A.B. Cruz III, 47, is the senior vice president and general counsel for The E. W. Scripps Company. Cruz joined Scripps in March 2004.

As the company’s general counsel, Cruz is responsible for managing the company’s legal function across all of its operating divisions and media enterprises.

Cruz came to Scripps from BET Holdings Inc. where he had been vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary. He played a leading role in BET’s $3 billion merger with Viacom in 2001. Before joining BET, Cruz practiced law at several law firms in Washington, DC, including the law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding where his practice focused primarily on telecommunications matters, including mergers and acquisitions involving media and communications companies, and the regulation of wireless cable, commercial and private land mobile radio, paging and satellite services.

Cruz is a 1992 graduate of Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in Washington D.C. He is a member of the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania and U.S. Supreme Court bars. In addition to his Juris Doctorate, Cruz holds a master’s of business administration degree in marketing from the University of Maryland at College Park and a bachelor’s of science degree in engineering from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Cruz is a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserves.