 Pulliam also rose through the ranks at Central Newspapers.At the time of his father's death in 1975, Pulliam was executive vice president of Central Newspapers.In 1979 he became president of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., following the retirement of Nina Mason Pulliam, his stepmother, as publisher of the "Arizona Republic" and the "Phoenix Gazette" in 1978 and as president of Central Newspapers in 1979.