FLORENCE, S.C. – Matthew Tranquill has been named the general manager and director of local advertising sales for the Morning News.

The appointment was announced Tuesday by Lee Enterprises, which owns the Morning News.

Tranquill comes to Florence from South Dakota, where he has been the president and director of local advertising sales for the Rapid City Journal.

Former Morning News publisher Bailey Dabney has left the company.

“Matt will be a strong addition in Florence and is dedicated to helping local businesses thrive,” said Cathy Hughes, a Lee Group publisher and regional publisher for the Morning News and The Times and Democrat in Orangeburg.

“He is an innovative sales leader with significant experience driving ad revenue, particularly in the expanding digital environment.”

Tranquill joined Lee in 2018 after serving as publisher of the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

His newspaper career began as an advertising sales representative with The Parkersburg News Sentinel in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Tranquill held several leadership roles with the company before becoming regional advertising director for The Parkersburg News Sentinel and The Marietta Times in 2014.

“I am eager to get started in this new opportunity,” Tranquill said. “The Morning News and scnow.com are vital to Florence and its surrounding communities and provide businesses with great ability to connect and communicate with customers.”

Tranquill has served on several boards, including the Boys & Girls Club, the Boy Scouts of America Cherokee Area Council and the Mid-Ohio Air Show. He has been a member of a number of other organizations, including the Rotary and various local chambers of commerce.

He is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia and earned a bachelor's degree in political and economic philosophy.

Tranquill and his wife, Marcie, have two children.

Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) is a leading provider of news, information and advertising in 77 markets. Its headquarters are in Davenport, Iowa.