My tremendous new opportunity

In rare quiet moments, Ka and I sometimes talk about how change and upheaval seem to be such constants in our lives. We tell ourselves we'll be glad when things slow down. Then another shoe drops, or absent that, we seem to go out and find some new way to stir things up.

A big shoe dropped this month, and now I can tell you about it:

I will join Cordillera Communications effective Jan. 11 as its president of interactive. Cordillera owns 13 television stations in mid-size markets including Lexington, Ky.; Tucson, Ariz.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and several cities in Montana.

Friends and family know I have aimed myself at just such an opportunity -- leading an interactive media growth business -- for years, more so recently as I wrapped up my MBA. When the Cordillera opportunity presented itself, the more I learned the better fit it became. I am so grateful to Cordillera for this chance and will work tirelessly to bring in success.

Even better, we get to stay in Knoxville and see the kids through their years at Bearden High School (go Bulldogs!) and East Tennessee State University (go Bucs!). I'll travel a lot for the job, but that's no change from my life for, oh, 12 years or so.

The other side of this change smarts a little, though: Leaving The E.W. Scripps Co. means leaving the greatest interactive team I have known in 15 years of "doing online stuff" -- and that says a lot when you consider the many talented folks I knew at Belo Interactive and Central Newspapers. I told my team leaders this morning I owed this opportunity to them -- they made possible all our successes these last five years. I look forward to seeing many great achievements from them in the coming years, and comparing notes over a few friendly beers from time to time.