The Ledger names Leon Tucker as executive editor The Ledger newsroom, Gannett officials announced Wednesday. Leon Tucker was named executive editor, the first Black person to hold that position in the newspaper’s 97-year history. "Leon is coming home," said Cindy McCurry-Ross, Gannett Florida Editor, noting that Tucker grew up in St. Petersburg and spent much of his early career at Florida papers. "Leon is overjoyed to be returning to public service journalism." She described him as a collaborator with a diplomatic approach. Tucker is a 1998 graduate of Florida A&M University, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in newspaper journalism. While at FAMU, he won the prestigious William Randolph Hearst Award for breaking news for a college newspaper reporter, one of only six awarded in the country annually.