Gaylord steps down as Daily Oklahoma publisher, editor

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Edward L. Gaylord stepped down as publisher and editor of The Daily Oklahoman on Thursday and named two people outside the Gaylord family to assume the roles. <br><br>David Thompson

Thursday, April 17th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Edward L. Gaylord stepped down as publisher and editor of The Daily Oklahoman on Thursday and named two people outside the Gaylord family to assume the roles.

David Thompson will be publisher and Ed Kelley will be editor of The Oklahoman, the first people outside the Gaylord family to hold either title since 1918, said Christy Everest, the company's president and Gaylord's daughter.

Gaylord, who has health problems, will remain chairman and chief executive officer of The Oklahoma Publishing Co., the newspaper's parent company.

He took over as editor and publisher in 1974 when his father, E.K. Gaylord, died. The younger Gaylord, 83, has been active at the newspaper since 1936.

Thompson, 51, will oversee the paper's business operations, including advertising, circulation, production and financial departments.

Kelley, 50, will be in charge of the newspaper staff and editorial and opinion pages.

Thompson worked as advertising director of The Oklahoman for 14 years before becoming vice president/advertising at the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina in 2001.

He resigned from the newspaper on Thursday and is expected to assume his duties at The Oklahoman next month.

Kelley is editorial page editor for The Oklahoman. He was the paper's managing editor for nine years and spent four years at the paper's Washington bureau.