Mott to retire as president of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The president and general manager of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., which publishes The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, will retire at the end of this month and won't immediately be replaced, the company said Jan. 9. 

Fred Mott, 57, a longtime executive with parent company Knight Ridder, plans to retire to Florida, said PNI Publisher and Chairman Joe Natoli. 

Natoli said the departure is not a cost-cutting move. 

Mott had overseen PNI's business operations, including technology, advertising and circulation. Natoli, a fellow Knight Ridder veteran who came to PNI this month, said he will assume responsibility for those areas. 

Mott moved to PNI in 2002 after being publisher of The State in Columbia, S.C. 

He previously was publisher of the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune and general manager of the Tallahassee Democrat. He began his career on the Knight Ridder corporate staff in 1979. 

Natoli succeeds Robert J. Hall, who retired in December after 13 years at PNI's helm.