John Stewart Bryan III, longtime chairman of Media General, has died. He was 77.
Media General says his death was caused by complications related to neck injuries suffered in a fall on Jan. 15.
“If I have made any contribution, it has been being part of a newspaper that was trying to provide the right information for people to make up their own minds in the city of Richmond and central Virginia,” Bryan told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in October.
Mr. Bryan, 77, took the reins of Media General in 1990 and grew the publicly traded company that his father had created in 1969 into a multimillion-dollar corporation that now only owns 71 television stations, including WRIC in Richmond. Media General exited the publishing business in 2012 when it sold its newspapers, including The Times-Dispatch, to a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
“We have kept an eye on government,” Mr. Bryan said about the role that his newspapers and television stations have played. “I think the press has played an enormous role in the history of the United States. I have been a proud part of it.”
Mr. Bryan served as Media General’s board chairman since 1990 and was its CEO from 1990 to 2005. He had held a seat on the Richmond-based company’s board since 1974.
You can read his obituary on Media General’s site by clicking here.
image: Richmond Times-Dispatch