WATERTOWN – After a century of Clifford family leadership at the Watertown Daily Times, Kevin Clifford resigned last month, marking the end of an era for the newspaper.
Clifford left to pursue other interests after serving as director of audience development following the Daily Times‘ acquisition by Adams Publishing Group. Prior to the December 2018 sale, Clifford had served as editor and publisher since November 2017.
As his newspaper career comes to a close, Clifford reflected this week on his family’s nearly 100-year tenure at the helm. He’s among the fourth generation of the family to have worked at the newspaper since the Cliffords purchased it in 1919.
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Clifford succeeded his father, James Clifford, in the role of editor and publisher. Both served on the WNA Board of Directors, with James serving as president in 1989.
Kevin Clifford’s career at the Daily Times began with a paper route at age 12. At 14, he started working part-time cleaning the newspaper offices on weekends. He went on to work in the mailroom and press-room before starting full-time in 1992 after graduating from UW-Stout.
He began in the production department before moving to advertising and then the business office. In the early 2000s, he was named general manager. Clifford became associate publisher in 2012 and stayed in that role until taking over for his father in late 2017.
His departure comes during a year of big changes for the Daily Times. In addition to joining APG, the newspaper moved to a new location last month and saw longtime editor Tom Schultz retire in April.
