Bushee New Chronicle Editor

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ward H. Bushee has been named executive vice president and editor of The San Francisco Chronicle, the Hearst Corp. said on Friday morning. Bushee, who starts Feb. 1, will replace Phil Bronstein, who is taking on a broader role as editor-at-large of Hearst's newspaper division.

Bushee, 58, is currently editor and vice president of the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, a role he has held since 2002. Previously he was editor and vice president of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"Ward brings a wealth of news experience and journalistic vision to The Chronicle team," said Frank Vega, president and publisher of The Chronicle. "He has long been recognized as an editor who instills strong journalistic values, integrity and sense of community at the newspapers he leads."

"That type of multiplatform reporting is what we have to continue to develop," Vega said.

Bushee, a second-generation journalist, started his career at the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. His father was the paper's editor and shepherded it to a 1956 Pulitzer for public service.

Early in his career, Bushee also did stints at several other Northern California papers: the Gilroy Dispatch, the Salinas Californian and the Marin Independent Journal.

He was a founding editor of USA Today as its assistant content editor/sports in 1982.

Before leading the Phoenix and Cincinnati papers, Bushee helmed two other Gannett papers, the Reno (Nev. ) Gazette-Journal and the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader.

Randy Lovely Promoted to Top Editor at ‘Arizona Republic’

By Joe Strupp

Published: January 25, 2008 1:25 PM ET

NEW YORK The Arizona Republic has promoted Randy Lovely to vice president/news and editor, replacing Editor Ward Bushee who will join the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I am delighted Randy has agreed to take the top news spot. He has been an instrumental part not only of the Arizona Republic’s move to a multi-platform information company but has contributed his expertise to the Gannett Company as a whole in a variety of top task force assignments. He has an excellent understanding of the issues facing our state,” Sue Clark-Johnson, Gannett Newspaper Division President, said in a statement.

Lovely joined The Republic in 2002 as Managing Editor and was promoted to Executive Editor in 2005. Before coming to Phoenix, Lovely had management roles at The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., The Times in Shreveport, La., and The Desert Sun in Palm Spring, Calif.

Lovely, 43, is a 16-year Gannett employee and is a Native American.

He said he first learned of the promotion on Thursday. “The great thing is continuity,” he said of his appointment from within the Republic. “I have been here for six years. I won’t start overnight trying to fix things.”

The move makes Lovely the only openly gay top editor of a major U.S. newspaper. He has been a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association since 1999.

Lovely says he has never hidden his sexual preference, but is not among the most outspoken gay rights activists. “There are many others who are much more involved. I support them, but I am not on the leadership,” he says of his NLGJA membership. “I have not had to be anything other than what I am. I can’t be the one to tell anyone they have to be out. But it is not something I am afraid of.”

While Lovely appears to be the first openly gay editor appointed to run a major newspaper, he follows Roy Aarons, the former executive editor of The Oakland Tribune who came out in 1990 after serving in the top post for seven years. He died in 2004.

Asked about being openly gay and running a newspaper in a conservative place like Arizona, Lovely said, “I think all in all it will not be an issue. Arizona is a pretty libertarian environment. People support individual rights.”

When he was named to his M.E. post at the Republic in 2002 he told E&P: “All I have to be is true to myself and true to the responsibilities I’ve been given. I’m not going to deny coverage to the gay and lesbian community to prove something to the rest of the readership, but I’m also not going to turn The Arizona Republic into the community’s gay-and-lesbian newspaper. You can’t get caught up in that or you start to second-guess yourself too much.”

Pam Fine, the openly gay managing editor of The Indianapolis Star, praised the appointment: “It’s great to see it. I hope more companies will be less-afraid to pick gay editors.”

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.