Biz Buzz for July 2007: SABEW Prez Gets a New Job

By Chris Roush croush@email.unc.edu

SABEW PREZ NOW WORKING WEEKENDS

SABEW President Gail DeGeorge (left) becomes Sunday/enterprise editor of The SunSentinel in Fort Lauderdale after being biz editor for the past nine years.

Says DeGeorge: “I will still be very involved with business journalism, helping to get stories on Sunday 1A. I’ve filled in as the Sunday editor many times over the last five years and this was an opportunity to use the skills developed as business editor and apply them over a larger range of stories.”

Prior to joining the SunSentinel in 1998, DeGeorge served as the bureau chief for BusinessWeek magazine’s Miami office, responsible for covering Florida, the Caribbean and parts of Latin America. She started her career as a business journalist at the SunSentinel in 1982 and worked as a business reporter for the Miami Herald before joining BusinessWeek in 1987.

The transition to the new job took place in June, but it gives DeGeorge Mondays to work on SABEW tasks. The new biz editor at the SunSentinel has not yet been named, so DeGeorge has been working both positions.

CHANGES AT REUTERS

Betty Wong, Reuters’ ME for the Americas, becomes Global Head of Editorial Operations after taking on several additional responsibilities effective June 1. Reuters E-I-C David Schlesinger wrote in a memo: “She will advise me on operations and convene the managing editors to execute and deliver editorial plans with quality and efficiency. She is responsible for the development of people and technology globally.”

In addition, political and general news editor Paul Holmes leaves the wire service. Sean Maguire becomes acting politics and general news editor effective June 1, and Reuters is advertising for someone to fill the position permanently.

Treasury editor Jim Taft becomes a columnist, and Schlesinger said that Reuters would begin interviews for a replacement soon. In addition, the company will be seeking a new equities editor as Mary Ellen Barker has been asked by Schlesinger to “be the editorial representative on work streams as planning for regulatory approval of the Thomson-Reuters deal and integration move forward.”

Added Schlesinger: “The changes mix continuity and the opportunity for significant change – these are exciting and testing times for editorial and I look forward to many applications for open posts.

“Even without the recent announcement about our own company’s future, these have been times of tumultuous change in our profession and in the industries we serve. All of us in editorial have to think about how we can embrace change and be really creative and innovative in taking news forward.”

TUNE-UP AT CRAIN’S DETROIT

Crain’s Detroit Business makes a number of editorial staff changes in a bid to rev up its print and Web publications.

Andy Chapelle, 57, (left) becomes Crain’s managing editor and will lead the reporting staff. Chapelle had been editor of the Ann Arbor Business Review and was founding editor of the Oakland Business Review. He previously spent about 20 years with The Ann Arbor News, finishing there as news editor.

Michael Lee, 35, becomes Web general manager. He now leads the Web team of Dan Eizans and Ai-Ting Huang and has responsibility for overall newsroom Web-related activities. Lee joined Crain’s in 1999 as a copy editor and most recently was deputy ME, leading the copy desk.

Jennette Smith, 32, has been promoted to assistant ME for Crain’s weekly Focus sections that target specific industries, as well as small business and topics related to entrepreneurship. Smith joined Crain’s as a reporter in 1998 and has covered several industries for Crain’s, most notably real estate and hospitality.

Brent Snavely, 37, (right) has been named senior reporter in recognition of superior performance and leadership. Snavely joined Crain’s in 1999 and has covered several industries. He will continue in his current coverage areas of automotive suppliers, steel and restaurants.

Lastly, Chad Halcom joins Crain’s Detroit as the reporter covering Oakland and Macomb counties, services and the environment. Halcom, 35, previously was with The Macomb Daily, where he had been since 1997.

NEW ME SURFS INTO PACIFIC COAST BIZ TIMES

The Pacific Coast Business Times hires a new managing editor and two other journalists for its staff, according to editor and publisher Henry Dubroff.

Ray Estrada is the new ME, while Stephen Nellis is the new technology editor and Emily Rancer is a new reporter. Estrada takes over from Rose Flores Medlock, who is moving to Orange County where she will be editor at Orange Coast Magazine. Nellis replaces Bill Lascher, who has moved on to the position of deputy editor at the Ventura County Reporter. Rancer takes over from Stevi Costa, who will be moving to the Bay Area after her graduation from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dubroff wrote, “Estrada will spend most of his time editing stories, designing our news pages and providing direction to the staff, but we’ll tap his writing talents as well.

“He comes to us from Vida en el Valle, the Fresno Bee’s bilingual weekly newspaper, where he served as associate editor. Prior to that, he was news and business editor at The Sentinel in Hanford.”

Nellis is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri, while Rancer is editor in chief of the student newspaper at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

BOSS WATCH

Patricia Kranz, national news editor for BusinessWeek, (right) leaves to become deputy Sunday biz editor for The New York Times. Also at the Times, Marcus Mabry joins the biz desk from Newsweek to edit international business stories…Mary Rajkumar, the deputy biz editor at The Miami Herald, joins The Associated Press as assistant international editor, working on special projects and series. She previously was an assistant biz editor at the San Jose Mercury News…Biz editor Jo Lee Ferguson becomes city editor at the Longview News-Journal in Texas. She’s replaced by Mike Elswick, who had been biz editor at the paper before spending several years as ME of the Marshall News-Messenger…Vanessa Blackburn becomes editor and publisher of The Bellingham Business Journal in Washington state. Blackburn takes over for John Thompson, who had been editor and publisher of the publication for 10 years.

ON THE EAST SIDE

Laura Holson (left) at the New York Times changes beats from entertainment to covering the intersection between the communications, wireless and entertainment industries…Karl Stark returns to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s biz desk to cover the pharmaceutical industry. Stark covered the health care biz in the late ’90s and first half of this decade, including prize-winning work on the collapse of the Allegheny Health System. Since then, he has headed the national/foreign desk… Lynn Thomasson joins the equities team at Bloomberg News in New York…Brian Steinberg leaves the Wall Street Journal to become Advertising Age’s television editor…At The Baltimore Sun, night biz editor Kelly Gilbert retires after 37 years with the Sun and the late Evening Sun. He’s succeeded by Don Schiller, who moves over from the A section copy desk.

DOWN SOUTH

Dawn Bryant, who spent the past seven years covering business and tourism for The Myrtle Beach Sun News, becomes the paper’s biz editor. She replaces Garrison Wells, who left for the Nashville Business Journal…Anne Krishnan, technology reporter at The News & Observer in Raleigh who joined the paper last year from Durham’s The Herald-Sun, has left. She’s moving to Philadelphia with her doctor husband. Frank Norton, who covered personal finance and banking, shifts to the tech position. David Ranii, who covered media and advertising, becomes the money reporter, with more of a focus on shareholder issues and financial literacy.

MIDWEST MOVES

Robert Schoenberger, previously a biz reporter for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, is now a reporter with The Cleveland Plain Dealer, covering the auto industry.

OUT WEST

Brooks Barnes leaves The Wall Street Journal to cover the business of entertainment for the New York Times. He’ll be based in LA…Los Angeles Times reporter Nancy Cleeland leaves the paper. She was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for coverage of Wal-Mart…Greg Avery joins the Denver Business Journal to cover technology and telecom. He previously had been at The Daily Camera in Boulder. Reporter Bob Mook moves on to cover health care and the legislature…Ron Leuty returns to the San Francisco Business Times to cover biotech. He had left to be editor of the Oakland Business Review…Assistant biz editor David Tong leaves the San Francisco Chronicle.

AT THE GLOSSIES

Daniel Gross, who writes a business column for Slate.com, will now also write about business for Newsweek…Betsy Morris, who had left Fortune last year to join Conde Nast Portfolio, (right) goes back to her old stomping grounds… Adam Voiland, previously an intern with U.S. News & World Report, becomes a reporter.

ONLINE ONGOINGS

David Bogoslaw joins BusinessWeek.com to cover stocks, investments and mutual funds. Bogoslaw previously covered energy and chemicals for Dow Jones Newswires…Fortune DC bureau chief Nina Easton begins writing a column on CNNMoney.com called “Power Play” about the mixture between business and politics.

AND THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

The web sites for Crain’s Chicago Business and Marketwatch won in the business categories at the Annual Eppy Awards, sponsored by Editor & Publisher and MediaWeek magazines and honor the top media-affiliated Web sites in 33 categories. Crain’s Chicago won in the best business web site with less than 1 million unique visitors per month category, while Marketwatch won in the category for web sites with more than 1 million unique visitors per month. In addition, the FT Alphaville blog from The Financial Times won for the best business blog.

SAYING GOODBYE

Larry Werner, SABEW president in 1989 and former biz editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, (left) retires after 24 years at the paper. His most recent job was as publisher of some of its zoned editions… Veteran WRGB news anchor and business editor Jack Aernecke retires at the end of July. Aernecke joined the Albany, N.Y.-based CBS affiliate in 1972.

DON’T MISS THE LATEST BIZ BUZZ

SABEW wants to follow you to your new job. Please send your new contact information to sabew@missouri.edu.

Posted June 26, 2007