USA Today editor takes Freedom Forum job

Ken Paulson4 years at helm

NEW YORK - USA Today's Ken Paulson plans to step down as editor of the largest-circulation US newspaper to become president and chief operating officer of the Newseum and the Freedom Forum.

Paulson, 55, will retire Feb. 1 after leading the Gannett Co. daily since April 2004, USA Today publisher Craig Moon told employees in a memo yesterday. A replacement hasn't been named, a USA Today spokeswoman said.

The Freedom Forum is a Washington-based private, nonprofit foundation that promotes freedom of the press and operates the Newseum, a museum of journalism. USA Today founder Allen Neuharth founded the Freedom Forum in 1991.

"When you're offered an opportunity to work in a place every day to help build support for the First Amendment and a free press, you can't really pass that up," Paulson said.

Paulson became the newspaper's sixth editor after a probe into allegations that former reporter Jack Kelley fabricated and plagiarized stories. Karen Jurgensen, Paulson's predecessor, stepped down amidst the controversy.