Biz Buzz for December 2007: Forbes managing editor departs for TV

By Chris Roush croush@email.unc.edu

FORBES ME LEAVES FOR CNBC

Dennis Kneale, the ME at Forbes, leaves the magazine to become media and technology editor on CNBC.

A replacement has not been named. In February, Kneale was seen crying on NBC’s “Today” show after he went without his Blackberry, his cell phone and e-mail for 24 hours.

As ME of the biweekly glossy, Kneale (right) oversaw stories such as the Internet boom, bust and rebuild; corporate scandals and investor fallout; the backlash against the drug industry amid drug recalls and soaring costs; the rise of Google and the capitalist revolution igniting China’s economy. He conceived, directed and edited many of the cover stories for the magazine.

Kneale joined Forbes in 1998 to expand its coverage of technology, media and health. He has covered Barry Diller, the movie mogul turned Internet maven, Bob Iger, the chief executive of Walt Disney Co., and other CEOs for 20 years. More recently he secured cover profiles on Renault S.A. and Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn and on the rise of MTV in Africa as an example of capitalism helping a troubled continent.

“Dennis has 25 years of experience in media and technology. He's one of the best-connected journalists in the business,” said Jonathan Wald, CNBC senior VP of business news, in a statement. “The convergence of media and technology is becoming one of the major business stories, and Dennis is the perfect person to lead our coverage. His addition to the business news team will have an immediate impact.”

Kneale also has made dozens of television appearances on CNBC and Fox News Channel. Since 2001 he has been a regular on ‘Forbes on Fox’ on Saturday mornings.

Prior to Forbes, Kneale spent 16 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he was a senior editor, directing much of the coverage of new AIDS treatments, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997. He started at The Journal in 1982 and covered advertising, technology and media and entertainment before becoming an editor in the Marketing & Media section in 1990.

Kneale began his career at the News/Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He’s a University of Florida grad.

NEW BIZ EDITOR AT DETROIT NEWS

Longtime business journalist Susan Carney becomes business editor of The Detroit News.

She replaces Mark Truby, who recently resigned to take a top public relations position at Ford Motor Co.

Carney, 47, (left) joined the newspaper in 2001 as a reporter covering DaimlerChrysler AG and automotive suppliers. Carney subsequently served as assistant auto editor, deputy business editor and auto editor. In the last role, she has directed the newspaper’s award-winning auto coverage.

“Sue is a veteran journalist who understands the auto industry, metro Detroit and Michigan’s evolving economy,” said Jonathan Wolman, editor and publisher of The News, in a story in the paper. “She is the right person to help our readers understand the massive challenges facing our area and its top businesses.”

Carney is a Detroit native. Prior to joining The News, she worked for Automotive News, the Ann Arbor News and the Bangor Daily News in Maine. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York.

BOSS WATCH

Greg David, editor of Crain’s New York Business, becomes editorial director/editorial page editor of the publication. He will continue to be a member of the paper’s management team, be responsible for the editorial and op-ed pages, write a bi-weekly column and work on new products. “We are in the process of beginning the search for a new editor,” says David in late October. “I will remain editor until I am replaced.” Meanwhile, AME Carmen Fleetwood leaves the weekly paper…Kevin Bumgarner, the original editor of the Triad Business Journal in Greensboro, N.C., leaves after nine years to become editor of the Dallas Business Journal, another American City Business Journals paper. A replacement in Greensboro has not been named…Kortney Stringer joins the Boston Globe as assistant biz editor and Sunday editor. She had worked at the Detroit Free Press and The Wall Street Journal…Dave Hodges becomes biz editor at the Tallahassee Democrat, replacing Steve Liner….Cara Baruzzi becomes biz editor at the New Haven Register, replacing Steve Higgins, who left to start a business consulting firm. Baruzzi had been a business reporter at the paper for the past three years…Hartford Business Journal editor Vincent Valvo leaves the paper to become group publisher with The Warren Group. He is replaced on an interim basis by Diane Weaver Dunne, a reporter who had left the paper earlier this year to become a press aide for the state treasurer…Ellen Lahr, who has been with the Berkshire Eagle in Massachusetts since 1985, becomes its biz editor. She replaces Scott Stafford, who becomes North County bureau chief… Mark Babineck at the Houston Chronicle becomes an assistant biz editor leading a team of reporters and running the department’s online efforts. He replaces Steve Rassenfross, one of those laid off by the paper in late October. Babineck had been on the state desk…Talib Amir becomes a news editor on the enterprise desk at Dow Jones Newswires. He has worked there since January 2001.

UPPER EAST SIDE

Justin Baer joins the Financial Times as a New York-based reporter from Bloomberg News, where he covered mergers and acquisitions. Henny Sender also joins the FT in New York to cover international finance. She had been at the Wall Street Journal… Binyamin Applebaum joins the Boston Globe to cover real estate. The SABEW Best In Business Award winner had been with the Charlotte Observer…Pierre Paulden joins Bloomberg News to cover corporate finance in New York. He had been at Institutional Investor…Arthur Daniels has been promoted to Dow Jones Newswires copy editor on the enterprise desk. He had been a copyreader on the desk and was also a news editor at Bloomberg News overnight desk liaising with Europe…Sam Diaz (left) leaves the Washington Post, where he covered technology, to join a San Francisco-based PR firm…Paul Davies, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering the federal courts and white-collar crime, leaves to become deputy editorial page editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer

WAY DOWN SOUTH

Karen Brune Mathis, the business editor and columnist for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville before moving to metro last year, retires from the paper to run a local non-profit….Matt Harrington leaves the Triad Business Journal in Greensboro, N.C…Assistant biz editor Pam Radtke Russell leaves the New Orleans Times-Picayune for a freelance career so she can spend more time at home with her kids…Biz writer Jeff Kelley leaves the Richmond Times-Dispatch…Coke beat reporter Duane Stanford (right) leaves the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for Bloomberg News’ Atlanta bureau, where he will cover U.S. beverage companies. Mary Jane Credeur slides over to cover transportation companies, also in the Atlanta bureau.

IN THE HEARTLAND

Josee Valcourt joins the Detroit bureau of The Wall Street Journal to cover Chrysler. Valcourt had been at the Detroit News covering the automaker…Michelle Jarboe joins the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s business desk to cover real estate. She had been a biz reporter for the Greensboro News & Record for the past two years covering retailing and real estate…Keith Reed joins the Cincinnati Enquirer business desk to cover Procter & Gamble and downtown development. He had been covering sports business for the Boston Globe…Angela Tablac joins the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to cover small business. She had been a business news intern at the Miami Herald…Laura Hipp joins the Austin Business Journal in Texas to cover technology and banking and finance. She had been at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss…Natasha Orrick joins the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal to cover health care and non-profits…Greg Meyer joins Dow Jones Newswires to cover the crude oil futures market. He had been with Crain’s Chicago Business. Also, Jeff Bennett joins Dow Jones Newswires in Detroit to cover automakers and parts suppliers. He had been covering Chrysler for Bloomberg News out of its Detroit bureau.

WEST COAST WOW

Los Angeles Business Journal AME Todd Cunningham leaves to join The Hollywood Reporter’s new Premier Edition…Peter Hong joins the business news desk at the LA Times to cover residential real estate. He had been in Metro, where he covered the Phil Spector murder trial. Also, Jim Peltz leaves the biz desk at the Times to cover motorsports. Finally, Ken Bensinger joins the Times to cover the auto industry. He had been at Smart Money…Erik Olson joins the Longview Daily News in Washington state to cover business. He had been at the Centralia Chronicle and replaces Evan Caldwell, who becomes a page designer at the paper.

GOING TO THE GLOSSIES

Brian Bremner becomes AME for news at BusinessWeek. He had overseen its Asian coverage…Elizabeth Woyke leaves BusinessWeek to join Forbes.com, where she covers technology and telecoms….Sarah Lacy becomes a tech columnist for BusinessWeek.com after being gone for a book leave. Also, Judith Crown joins BusinessWeek in its Chicago bureau to launch its edition tailored for that market…Scot Finnie becomes editor of ComputerWorld. He replaces Don Tennant, who takes on a more expanded role at parent company IDG as vice president and editorial director for both Computerworld and its sister company InfoWorld.

ON THE WEB

Minyanville.com names Samantha Chang as managing editor. She previously had been associate editorial director at High Net Worth Inc…Huntley Paton, (left) who has been publisher of the Dallas Business Journal for the past 11 years, leaves to move to Charlotte, where he becomes executive editor of www.bizjournals.com, the web site for all American City Business Journals newspapers.

AIRWAVE ACTION

Tracy Byrnes, Robert Gray and Ashley Webster become reporters for Fox Business Network, and the new biz cable network names Elizabeth MacDonald as stocks editor. Byrnes has been a recurring guest on Fox News Channel, appearing on “Cavuto on Business,” “Cashin’ In,” “Bulls and Bears,” and “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” She previously served as a morning business correspondent for Fox affiliates in New York, Chicago and Washington D.C., among other cities. Gray, (right) a reporter based at the New York Stock Exchange, comes from Bloomberg Television where he was a reporter at the NYSE, weekend anchor and assistant producer since 1999. Webster, a London-based reporter, was previously the anchor of the nightly newscast on WZTV-TV in Nashville, Tenn. MacDonald joins from Forbes magazine, where she was a senior editor. Before joining Forbes, MacDonald was a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

AND THE WINNER IS…

“A Toxic Pipeline” by Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times received the first-place $5,000 in the inaugural Barlett & Steeele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism given by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Their stories documented China’s role in supplying a counterfeit drug ingredient that killed at least 100 people in Panama and is suspected of killing thousands of others around the world. “On Shaky Ground” by Fred Schulte and June Arney of The Baltimore Sun received the second-place $2,000 award. Their series in December 2006 tracked how Baltimore’s arcane system of property fees initiated in colonial times had evolved into a system of greed and lax oversight that preyed on the poor and elderly.

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Posted Nov. 22, 2007