July 23, 2003

Former San Jose Mercury News publisher appointed to
SF Federal Reserve Bank Board

San Francisco, July 23, 2003 - The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has announced the appointment of Jay T. Harris, former chairman and publisher of the San Jose Mercury News, to its board of directors by the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. In his role as a director, Mr. Harris will provide the Federal Reserve System with economic information on his industry and the Twelfth District's nine-state economy.

Currently, Mr. Harris holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Communications at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California where he joined the faculty in 2002. He also serves as the founding director of the Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy, which is located at the school.

Mr. Harris also holds the rank of Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University where he also teaches.

From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Harris was the chairman and publisher of the San Jose Mercury News. During his seven years as publisher, Mr. Harris's priorities were enhancing the newspaper's coverage of business and technology in Silicon Valley, and leading the drive to deepen and broaden the newspaper's service to a multi-lingual readership. In 1996, the Mercury News launched Nuevo Mundo, a Spanish language weekly, and three years later it launched Viet Mercury, a Vietnamese-language weekly.

During his tenure at the San Jose Mercury News the Columbia Journalism Review ranked it as one of the ten best newspapers in the country.

Prior to joining the San Jose Mercury News, Mr. Harris was a vice president of operations at Knight Ridder with oversight responsibility of the business operations of nine of the company's newspapers.

"We are aware of the integrity and exceptional experience that Mr. Harris brings to the publishing industry," said Robert Parry, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. "We're pleased to have Mr. Harris join our Board and we look forward to the insights and perspective he'll contribute on a regional and national level."

Among Mr. Harris's many appointments and affiliations, he is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board of Directors and the National Advisory Board of the Poynter Institute, a center for the study and teaching of the highest standards of the craft of journalism. He serves on the boards of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Salzburg Seminar, and is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Harris will serve the unexpired portion of the three-year term of Mr. Nelson Rising, Chairman and CEO of Catellus Development Corporation, who retired from the Board at the end of April.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through its head office in San Francisco, branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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