Charles E. Scripps, 87; longtime leader of media company

Charles E. Scripps, 87, longtime chairman of the E.W. Scripps media firm, died Saturday of natural causes near his home in Naples, Fla., the company said.

He was board chairman from 1953 until 1994, presiding over the company’s growth as a newspaper publisher along with its entry into broadcast television, cable TV systems and networks, and the Internet.

The company’s newspapers include the Cincinnati Post, the Rocky Mountain News and the Ventura County Star, and its cable networks include HGTV and the Food Network.

His grandfather, Edward W. Scripps, started the company in 1878.

Born Jan. 27, 1920, in San Diego, Charles Scripps grew up on his grandfather’s 2,000-acre ranch northeast of the city.

He attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., and Pomona College.

He began his newspaper career at his grandfather’s first paper, the Cleveland Press, where he was a reporter covering police and courts.

He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, then returned to the family business and became chairman of the family trust at 28.

He became chairman of the company five years later.

He retired in May 2003 from the company’s board of directors but remained chairman of the Edward W. Scripps Trust, the controlling shareholder of the company, until 2004.