David A. Zeeck

Publisher & President
Phone: (253) 597-8554
Email: david.zeeck@thenewstribune.com

Dave Zeeck has been president and publisher since 2008. Before that he was executive editor of The News Tribune for 14 years. He came to Tacoma in 1994, after 20 years at The Kansas City Star as a reporter and editor. At The Star, he was an editor on projects that won Pulitzer prizes for local and national reporting.

In addition to being chair of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County, Zeeck serves as a member of the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma and is on the advisory board for the University of Washington - Tacoma. He is also on the boards of two industry organizations: Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington. He is a past-president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

He received an MBA from Rockhurst College in Kansas City and a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri. He is a Presbyterian and an Eagle Scout. He is married to Valarie S. Zeeck, a partner in a Tacoma law firm. They have two grown sons. Zeeck is proud to be a Texan by birth and a Tacoman by choice.

John Dzaran

Vice President of Advertising & Interactive
Phone: (253) 597-8487
Email: john.dzaran@thenewstribune.com

John Dzaran joined The News Tribune as Interactive Media Director in 2011, and was promoted to Vice President of Advertising and Interactive a year later.

He started his newspaper career working on an inserter line in the packaging department at Newsday on Long Island, NY. His first advertising job was as an advertising budget analyst for Newsday. He has held a variety of sales and management positions with newspapers and online companies over the years, including America Online, iVillage, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Ventura County Star.

Jennifer Matts-Sprague

Vice President of Finance
Phone: (253) 597-8510
Email: jmatts-sprague@thenewstribune.com

Jennifer Matts-Sprague has been the Vice President of Finance for The News Tribune and The Olympian since 2011. She started her career with McClatchy Newspapers in 2001, working at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Penn., and advancing to the finance director position before being hired as the chief financial officer for The Olympian in 2007.

Matts-Sprague is a 1997 graduate of Pennsylvania’s Mercyhurst College with a degree in accounting. She passed all sections of the CPA exam in 2006. She is a graduate of the 2005 Maynard Media Academy at Northwestern University.

She and her husband, Andrew Sprague, live in Olympia.

Norine Mullen

Human Resources Director
Phone: (253) 274-7344
Email: norine.mullen@thenewstribune.com

Norine Mullen became Human Resources director for The News Tribune and The Olympian in March 2011. She came to Tacoma by way of Sacramento, Calif., where she had been the Employee Relations Manager at The Sacramento Bee since 1998.

Mullen’s experience includes responsibilities for recruitment, employee relations, training, outplacement, compensation, policy development and employee recognition programs. She helped develop new performance standards and participated in the The Bee’s Leadership program that recommended an improved performance management system to support the company’s goals and objectives.

Mullen currently serves on the Board of Directors for the McClatchy Employees Credit Union.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. She has two grown children and is married to Kevin Mullen, a retired Air Force pilot and retired attorney who specialized in civil litigation.

Karen Peterson

Executive Editor/Senior Vice President for News
Phone: (253) 597-8434
karen.peterson@thenewstribune.com

Karen Peterson was named executive editor of The News Tribune in August 2008. In early 2009, she gained editorial responsibility for The Olympian, as well. In April 2009, the two newspapers formed an editorial partnership that includes a shared copy and design desk, as well as shared editors for features, sports and photography. In 2012, she oversaw a redesign of both papers and, most recently, the launch of the Capital Update tablet and phone app.

Prior to being named executive editor, Peterson was managing editor of The News Tribune for three years. She joined the paper in 2000 as suburban team leader. She has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Hawaii and Indiana, and for an Army publication in Germany. During her husband’s first tour at Fort Lewis in the late 1980s, Peterson wrote for The Lakewood Press and started the monthly Pierce County Parent. She also previously served as a board member of the Associated Press Managing Editors and is currently a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

She and her husband, Mike Peterson, a retired Army officer, have two grown sons and live in Gig Harbor.

Phil Schroder

Vice President of Audience Development
Phone: (253) 597-8725
Email: phil.schroder@thenewstribune.com

Phil Schroder became Vice President of Audience Development for The News Tribune and The Olympian in March 2013. Prior to that, he worked as audience development manager at another McClatchy newspaper – The Telegraph in Macon, Georgia – since October 2007.

Like many circulation managers, Schroder got his start in the newspaper industry as a carrier delivering newspapers. After college, he became a district manager at The Telegraph. He learned the day-to-day operations of circulation while serving as single copy manager and circulation manager at The Times in Gainesville, Georgia. Schroder has been a leader in finding and integrating new software tools to help achieve marketing objectives. He also has helped lead social-media and deal-site initiatives, working closely with the advertising department and the newsroom.

Schroder graduated from Pensacola Christian College in 2001 with degrees in management and marketing. He and his wife Tamara live with their three children in University Place.