William D. Singleton: Profile of a Publisher

William Dean Singleton started his career as a part-time reporter at age 15 in his hometown of Graham, Tex. His first newspaper acquisition occurred shortly after his graduation from the University of Texas, when he bought four small newspapers in West Texas.

As a young man he applied for a job at the Dallas Times Herald and was turned down, Singleton says. He bought the Times Herald in 1986 for $110 million from Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Co.

Singleton is part owner of Gloucester County Times Inc. of New Jersey and MediaNews Group Inc., which operates the newspapers Singleton and his partners own.

Singleton spent five years at Allbritton Communications Co. in Washington, where he acquired 13 newspapers, including the Trenton Times in New Jersey, from Washington Post Co.

Singleton lives in Dallas with his wife and son.