More MG News

One of the concerns about combined desks is people editing stories who know nothing about the area where it will be read. I give this story, shared with me by an MG combined desker:


A 5-year-old boy drowned in the Dan River on Monday, and authorities are still looking for the body. The subhead on the A1 centerpiece in Tuesday's paper reads, "Boat flips over in James River, trapping 5-year-old boy underwater"

The James River runs through Lynchburg, which is where the Danville Register & Bee is now paginated.

So, in recap:

A child died in the river in Danville.

The Danville Register & Bee had the name of the only river in town wrong on its front page today.

Think about that.

 

Since the MG execs seem to love the concept of only one set of eyes seeing everything, my guess is no.

The opportunities for embarrassment are pretty much endless.

 

Richmond ME becomes "ME" of the design/desk operation, Richmond EE effectively becomes ME. I don't think they know yet which sections will be produced where.

</byline>BY JOHN REID BLACKWELL� �

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer� �

¶

Peggy Bellows, managing editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch since January 2007, has been named managing editor of a new, consolidated editing center that will serve Media General Inc.’s three largest newspapers. ¶

Bellows starts the new job July 6. After her departure, Executive Editor Glenn Proctor will run the day-to-day operation of the News Department. ¶

Richmond-based Media General announced in April that it would consolidate the copy-editing and page-design operations for The Times-Dispatch, The[kch: CQ : ] Tampa Tribune in Florida and the[kch: CQ : ] Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina. The change follows similar consolidations at some of the company’s smaller newspapers. ¶

Bellows will continue to work in the Richmond area, managing a staff of page designers and copy editors at the center, which is expected to start operating by December. The combined editing center will have two groups, one in Richmond and one in Tampa, with each responsible for particular sections of all three newspapers. ¶

"We are delighted to have a veteran news leader become managing editor of our new metro editing and design center," Donna Reed,[kch: CQ : ] Media General’s vice president for content, said in a statement yesterday. "Peggy is a proven leader who will help us make this important transition successful. Her understanding of metro news operations will be a huge asset as we build out the centers." ¶

Bellows, 54, said yesterday that she has spent about half of her career working in copy editing and page design for newspapers. She said leading the new operation appealed to her because it will use technology to function as a "virtual center" that will draw on the talents and experience of staff members at the local newspapers. ¶

"I think that is a great vote of confidence in the people we have at all three locations," she said. ¶

Still, she said leaving the newsroom for the new role will be bittersweet. ¶

"I love the story-generating part of it, too," she said. "I love working with people to find and publish good stories. The whole seeking-truth aspect of journalism is near and dear to my heart." ¶

Bellows, a Philadelphia native, served as editor of The Forum[kch: CQ : ] in Fargo, N.D., before joining The Times-Dispatch. She previously worked as an editor at newspapers in Washington state, Illinois, Delaware, Minnesota and New York. ¶

The company owns 18 television stations, three metropolitan and 20 community newspapers, more than 200 weekly newspapers and specialty publications, and websites associated with its print and broadcast properties. �