Mark Contreras, 43, was named vice president of newspaper operations in January 2005. He oversees the day-to-day operation and strategic direction of the Scripps newspaper division, which includes 27 daily and community newspapers and related businesses.

Contreras joined Scripps after serving five years as a senior vice president of Pulitzer, Inc., with oversight responsibilities for Pulitzer Newspapers and the company’s 50 percent interest in the Tucson Newspaper Agency.

He began his newspaper career in 1988 as marketing services manager for The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich. A year later he joined The Kansas City Star, serving four years as metro circulation manager and one year as retail display advertising director. From 1994 to 1999 Contreras was president and publisher of The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Contreras is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, earning a master’s in business administration in 1988. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Chicago. He has completed the advanced executive program at Northwestern University’s Newspaper Management Center and was selected by The Aspen Institute as a Henry Crown Fellow.

Contreras is a board member and treasurer for The American Press Institute. He serves on the board of the Newspaper Association of America, where he chairs the Postal Affairs Committee. He is a board member and chairman of the retail advertising committee of the Inland Press Association, and he is a member of the National Association of Minority Media Executives.