Living the Life   

Beverly Jackson takes an executive position with MediaNews Group.

Beverly Jackson, former senior vice president of Ottaway Newspapers, takes the reins as publisher and president of William Dean Singleton's Alameda Newspaper Group and California Newspaper Partnership's northern California division, following the sudden resignation of Scott McKibben. Jackson, 52, joined Peterborough, New Hampshire's Monadnock Ledger not long out of college. The first day, she ended up staying 14 hours past the time her proofreading shift was supposed to end--and found what she calls her life's work. She soon became general manager and then moved on to a 21-year stint at Ottaway, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co. that owns community newspapers. "I have for a long time admired the approach that Dean Singleton has taken--an aggressive, growth-minded approach," she says. "You have to keep the business running, keep the doors open. I think a lot of what he's done has accomplished that." She arrives at a time when editorial staffers at ANG, which includes the Oakland Tribune, are frustrated over their lack of progress in renegotiating a contract that expired in August 2001. Several say they are "cautiously optimistic" about Jackson, who says she's going to be tracking the negotiations but won't be directly involved.