Khemlani, 38, will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Frank Bennack, helping the company shift toward digital content, Hearst said today in a statement. The job starts March 23. At Yahoo, he managed the sites news, technology, weather and education content, along with Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo has suffered an exodus of executives, spurred by years of declining profit and a failed acquisition by Microsoft Corp. New CEO Carol Bartz is seeking to revive growth at the Internet company and fend off mounting competition from Google Inc. in areas such as banner ads. Hearst, the closely held owner of 16 daily newspapers, is striving to replace print-ad revenue with more online sales.

Kim Rubey, a Yahoo spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, fell 26 cents to $11.88 at 1:06 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Before today, the shares were little changed this year.

— Editor: Nick Turner, Jonathan Thaw

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