The Indiana Publisher

Page 2 April 2022 HSPA Board of Directors 2022 session HSPA Foundation Board Members Bill Hackney, e La Porte County Herald-Dispatch (Michigan City) and e Rochester Sentinel Don Hurd, Hoosier Media Group Gillian Kelk, Sullivan Daily Times Brenda McLane, Hometown Media Group Mark Miller, e News-Banner (Bluon) Kathy Tretter, Ferdinand News and Spencer County Leader (Rockport) HSPA Board Members Nathan Feltman, Indianapolis Business Journal Bud Hunt, AIM Media Indiana Curt Kovener, e Crothersville Times Robert Shegog, Indianapolis Recorder Chris White, e Times Media Co. HSPA Board of Directors HSPA Officers President: Larry Hensley, e Hoosier Times HSPA Foundation Board of Directors HSPA Foundation Officers President: Robyn McCloskey, CNHI HSPA Staff Steve Key, executive director, general counsel skey@hspa.com (317) 803-4772 Amelia McClure, government relations counsel admclure@hspa.com (317) 803-4772 Pamela Lego, director of operations plego@hspa.com (812) 350-7711 Shawn Goldsby, business manager sgoldsby@hspa.com (317) 803-4772 Ruth Witmer, communications specialist news@hspa.com (812) 855-5898 e Indiana Publisher is published monthly by the Hoosier State Press Association, 429 E. Vermont St. #206 Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 Joseph Dits The South Bend Tribune SOUTH BEND — Alan Achkar, who has served as the South Bend Tribune's executive editor since October 2013, will soon move on as executive edi- tor of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch. The St. Louis newspaper made the announcement Friday, as Achkar was there to address its staff. It was a welcome back. Achkar had served on its staff from 2005 to 2013, where he eventually was promoted to metro editor, overseeing all of the paper's local news reporters. "My family and I fell in love with St. Louis and we're thrilled to call it home again," Achkar said Friday in a state- ment to the St. Louis news- paper. "The Post-Dispatch is a historic news organization, and it's an honor to carry on a great tradition." After St. Louis, he and his family had moved to South Bend to lead The Tribune. The locally based Schurz Communications, which owned the paper at the time, hired him in part to ramp up The Tribune's digital pres- ence, while keeping a strong print product. "I'm incredibly proud of the great work that the South Bend Tribune produced over the last eight years," he told a Tribune reporter on Friday. "The Tribune is a much stron- ger digital newsroom than it was before but still produces strong investigative and enterprise work. I have every confidence that the staff will continue to produce great journalism." Also, since 2020, he has overseen a total of four newsrooms (includ- ing in Lafayette, Muncie and Richmond) as northern Indiana editor for Gannett, the company that now owns The Tribune and that likewise publishes USA Today and 260 newspapers nationwide. "Alan continued a legacy of great journalism while serving the community dur- ing his eight-year tenure at The Tribune," said Mary Irby-Jones, Midwest regional editor of the USA Today Network. "Under his leader- ship, the staff became more focused on delivering the latest news across digital platforms while maintaining a strong print product." Achkar's last day at The Tribune was Friday, April 15. "An award-winning jour- nalist, Alan certainly leaves some big shoes to fill," Irby- Jones said. "We will begin a national search to find Alan's replacement. In the interim, (Tribune Enterprise Editor) Cory Havens will lead the daily news operation." During Achkar's time at The Tribune, the news- paper was a finalist for the Goldsmith Investigative Reporting Prize and for the News Leaders Association Award for Local Accountability Reporting. The Tribune twice earned honors as the state's best daily newspaper and three times as the best website, too. Born in Lebanon, Achkar grew up in Cleveland and started his professional career in journalism at the Cleveland Plain Dealer as a reporter for more than a decade, then assistant metro editor and eventually politics editor. Then he moved to St. Louis. The St. Louis Post- Dispatch is owned by Lee Enterprises. The paper reported in a story that President and Publisher Ian Caso said, "Alan's passion and expertise in journalism will move our newsroom forward as we continue to serve the commu- nity as the number one source for local news and informa- tion." The Tribune's executive editor, Alan Achkar, moving to head St. Louis Post-Dispatch Achkar Staff updates at your paper? Launching an innovative project? Let us know. Email your news to news@hspa.com.

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