RICHMOND, Va., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rusty Coats has been promoted to Director of Strategic Initiatives for Media General's Interactive Media Division, effective May 1. In this new position, Mr. Coats will lead new business initiatives for the company's existing online enterprises as well as develop new opportunities for audience and revenue growth.

Mr. Coats is currently general manager of TBO.com in Tampa. He joined Media General in 2005 from MORI Research and Frank N. Magid Associates, where he was director of new media. Mr. Coats has worked in interactive media since 1993, first as a technology reporter covering Silicon Valley for McClatchy News Service and then as director of Web sites for The Modesto Bee, The Sacramento Bee and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune. Before that, he was a reporter and columnist at a variety of newspapers from Maine to Miami. He holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism and English from Indiana University.

"I am pleased that Rusty will lead our new initiatives as we continue to create a dynamic Internet presence in all Media General markets," said Neal Fondren, president of the Interactive Media Division. "Rusty's extensive experience managing online enterprises will enable him to help us deliver web- based news and information in innovative and compelling ways. We look forward to leveraging his expertise across all of our interactive enterprises."

About Media General

Media General is a multimedia company operating leading newspapers, television stations and online enterprises primarily in the Southeastern United States. The company's publishing assets include three metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal; 22 daily community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; and more than 150 weekly newspapers and other publications. The company's broadcasting assets include 23 network-affiliated television stations that reach more than 32 percent of the television households in the Southeast and nearly 9.5 percent of those in the United States. The company's interactive media assets include more than 75 online enterprises that are associated with its newspapers and television stations. Media General also owns a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Company, a manufacturer of recycled newsprint.

CONTACT: Liz Cleal of Media General, +1-804-649-6869

Web site: http://www.mediageneral.com/