FRANKLIN—Steve Stewart, publisher of The Tidewater News, has been named vice president of Boone Newspapers Inc., with responsibility for the company’s affiliate newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina.

Stewart will retain his ownership in Tidewater Publications LLC, which publishes The Tidewater News and related Internet and magazine products. He will continue to serve as the newspaper’s publisher and to live in Franklin.

“Steve’s strong leadership in our Virginia and North Carolina operations is needed and appreciated,” said Todd Carpenter, president of Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based Boone Newspapers. “He has an excellent track record in leading people, producing top-quality newspapers that lead and serve their communities, and in meeting financial obligations necessary for our operations to serve their communities at the highest level.”

Stewart also was named president of Suffolk Publications LLC, a Boone Newspapers affiliate that publishes the daily Suffolk News-Herald and companion Internet products.

“I am blessed to have an outstanding team at The Tidewater News,” said Stewart. “Our employees’ collective experience and know-how allow me to redirect some time and energy to my new duties.”

Stewart, 42, began his newspaper career with Emmerich Newspapers in his native Mississippi, where he edited and published newspapers for 12 years. He moved to Franklin in 2006. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and, in 2005, was the inaugural John Emmerich Fellow at the University of Oxford in England.

His wife, Rhonda, is executive director of the Village at Woods Edge in Franklin.