Business News

U.S. Community Publishing appointments announced in Cincinnati, Des Moines

Thursday 20. January 2011 - Tom Callinan retires from the Cincinnati Enquirer

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) announced today two appointments in its U.S. Community Publishing division:
Carolyn Washburn, vice president and editor for The Des Moines Register, has been named vice president and editor at the Cincinnati Enquirer;
Rick Green, editor for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, CA, has been named vice president and editor at The Des Moines Register.
Washburn replaces Tom Callinan who retired at the end of December after 34 years with Gannett to join the University of Cincinnati as McMicken Professor of Journalism.
“For more than three decades, Tom has served as an outstanding editor and leader for Gannett and he will be missed. We wish Tom and his family the very best in the years to come,” said Robert Dickey, president of U.S. Community Publishing. “In their new positions, Carolyn and Rick will bring their valuable talents, including award-winning journalism and strong community leadership, to two of our flagship media properties.”
Washburn began her newspaper career in 1984 as a business reporter for the Lansing (MI) State Journal. She moved to the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle in 1987 where she held several positions. She moved to The Idaho Statesman in Boise as managing editor in 1993; returned to Rochester as managing editor in 1995; and was named executive editor in Boise in 1999. In 2005, she was named vice president and editor of The Des Moines Register. Washburn grew up in the West Cincinnati area and graduated from Indiana University.
“Carolyn brings the necessary leadership and journalistic excellence that has long been the tradition of editors in Cincinnati,” said Margaret Buchanan, president and publisher of The Cincinnati Enquirer and Interstate Group vice president. “Carolyn is the first female editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer. She is also a Cincinnati native and graduate of McAully High School. I know the Cincinnati community shares my excitement in welcoming her back home.”
Washburn was awarded Gannett’s Chairman’s Ring. She also was Gannett’s Editor of the Year in 2008. The Des Moines Register, under Washburn’s leadership, received Gannett’s top award twice and a Gold Medal award five times, recognizing it as one of the top five newspapers in Gannett.
The teams she leads consistently win national awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, an outstanding use of digital technology award from the Online Newspaper Association, Knight Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, and awards from organizations that honor coverage in health care, agriculture, education and other specific issues.
Washburn’s community involvement includes serving as president of the City Club of Boise. She is on the Professional Advisory Board for the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She is also a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Online News Association.
“Carolyn has done exceptional work for us in Des Moines and she will be missed,” said Laura Hollingsworth, president and publisher of The Des Moines Register and West Newspaper Group president. “At the same time, it is with great pride that we are able to bring Rick Green to The Register. Over the years, I have watched the sophisticated and award-winning work he has led in Palm Springs. He will ensure we offer Des Moines readers both balanced coverage and compelling work. He’s a community-focused leader who I know will become quickly and deeply involved here. Rick is the right leader at the right time for The Des Moines Register.”
Green has been executive editor of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs since July 2008. He joined The Desert Sun in 2004 as its managing editor. He launched his newspaper career at age 15 at his hometown newspaper, The Tribune in Coshocton, OH, where he worked as a reporter, photographer and columnist in news and sports. After completing his journalism studies at Ohio University in 1987, he joined Gannett as a government and political reporter at the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette. He was hired at The Cincinnati Enquirer nine months later where he held a number of reporting and editing posts from 1988-2004. He became an assistant local news editor in 1997 and later served as suburban editor, business editor and assistant managing editor for business and metro news in Cincinnati before joining The Desert Sun.
Green is a two-time Gannett Newsroom Supervisor of the Year, winning in 1998 and 2000. He won a Gannett President’s Ring in 2010.
Green is a member of American Society of Newspaper Editors, Investigative Reporters & Editors and the Online News Association, from which his Palm Springs staff won a national breaking news award. His staffs also have won numerous Ohio Associated Press and California Newspaper Publishers Association awards. The Desert Sun earned more Best of Gannett awards in the 2009 contest than any other Gannett newspaper.