AUGUSTA, Ga.—Russell W. Leseberg of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been named director of publishing technology for the technology services division of Morris Communications. The appointment to the newly created position was announced today by President William S. Morris IV, and is effective immediately.

For the past nine years, Leseberg has been the owner and chief executive officer of Avail Technologies, a newspaper consulting company. During that time, he implemented publishing technology for more than 100 newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, as well as properties of the Cox News Group and the Thomson Corp.

Prior to establishing his own company, Leseberg served as technical service manager of Digital Technology International (DTI) of Provo, Utah, a developer of newspaper software systems. In that capacity, Leseberg managed site implementations, installations and customer service.

"We are fortunate to have found someone with Russ' depth of experience in publishing systems to lead the way as we acquire more and more advanced publishing technologies in our business units," Morris said.

In his new position, Leseberg will be responsible for corporate-level project development and oversight of computer and technical design, as well as the use of publishing systems within the enterprise.

"Russ brings a unique background of publishing technology expertise and newspaper systems experience to our company," said Steven B. Strout, chief information officer and head of Morris Technology Services. "Positioning people of Russ' caliber within Morris is part of our overall strategy to build a world-class organization with top talent."

Morris Communications is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, and online services. For more information, visit www.morris.com.