Co-owners of Orange County Register owner Freedom Communications give up executive duties

The co-owners of Freedom Communications and its flagship newspaper, the Orange County Register, have resigned all executive duties, two years after buying the company and pushing through sweeping changes.

The Register reports (http://bit.ly/1E4gurI ) Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz announced their decision Tuesday, although Spitz will stay on as Freedom's chairman of the board.

Publisher Rich Mirman has assumed executive duties as Freedom's chief executive and president. Mirman is a former casino marketing executive who has run the paper's day-to-day operations since October.

Kushner, Spitz and their 2100 Trust bought Freedom Communications in 2012 and focused on its print rather than its online presence. They doubled the Register's newsroom staff, bought the Riverside Press-Enterprise and launched a new paper, the Los Angeles Register, which closed after five months, leading to layoffs.

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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com