Spitz joins SABEW succession ladder

Jill Jorden Spitz, assistant managing editor for business, local news, sports, features and training at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, has been named secretary of the Society of American Business Editors, effective May 2009.

In joining "the ladder," Spitz will serve a year each as secretary, then treasurer, vice president and president of SABEW.

Spitz joined the SABEW Board of Governors in 2004. She has been Best in Business contest committee co-chair for the past two years and is on the training committee. Back home, she chairs the Arizona Press Club contest, opened a library for kids reading below grade level through the Rotary Club of Tucson and is treasurer of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona.

"In a time of such great change for our industry, I'm excited about helping SABEW change, too, and helping it become even more vital to our members," said Spitz, left. "I care deeply about this organization because it has helped me so much, and I look forward to serving in the next few years by stepping onto the leadership ladder."

Other SABEW officers are the president, Bernie Kohn of the Baltimore Sun; the vice president, Greg McCune of Thomson Reuters; the treasurer, Rob Reuteman of the Rocky Mountain News, and the secretary, Kevin Noblet, formerly of the Associated Press. Terms commence during SABEW's annual meeting, which is held each spring. The 2009 meeting will be held Denver on April 26-April 28.

Spitz started her career with the Reno Gazette-Journal, then spent seven years at the Orlando Sentinel, where she wrote about the tourism industry and eventually focused exclusively on Universal Studios Florida and Walt Disney World.

Spitz returned to her hometown of Tucson in early 1998 as a metro reporter and worked on a four-member team that created a comprehensive set of changes to the paper. She was named business editor in July 2000 and became AME in June 2004.

Posted Sept. 13, 2008