Leaving St. Louis   

Civic journalism proponent Cole Campbell leaves his editorship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for about a six-month stint at the Poynter Institute.

Civic journalism proponent and free-thinker-type Cole Campbell leaves his editorship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for about a six-month stint as a fellow at the Poynter Institute. Campbell led the Post-Dispatch through numerous changes during his three-and-a-half turbulent years at the helm, stressing reader and civic involvement and implementing a teams system in the newsroom. The departure came as a surprise to the staff. Publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger says that Campbell "had an opportunity he saw at Poynter, and we see it as an...opportunity for us too, [a] time to bring somebody in and take it to the next level." Campbell, who was previously editor at Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot, was both praised and criticized in St. Louis. While newshole and staff grew, readers' advocate Carolyn Kingcade writes that constant restructuring upset staffers, and readers felt hard news was sacrificed for community outreach efforts. Poynter President Jim Naughton likes the fact that Campbell's "not afraid to speak his mind even when his view may not be generally accepted." Campbell, who did not return AJR phone calls, will research cooperation and understanding between the editorial and business sides of the news business.