SF Chron Puts Blogger in Editor Position

This jumped out at me from my feeds today.  Via the Editors Weblog (which came from Editor & Publisher), I saw that the San Francisco Chronicle named Eve Bately as the paper's new online editor.  What's notable about this is that Eve's background is as a blogger and PR professional, not as a journalist.

Every day there is fresh evidence at how fundamentally media is being redefined.  This is the latest.  The opportunity is shifting online and pace of change at the traditional media properties is blinding.  The excerpt of the memo from SF Chron editor Phil Bronstein cited by Editors Weblog is particularly telling:

"There is no question that our future is so inextricably tied to online and digital that the person who oversees all things web for the newsroom should have the authority to operate at the highest levels,” explained Bronstein in his memo. Although he admitted that Batey does not have “the traditional newspaper/journalism background,” he expressed confidence that she will help “dissolve the walls between the online and print Chronicle functions.”

This just underscores how we're going to continue to see newspapers and other publications evolve to encourage more participation with readers.