Gannett names Arizona Republic editor head of USA Today

Media company Gannett Co. on Wednesday named Arizona Republic's top editor Nicole Carroll as USA Today's editor in chief.

Carroll has been executive editor and vice president of news at the Arizona Republic since 2015.

She replaces Joanne Lipman, who was USA Today editor in chief and chief content officer and left in December after serving less than a year.

Carroll joined the Republic in 1999 and held a variety of roles, from city editor to planning editor to managing editor for features, before being named executive editor in 2008. She takes over at USA Today next month.

Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA Today network and associate publisher of USA Today, noted Carroll's "values, journalistic excellence, integrity and fierce competitive spirit."

Gannett Co., based in McLean, Virginia, publishes more than 100 newspapers around the country, including the Detroit Free Press, the Des Moines Register and the Asbury Park Press in addition to USA Today. Launched in 1982, USA Today is one of the top national newspapers with 3.3 million daily readers.