IRVINE, Calif. — Jon Segal, president of Freedom Communications’ newspaper division, is retiring on June 30, according to a company newsletter.

Freedom is the parent company of the Clovis News Journal, Portales News-Tribune and Quay County Sun.

Segal’s career began more than 40 years ago as a high school student in the circulation department of the Brownsville (Texas) Herald.

“With the Company’s Chapter 11 process coming to a close and the worst of the economic downturn behind us, this seemed like the time for me to retire,” Segal said in the news release.

“The decision to leave a company I love and have been with my entire career wasn’t easy, but it’s the right time and the right thing to do. That said, Freedom has an outstanding portfolio of newspaper and television properties — and a great team of associates to run them. It has a very bright future, I wish them all the success in the world.”

Burl Osborne, Freedom’s chief executive officer, said company officials are “deeply appreciative of the countless contributions Jon has made to our company.”

“In successfully guiding our newspapers through the restructuring process and an extremely difficult economic climate, Jon has worked to ensure a strong future for our newspapers. Due to his expertise and hard work, the company is well-positioned to meet the challenges facing the media industry.”  

Mark McEachen, Freedom’s chief financial officer and chief restructuring officer, will assume operations of the newspapers division, the release said.

As president of the newspapers division, Segal oversaw operations of the company’s more than 100 daily and weekly newspapers.

Segal serves on the board of trustee of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and the board of directors of the American Press Institute and the PAGE purchasing cooperative. He is a past president of the SNPA and the North Carolina Press Association.