This has been a tumultuous week at the Herald-Leader, with news breaking Monday that the newspaper would be sold along with 20 other Knight Ridder properties to the much-smaller McClatchy chain. Most staffers were elated to see a resolution after months of uncertainly. But the paper has been deeply wounded by the corporate turmoil, a fact underscored today by the departure of one of our most promising young editors, assistant metro editor Monica Richardson.
Monica is leaving us to go to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of several Herald-Leader staffers lured to the Cox-owned newspapers during a period when we had no idea who would own the Herald-Leader and what impact a change in ownership might have on the editorial product. No one can blame her for leaving. That is a natural course for ambitious young editors who want their resumes to reflect their abilities to handle larger responsibilities in bigger newspaper markets.
But Monica’s departure leaves a void in Lexington that we quickly realized we must take steps to fill. Monica was a champion of diversity, both in our coverage and in the composition of our staff. In better times, she helped us attract minority candidates to the newspaper, skillfully working as a recruiter at national journalism conventions. In her last comments to a meeting this week of Herald-Leader editors, she urged us to find a person of color to replace her, convinced that a newspaper is a better product if it truly reflects the diversity of its community.
Last week, assistant metro editor Risa Brim agreed to help us recover from the loss of Monica by serving in a new role as diversity editor. Risa will work with all news departments at the newspaper to monitor their coverage of Lexington’s ethnic communities and to suggest story and photo ideas. She intends to try to build relationships with Lexington’s minority leaders and to invite their feedback about our performance. Risa, who already serves as the coordinator of our summer intern program, will also help us with minority recruiting. With the Herald-Leader’s future now more certain, we hope that we can build a talent bank of promising minority job candidates who will see Lexington as a place to develop their journalistic skills.
If you have thoughts or concerns about diversity in our coverage, please send along a note to Risa at rbrim@herald-leader.com. Risa and I will be working together closely to try to improve our performance in this critical area.
Marilyn Thompson
Editor
How is the diversity in your newsroom compared with the diversity of the community? Are your percentages of minorities in the newsroom similar to the percentages here in Lexington? I’m guessing that if a departing editor is pleading to be replaced with a minority that the Herald-Leader is having problems maintaining a balance that reflects its community.