Biz Buzz for June 2007: The latest comings and goings

(Now a monthly feature on the SABEW web site)

By Chris Roush croush@email.unc.edu

BRAUCHLI NAMED NEW ME AT WALL STREET JOURNAL

Marcus W. Brauchli, 45, becomes The Wall Street Journal’s new managing editor, replacing Paul Steiger on May 15. Steiger, who recently received SABEW’s lifetime achievement award, had been ME since 1991.

The ME’s position at the Journal is considered the most powerful in business journalism. The Journal won two Pulitzer Prizes earlier this year, including one for its series of stories on backdating stock options. However, the parent company is currently negotiating on a new contract with the union that represents most of its journalists, and the paper recently underwent a redesign.

Dow Jones & Co. policy states all senior managers must retire at the end of the year of their 65th birthday. Steiger, 64, must retire from Dow Jones no later than Dec. 31, 2007. He will be an editor at large until that time.

Brauchli, who joined Dow Jones in 1984 and is a Columbia University graduate, reports to L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president of Dow Jones and publisher of the Journal. He was considered the favorite among reporters and editors in the Journal’s newsroom.

All editors of The Journal, the Wall Street Journal Online, the Wall Street Journal Asia and the Wall Street Journal Europe report to the managing editor, who sets direction and develops news policies for the Journal franchise.

“Marcus Brauchli is a superb journalist, who reported for Dow Jones Newswires and the Journal from more than 20 countries, and as global news editor oversaw Journal coverage from stock-market downturns to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,” said Crovitz.

Brauchli led the news department in the Journal redesign that launched earlier this year. Crovitz said that the redesign gives “us great confidence that the Journal in print and online will thrive by continuing to engage readers with distinctive, only-in-the-Journal coverage.”

Brauchli also led the Journal’s news desk through two U.S. presidential elections, the 2000-2001 stock-market downturn, a series of corporate scandals, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before that, he was a foreign correspondent for nearly 15 years, reporting from more than 20 countries, from Cambodia to the former Soviet Union. He became deputy managing editor in December 2005 after being global news editor, national news editor and China bureau chief.

NEW EDITOR AT CONSUMER REPORTS

Kimberly Kleman becomes Consumer Reports’ editor in chief, and she will remain second in command at the editorial division of Consumers Union, a nonprofit company that publishes the magazine as well as books and newsletters.

The company also names Greg Daugherty, a longtime editor at the magazine, to a newly created position of executive editor to oversee the company’s reporters and editors.

Kleman has been at the magazine for a decade. Before becoming editor, she was deputy editorial director, and she helped the magazine win a National Magazine Award and a National Press Club Award. She previously worked at the St. Petersburg Times.

“Among the many highly qualified candidates for this position, Kim was a real stand out,” said Kevin McKean, VP and editorial director for Consumers Union. “Kim brings an infectious energy to everything she does, she is a natural leader, and she has a clear, compelling vision of what Consumer Reports can and will be.”

Daugherty previously worked at Money magazine and as editor of New Choices magazine. He also previously was Consumer Reports’ economics editor and an issues editor.

BUYOUT WILL DECREASE ATLANTA STAFF

Two reporters on the biz desk of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Robert Luke and Tom Walker — accepted the paper’s buyout offer and will be leaving the paper soon at the end of June, according to a memo from editor Julia Wallace distributed at the paper.

In addition, two other members of the biz desk — copy editor Steve Phenicie and former assistant business editor David McNaughton – are also taking the buyout. McNaughton has been an editorial page writer in recent years.

In her memo, Wallace said, “As I told you last week, we will be losing some excellent staffers, who have made the newspaper and ajc.com better every day. These folks are irreplaceable, and we will miss them. But we are fortunate to have such a strong and deep staff still here, and we continue to have one of the best newsroom staffs in the country.”

Walker has been writing about the stock market and investing for the Atlanta papers for 41 years, including a stint as the business editor of the now-defunct afternoon paper, The Journal. Luke, meanwhile, is a jack of all trades who could cover anything and used his expertise as an investor himself to understand the business world. Both were extremely knowledgeable about Atlanta’s business world.

In an e-mail, Luke said, “When Tom, Dave and I leave June 30, we’ll take with us a combined 96 years of business writing experience. Dave McNaughton and I go back nearly 30 years. We both worked in the business news department at The Detroit News. Tom, of course, is the dean of Atlanta business journalism.”

BOSS WATCH

Mike Shepard becomes editor of Washington Business, the Monday section of the Washington Post. Also, Steve Livingston becomes the paper’s Sunday business editor, and Andy Mosher becomes national biz editor. Sam Diaz becomes assistant tech editor, and Sara Goo becomes continuous news/projects/day editor…Tim Smart, the AME for Money & Business at US News & World Report, becomes managing editor at the weekly magazine. Smart previously worked on the biz desk of the Washington Post and at BusinessWeek… Paul Mattson becomes biz editor at the Florida Times-Union. He previously had been an assistant biz editor and replaces Jennifer Merritt, who left for Money magazine…Clifford Cumber becomes business editor for the Frederick News-Post in Maryland…Marianne Kobak becomes the new business editor at the Elko Daily Free Press in Nevada. She had been a reporter at the paper…Paul Mullaney, biz editor of the Munster Times in Indiana, becomes managing editor. He is replaced in the biz ed slot by Bill Bero, formerly editor of its BusINess magazine.

THE EAST COAST

Robert Lee Hotz becomes Science Journal columnist of The Wall Street Journal. He had been in the New York bureau of the Los Angeles Times. Sudeep Reddy, a reporter in the Dallas Morning News’ Washington bureau who wrote about the intersection between business and government, leaves for a job at the Journal, where he will cover economic policy. Also, Ron Lieber, a Journal columnist writing the popular Green Thumb column about savings and spending, leaves the paper to run the editorial side of the paper’s joint venture that aims to have a new personal finance web site up and running by the end of the year… Nelson Schwartz joins the biz desk of The New York Times. He previously had been a senior writer for Fortune…Brett Cole, previously a reporter covering private equity, leaves Bloomberg News and is replaced by Jason Kelly from the Atlanta bureau. In addition, Hilary Johnson, previously a stock market reporter at Bloomberg, joins American Banker as a national markets reporter…Kevin Drawbaugh, a correspondent covering policy and enforcement at the SEC in Reuters Washington office, becomes a Congressional correspondent covering business news on Capitol Hill…Josh Rogin joins Congressional Quarterly to cover the defense industry. Rogin worked at Federal Computer Week and 1105 Government Information as a defense reporter.

DOWN SOUTH

Reporter Walter Woods leaves the biz desk of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for PR firm GCI Group…The Triangle Business Journal hires Chris Coletta to cover breaking news…Setcom Media Inc., publisher of the Charleston Regional Business Journal, launches a statewide business magazine, SCBIZ, published quarterly. In addition to the new magazine, Setcom launches www.SCBIZNews.com and SCBIZ Daily, an e-mail newsletter sent out five days a week with top business stories. Holly Fisher became electronic media editor, overseeing all Web sites and electronic publications. Fisher previously was supplements editor for the Charleston Regional Business Journal, handling all special sections and supplemental publications. Casey O’Connor became the new special projects editor. He also oversees the SCBIZ magazine.

IN THE HEARTLAND

Bruce Blythe joins Crain's Chicago Business as AME from Bloomberg's Chicago bureau, where he covered the energy beat. In addition, Monee Fields-White joins Crain's Chicago Business as a senior reporter on the retail beat from Bloomberg Markets magazine in New York. Susanna Ray, who covered European aviation for Bloomberg, leaves the Frankfurt bureau to join the Chicago office, where she will be covering the U.S. aviation sector. …Hamilton Journal News biz reporter Chris Dumond becomes city editor of the Ohio paper. He previously was a bureau chief at the Bristol Herald Courier in Virginia…Biz reporter Barnet Wolf takes a buyout from the Columbus Dispatch…Elizabeth Albanese leaves Bond Buyer’s Dallas bureau for a job in PR at First Southwest…Mark Colosimo joins GateHouse Media/Chicago as managing editor for content. He had been with Shaw Newspapers and, previously, with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. GateHouse publishes more than 30 non-daily newspapers in the Chicago suburbs.

OUT WEST

Biz reporters Richard Ducote and Joseph Barrios leave the Arizona Daily Star for PR jobs. Ducote goes to work for Phelps Dodge Mining Co., while Barrios joins Tucson Electric Power…Laura Cutland leaves the Silicon Valley Business Journal for a PR job with WeissComm Partners in San Francisco…John Foster, ME of the Idaho Business Review, leaves to become executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party...Blake Jones becomes a biz reporter at The Garden Island newspaper in Kuaui, Hawaii. She replaces Charlotte Woolard, who left in February.

AT THE GLOSSIES

Sophia Banay, a former staff writer for Forbes.com, joins Conde Nast Portfolio to cover lifestyle and business news. And Tim Swanson, previously West Coast bureau chief for Premiere Magazine, joins Conde Nast Portfolio as its new entertainment news blogger. Hannah Clark joins Inc. magazine as an associate editor in the finance and technology sections. She previously had been at Forbes. Also, Inc. deputy editor Loren Feldman leaves to become editor of Inc.com and sister web site FastCompany.com.

ON THE WEB

Bambi Francisco leaves Marketwatch after eight years, primarily as a tech reporter and columnist, to work on her own tech company. Columnist Frank Barnako also leaves Marketwatch…Jeffrey Cooper, a former columnist for TheStreet.com, joins Minyanville.com as a senior columnist…Lisa Latham begins writing a column for TheStreet.com on business etiquette.

ON THE AIR

Anne Thompson, NBC News’ chief financial correspondent since 2005, becomes chief environmental affairs reporter.

PASS THE ENVELOPE

Reporters at the Wall Street Journal win two Pulitzer Prizes. One is for the backdating of stock options, while the other is for the paper’s coverage of China’s emerging economy. The reporters on the backdating stories were James Bandler, Charles Forelle, Mark Maremont and Steve Stecklow. The reporters on the China stories were James T. Areddy, Andrew Browne, Jason Dean, Gordon Fairclough, Mei Fong, Shai Oster and Jane Spencer.

BACK TO SCHOOL

The 2007-08 class of Knight-Bagehot fellows at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism will be Jeremy Caplan of Time, Jose Eduardo Teixeira Costa of VOCE S/A, Dimitra DeFotis of Barron’s, Jim Edwards of Brandweek, Allison Fass of Forbes, Liza Featherstone of The Nation, Paul Glader of The Wall Street Journal, Greg Griffin of the Denver Post, Leoneda Inge of North Carolina public radio station WUNC and Bryan Myers of PBS’ “NOW”.

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Posted April 16, 2007