Jay Small, a tech-savvy leader in interactive media who’s worked at Central Newspapers, Belo and several other major newspaper / media companies, is leaving Scripps to join Cordillera Communications as president of interactive media.

Small, who also publishes a blog at JaySmall.com and was an occasional consultant at “Small Initiatives,”http://jaysmall.com/2009/10/26/reminders-why-i-wound-down-small-initiatives, announced his move on his blog today.http://jaysmall.com/2009/12/18/my-tremendous-new-opportunity  He’s been in Knoxville for a while, after several years in Indianapolis and other markets, and notes that “we get to stay in Knoxville and see the kids through their years at Bearden High School (go Bulldogs!) and East Tennessee State University (go Bucs!)” He’ll travel regularly, “but that’s no change from my life for, oh, 12 years or so.”

Cordillera owns television stations in 13 mid-size markets including Lexington, Ky., Tucson, Ariz., and Colorado Springs, Colo.