Photo: News Editor Rich Pestorich, Executive Director Michael Stoll, Publisher Lila LaHood, and reporters Ambika Kandasamy and Barbara Grady.
I’m writing with some bittersweet news.
The sweet: Rich Pestorich, who’s been with us as news editor since the fall of 2010 (issue No. 2) has scored himself a prominent full-time job: online producer for SFChronicle.com! The bitter: Rich will be stepping down as news editor — though he will remain a core Public Press editorial adviser.
This opportunity came quickly. After his career of more than two decades as a news editor at the Chronicle, Rich had been working for three years part time at the Chron’s sister site, SF Gate. The new job across the hall in the newsroom opened up unexpectedly. He will be helping to shape the paper’s new online direction after the recent announcement that the site’s paywall is coming down.
We’re extremely proud that Rich was able to leverage the experience he gained volunteering for a small startup nonprofit newsroom to qualify for one of the top jobs in local mainstream news. Rich used his time here productively, cross-training in new skills, specifically Web production and project editing.
We are grateful for everything Rich has done for the Public Press in the last four years. He has been an invaluable resource on questions of news ethics, San Francisco history and how to manage people in a dynamic and heterogeneous organization. We will miss his thoughtful and witty presence here in the office, as well as his patience and enthusiasm for working for cub reporters and interns. And his dedication to the ideas of in-depth nonprofit news we’re trying to propagate in this quixotic endeavor. He will be impossible to replace.
Michael Stoll, Executive Director
