McLeod, former WSJ digital leader, dies at 60

Gordon McLeod PHOTO: JOHN PARASKEVAS/NEWSDAY

Gordon McLeod

Gordon McLeod, an executive who helped The Wall Street Journal and other publications improve their digital offerings, died last month from cancer at the age of 60.

James Hagerty of The Journal writes, “Mr. McLeod was president of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network from 2006 to 2010. In that post, he oversaw wsj.com and the digital versions of Barron’s and other Dow Jones products. Dow Jones is a subsidiary of News Corp. When Apple Inc. introduced the iPad in early 2010, he rushed to create an application allowing users of the device to read the Journal.

“Over a 35-year career, he also held senior posts at Newsday and Time Inc., where he was president of SI.com and Sports Illustrated Pictures, general manager of Time Inc. Interactive and general manager of Parenting.com and ParentingTV.

“In recent years, he was an investor in and consultant for startups involved in machine learning and artificial intelligence.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.