Police reporter moving into editor role; other changes at Michigan newspapers

Michigan newsrooms

Bryn Mickle wrote his last Offbeat column as he leaves the police beat he's nurtured for 10 years at The Flint Journal to become an assistant community editor. It's a new position, where he'll be editing copy and helping guide news coverage for online and print.

Reporter Laura Angus, who has covered the Grand Blanc area after graduating from Oakland University and Holly High School, moves into his police beat. She's also collecting the zany police happenings for her version of Offbeat, a column started by the Jim of L-Town (despite my name there) before he moved onto Free From Editors.

Eric English, 43, of Bangor Township, also is a newly named assistant community editor, according to an article about Michigan Press Association awards. English's new job is for the Saginaw News and The Bay City Times, also part of the Booth Mid-Michigan group with The Flint Journal. His LinkedIn profile says he's been a business reporter for both newspapers and the Great Lakes Business Review. He started at the Bay City Times in 1988.

While I"m on the subject of Michigan Press Awards, the Kalamazoo Gazette is the newspaper of the year. 
You can find the complete results on the Michigan Press Association site. The advertising contest results also are online.

Jessica Standen, a sales representative since 2008 at The Flint Journal, left last Friday to become development director for the Birch Run Chamber and Convention and Visitors Bureau.
That's the same day there was a farewell party on Friday for some circulation people working for Valley Publishing, which delivered the Saginaw News and Bay City Times. The last three full-time employees of the circulation at the Flint Journal recently had their farewell party.

I'm late on these:

• Laura Leigh Lenter, a recent Michigan State University graduate and State News alumni,  became an inside sales representative in June at The Flint Journal.
• Shannon Murphy, a reporter at The Flint Journal, moved up to Bay City to cover city and county government, in September.
• Dean Bohn, 49, of Chesaning,  worked for the Saginaw News and is now at The Flint Journal.
• Jean Johnson, a design intern at the Reading Eagle Company, also joined The Flint Journal. The Wayne State University journalism graduate is a reporter.

While over at Linked In creating some recommendations for job-hunting writers, I noticed that
Karen Koziel says she became the Advertising Director of The Flint Journal  three months ago. She worked with publisher Matt Sharp  at the Michigan Business Review.

The Times Herald in Port Huron published a number of promotions: 

• Daren Tomhave, the new  executive news editor, and Mandy Burton, the new news editor, will lead a regional copy desk, based in Port Huron, that is responsible for preparing the Times Herald and the Battle Creek Enquirer pages for publication every day.   
• Michael Stechschulte, a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan-Flint, is the assistant news editor on the regional copy desk. 
• Paul Costanzo is now a  senior sports reporter
• Liz Shepard is a senior news reporter.
• Pamela Ford is now senior advertising sales manager
• Meagan Hustek is the new advertising supervisor. 
  

Some of the changes are prompted by the reorganization that followed the Times Herald publisher becoming president and publisher of Gannett's Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J, in August.  The first change was the decision to not name a publisher, instead promoting the ad director to manager. Lori Driscoll kept her advertising position while taking on some of Tim Dowd's responsibilities.She now reports to Brian Priester, president and publisher of the Lansing State Journal, who will oversee all Gannett community newspapers in Michigan.

A former Detroit Free Press reporter (and newlywed)  is returning to Michigan after reporting on Coke for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saccording to Talking Biz.

Joe Guy Collier, who joined AJC in February 2008,  last day is Oct. 15.   He told Talking Biz he'll continue as a blogger and freelance reporter covering the food and beverage industry.His wife  works in public relations at Ford Motor Co. in Michigan, according to Talking Biz.

Updated 10/12/09: More Michigan comings and goings Plus, see a story about Michigan media moves? Bookmark it in the Publish2 Michigan News about News  newsgroup.