PIERRE, S.D. – John Clark, a longtime newspaper veteran who spent 12 years as a publisher in Wisconsin, will retire at the end of this month.
Clark announced his retirement Tuesday in the Capital Journal, a daily newspaper in Pierre, S.D., where he has been publisher since July 2015. After 46 years in journalism, Clark’s last day will be Jan. 31.
A Chicago native, Clark earned his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University. He started his newspaper career with Northland Publishers in Iron River, Mich., where he worked for 18 years.
In 1991, he joined Thomson Newspapers as publisher of the Lakeshore Chronicle in Manitowoc. In 1998, the company named Clark publisher of the Stevens Point Journal. When Thomson sold Wisconsin newspapers to Gannett in 2001, he became group publisher of the Journal and the (Wisconsin Rapids) Daily Tribune.
In 2003, Clark left Wisconsin and Gannett to become publisher of the Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Miss. Five years later, he moved to Ohio to become group publisher for Heartland Publications, which later became a part of Civitas Media. When Clark left the company to join the Capital Journal, he was publisher of 19 daily and weekly newspapers.
After moving around the country for more than four decades, Clark and wife, Krista, plan to move back to the Midwest following his retirement.
