Rona Rahlf, a senior executive with Lee Enterprises Inc., on Tuesday was named publisher of the Daily Herald and its nine affiliated weekly newspapers and specialty publications. She succeeds Craig Dennis, who has left the company.

Rahlf, 43, has 19 years of newspaper management experience, including four as publisher. She will serve as president of Pulitzer Utah Newspapers Inc., a Lee subsidiary.

Mike Gulledge, Lee's vice president for publishing, made the announcement and introduced Rahlf to the Herald staff on Tuesday morning. He said Rahlf was selected because of her broad experience in "building strong, dynamic relationships with readers, advertisers and employees."

Most recently, Rahlf served as a newspaper group leader within Lee, which owns or has interest in 54 dailies and 300 weeklies in 23 states. Since 2006 she has been publisher of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. Before that she was publisher for two years at The Montana Standard in Butte, Mont.

Under her leadership, the Post-Star received Lee's highest honor as 2007 Enterprise of the Year. In 2005, while Rahlf was publisher in Butte, The Montana Standard was also chosen as a finalist for Enterprise of the Year. "She's a proven catalyst for success," Gulledge said.

Mary Junck, Lee's chairman and chief executive officer, also noted Rahlf's success. "Rona and her team in Glens Falls have set a high standard for delivering strong local news, driving revenue, accelerating online innovation and continuing to build on powerful audience reach. We're sure she'll help her new team in Provo to reach even higher."

"It's a different environment now in our industry," Rahlf said. "There are opportunities here and we will identify them to best serve our readers and advertisers."

Rahlf began her career with Lee in 1987 as a shopper advertising representative in Billings, Mont., advancing to management positions within the Billings Gazette as Thrifty Nickel manager and specialty publications manager.

In 1996 she became retail advertising manager of the Gazette. In 2000, she and three other classified  advertising managers in Montana received a Lee President's Award for creating the statewide "Work for You" employment publication.

In 2002 she was appointed human resources manager at the Gazette and also served as a regional human resources director.

In Glens Falls she has been involved in a variety of community projects, including service as a board member with the Tri-County United Way.

She and her husband, Willie, have two daughters and a son who is serving a mission for the LDS Church.

The Daily Herald has a circulation of 33,000 daily and 39,000 Sunday, plus online reach totaling four million unique visitors per month.