Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Herald chooses new executive editor Neal Pattison says the emphasis will remain on local news By Jeff Switzer Herald Writer The Herald has named a new executive editor to oversee stories and newsroom operations at a time when the newspaper industry is undergoing major changes. Neal Pattison is a journalist with reporting, management and academic experience, and was managing editor at the Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune the year it won a Pulitzer Prize. Pattison begins at The Herald on Oct. 29. He will take over for Stan Strick, 66, who is retiring next month after 27 years with the paper. Pattison's focus and knowledge is why he is right for the job, said Allen Funk, president and publisher of The Herald. "He's energetic and enthusiastic about the future of newspapers," Funk said. Being a part of The Herald's ongoing growth and transition is an exciting opportunity, said Pattison, 54, of Seattle. "Our intrinsic value is generating news, local news," Pattison said. "It's not a question of 'will newspapers survive?' but in what form will they survive?" Pattison added. "We're charting our own future." Pattison has a strong sense about where newspapers are heading in the next few years, and can help make the most of The Herald's print and Web site publishing, Funk said. The Herald has a daily circulation of 49,000 and 55,000 on Sundays. Pattison spent decades as a reporter and editor. In recent years, he has worked as a journalism instructor and newspaper design consultant, including work with The Herald that led to The Buzz and improved front-page story promos. "Where Neal excels is his sense of the right visual to tell the story in a compelling way," Funk said. Pattison was assistant managing editor at the Seattle Post- Intelligencer from 1996 to 2002. He also was managing editor at the Albuquerque Tribune from 1992 to 1996, including in 1994 when the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on government plutonium experiments conducted on uninformed civilians. He also spent a decade as assistant managing editor and city editor at The Spokesman- Review in Spokane. Strick rooted The Herald deeply in local news coverage of Snohomish and Island counties, Funk said. Covering local news "more effectively and in more interesting ways is our reason for existence," Funk said. "How we tell a story needs to evolve right now," Funk said. "We're in a rapid change environment." Even so, "we won't change our local news focus, people need to be reassured," Funk added. "We need to appeal not only to the folks who have always read The Herald but also to the folks 25 and under who are consuming news in different ways." Newspapers are no longer only ink on paper, Pattison said. Newspapers and their staffs are an asset for their institutional knowledge and broad coverage, even if the old way newspapers make money through printed advertising is in decline. "We cover the news," Pattison said, "and the only question is 'How does the reader want to receive it?' "

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