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NEW YORK - The editor of USA Today, the country's largest-selling newspaper, retired suddenly Tuesday amid a scandal over fabrications and deceptions by Jack Kelley, one of the paper's star reporters.
Karen Jurgensen, 55, had been the paper's editor since 1999. Her departure came on the heels of a comprehensive report on the Kelley fiasco compiled by three veteran newspaper editors.
Craig Moon, USA Today's publisher, has not released details about the report's contents or its recommendations.
Steven Anderson, a spokesman for the newspaper, said USA Today executives were not planning any comments on the departure beyond a brief statement that Moon sent to USA Today staffers Tuesday afternoon.
In the statement, Moon said Jurgensen's departure "opens the door to move the USA Today brand forward under new leadership." He said a search for a new editor was under way.
Kelley resigned under pressure in January after admitting he tried to deceive editors checking into the veracity of some of his reporting. A subsequent inquiry found that he made up major parts of at least eight stories and committed several acts of plagiarism.
The scandal deeply embarrassed USA Today, which fought for years to overcome perceptions that it gave serious news topics short shrift with brief news articles and catchy headlines. The newspaper is the largest-circulation daily in the United States and also the flagship publication of Gannett Co., the nation's biggest newspaper publisher.
"Like all of us who worked with Jack Kelley, I wish we had caught him far sooner than we did," Jurgensen said in the announcement to the paper's staff. "The sad lessons learned by all in this dreadful situation will make USA Today a stronger, better newspaper."
Kelley spent 21 years at the newspaper, starting around the time of its founding and rising to become a globe-trotting foreign correspondent reporting from various hot spots around the world. He was co-author of two books with USA Today founder Al Neuharth.
Kelley spoke to various groups on behalf of the newspaper, and the newspaper nominated him for the Pulitzer Prize five times. He is married to the newspaper's top advertising executive.