RedEye’s Jane Hirt named Chicago Tribune managing editor
Anybody needing a clue as to the future direction of the big blue, look no further: RedEye editor Jane Hirt was named managing editor today of the Chicago Tribune.
Quoting her background info from the official press release:
Before joining RedEye, Hirt was the Tribune’s foreign/national news editor. Other assignments during her 15 years at the Tribune have included the position of foreign/national copy desk chief and tours of duty on the sports and national copy desks. Hirt graduated from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
The uber-successful RedEye began publication six years ago, co-edited by Jane and Joe Knowles. Joe left a couple of years ago to become AME/Visuals for the Tribune.
Joe writes:
Jane is a creative tornado. Everyone who says newspapers are dead should hang on tight and watch her blow their socks off.
In my three years working with her at RedEye, she was locked in, every day, all day. She is a ridiculously sharp story editor with a designer’s eye for visuals. Her talent is immeasurable… I don’t know if there’s anything she can’t do. She’s even a really fast typist and has good taste in music.
Fair warning: Keep your eye on the Tribune now. Jane is a difference-maker, a game-changer for us. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.
Chris Courtney, design director of RedEye, writes:
Before landing at RedEye, the longest I ever stayed anywhere was 18 months. I’ve been here nearly 6 years now. That’s a testament to the people who make RedEye what it is and that starts with Jane Hirt. Without Jane and her former co-editor Joe Knowles (now Trib AME/Presentation) there would be no RedEye. Period. And without RedEye I’d likely be off somewhere making silly hats.
I know that people ignorant to the how things work here will assume that this move will begin the celeb-mutation of the Tribune into a clone of RedEye. However, to make that assumption that is to underestimate Jane’s ability to see that these two publications serve distinctly different missions and readers.
You need leadership that isn’t afraid to break from the past to discover the possibilities of the future, and that’s exactly what the Tribune is getting in Jane Hirt. It’s bittersweet for us, but its the right move for the company and I couldn’t be happier for her.
I’ll share more on this topic at my ‘Brand Aid’ presentation on the final day of SND Vegas.
Read a brief profile on her here by the Chicago Business News. Find a nice Q&A with her at JournalismJobs.