Friday, July 1, 2011

BANG Newspapers will now Operate Under a Single, Common News Management Team

The Bay Area News Group announced Thursday that its newspapers will now operate under a single, common news management team under the direction of David J. Butler, editor of the San Jose Mercury News and vice president for news for its parent, MediaNews Group.

The announcement was made by Mac Tully, publisher of the newspapers and group vice president for BANG. In addition to the Mercury News, the newspapers include the Contra Costa Times, the San Mateo County Times, the Oakland Tribune and various sister daily and weekly papers.

In an email to staff, Tully said, "Beginning today, we are taking another significant step in streamlining our organization to maximize our operating efficiency. Continuing the process that began with the creation of the Bay Area News Group, the news divisions of all BANG newspapers will now operate under a single, common management team under the direction of Dave Butler. The move follows similar consolidations in our other divisions.

"Dave's appointment and the announcement of the first official BANG-wide news management team are logical next steps in our efforts to make full use of the breadth and depth of the entire group. While a less-formal arrangement has been in place for some time, our recently negotiated labor agreements recognize complete consolidation."

Also Thursday, Butler made the following appointments for the new BANG-wide management team:

-- Bert Robinson, managing editor of he Mercury News, was named BANG managing editor-print and will oversee all news gathering.

-- Randall Keith, BANG director of digital content, was named managing editor-digital and will continue to oversee all digital efforts as well as breaking news coverage and photography.

-- Ron Kitagawa, assistant managing editor for production in the East Bay, was named managing editor-production and will oversee copy editing, design and graphics for all newspapers.

-- Mike Frankel, Mercury News metro editor, was named assistant managing editor for enterprise reporting and will oversee enterprise and in-depth stories, regional reporting and projects throughout BANG.

-- Lisa Wrenn, assistant managing editor in the East Bay who had also been coordinating features throughout BANG, was named assistant managing editor-features.

-- Bud Geracie, Mercury News executive sports editor who had been coordinating sports throughout the group, becomes BANG executive sports editor.

-- Nick Lammers, director of photography for the East Bay newspapers, was named director of photography for BANG.

-- Steve Trousdale, Mercury News business editor who had been coordinating business coverage with the East Bay, was named BANG business editor.

The opinion-page departments will remain separate and the editorial-page editors, Barbara Marshman and Dan Hatfield, will report to Butler. The editorial boards will continue to have different members and take different positions when that is appropriate, based on the mission and the values of each newspaper.

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