HT executive editor promoted
SARASOTA — Bill Church, executive editor of the Herald-Tribune for nearly four years, has been promoted to senior vice president for news at GateHouse Media, the newspaper's parent company.
Church, 58, will direct the news operations at GateHouse, which publishes 125 daily and 316 weekly newspapers.
He will move to Austin, Texas, where the company's Center for News and Design is based.
His appointment is effective Monday.
"Bill is a dynamic and creative leader with a well-earned reputation as one of the best editors in the country," said Patrick Dorsey, publisher of the Herald-Tribune. "He is what I call a 'big thinker' and has the vision and passion for community journalism that will serve our company and the industry very well in our fast-evolving future.
"While I am very sad to see Bill leave us here in Sarasota — both personally and professionally — I am also thrilled that he is taking on a larger role heading up the news operations for GateHouse Media, a great position to take care of and further utilize the tremendous talent and resources he worked to develop here in Sarasota and throughout the Southeast Region."
Church joined the Herald-Tribune in January 2013, and is credited with elevating the quality of the print and digital editions of the paper. He was given the added role of southeast regional editor for GateHouse in June 2015.
He was recently installed as president of the Associated Press Media Editors, and is a 2016 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity to serve as an advocate for GateHouse Media’s news employees,” Church said. “I look forward to partnering with our news leaders as we evolve our journalism and our news organization.”
During Church's tenure, a joint project between the Herald-Tribune and the Tampa Bay Times earned the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism. The paper was named to Editor & Publisher's "Ten That Do It Right" list in 2015, and also was an APME finalist for "Innovator of the year" in 2014 and 2016.
He was named GateHouse Media's "Editor of the Year" in 2014.
In his new role in Austin, Church will guide the company’s news strategy and lead the Center for News and Design, which provides editing and design services for 216 GateHouse newspapers. The center also is headquarters for the digital products team and More Content Now, its niche content creation service. Church will ensure that the work and creativity at the center serve as a companion to the company’s local market journalism.
"Bill has thoughtfully balanced the preservation of our traditional mission and values while fostering a culture of entrepreneurial journalism at newspapers large and small,” said Kirk Davis, CEO of GateHouse Media. “Digital storytelling, creative content partnerships and community engagement are all found in his toolbox.”
GateHouse, based in Pittsford, New York, is part of publicly traded New Media Investment Group. In addition to daily and weekly papers, it publishes 117 "shoppers" and 530 affiliated websites.
Church wrote a column for the Herald-Tribune's Sunday edition and became a fixture at community events around the area.
"Bill has formed many strong bonds in Sarasota and brought a great spirit of community involvement and partnership to our newsroom. He will be sorely missed," Dorsey said.
Church joined the Herald-Tribune after more than six years as executive editor of the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. He spent almost 23 years in editorial positions at Gannett newspapers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, New York and Oregon.
Dorsey told Herald-Tribune news staffers that he expects a number of in-house and outside candidates to apply for the executive editor position. He said there is no timetable to name a successor.
Church's departure comes a week after a majority of newsroom employees voted to form a union and affiliate with The NewsGuild-CWA, which will assist employees in negotiating their first contract with GateHouse.