.

Nagel previously served as vice president, shared audience for Cox Media Group, where he led a shared services business for four markets.

Hearst Newspapers poached another Cox Media Group executive last month, tapping Mark Medici, former vice president of audience and newspaper operations at the company, as executive vice president and Chief Marketing Officer of Hearst Newspapers, a new position.

Before joining Cox Media Group in 2016, Nagel was executive vice president of marketing-business services at Tribune Publishing. From 2009 to 2013, Nagel was executive vice president of business services at the Los Angeles Times. He was also an executive at San Diego Union-Tribune.

Nagel said in a statement that he is “excited to return to California.”

The San Francisco Chronicle is the largest newspaper in Northern California. Hearst acquired the paper in 2000.

Hearst president and CEO Steven R. Swartz noted Nagel’s audience engagement and consumer revenue experience will make him “a terrific leader” for the newspaper.

Hearst Newspapers publishes 24 dailies and 64 weeklies, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, The New Haven Register and Albany Times Union. It also owns LocalEdge, which operates digital marketing services and directories businesses.