Bylines   

Newspapers: Jack Lemmon , managing editor of the Baltimore Evening Sun for the past 12 years, takes early retirement as the morning and evening Suns merge their staffs. "I felt I had to either leave or accept a more diminished role," Lemmon says. "I was offered several options [to stay], but they were all very vague." Former ABC News Senior Producer Kathryn Christensen becomes M.E. of the combined editorial staff, which has lost about 78 members in a buyout offer of six to 15 months' salary plus benefits. They include Washington Bureau Chief Frank Starr and city hall reporter Martin Evans of the Morning Sun and film critic Lou Cedrone and Executive News Editor Richard Kenney of the Evening Sun, among many others... Colleen Conant , formerly M.E. of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, becomes editor of the Naples, Florida, Daily News. She replaces Alan Horton , who becomes a V.P. with parent Scripps Howard...The Daily Journal in Elizabeth, New Jersey, closes its doors. Founded in 1779, the paper becomes the fourth in northern New Jersey to be folded or merged by publisher William Dean Singleton ...The Washington Times hires reporter Nancy Roman to cover legal affairs. She replaces Dawn Ceol , who resigned in October...The Dallas Morning News hires former Dallas Times Herald sports columnists Frank Luksa and Phil Rogers ; the New York Times names Sandra Bailey , formerly at the International Herald Tribune and the Washington Post, as deputy sports editor... The Washington Post names Joann Byrd , executive editor of the Everett, Washington, Herald, as its new ombudsperson... J. Keith Moyer , formerly editor of the defunct Arkansas Gazette, becomes editor of the Democrat and Chronicle/Times-Union in Rochester, New York. He succeeds Barbara Henry , who becomes publisher of the Great Falls, Montana, Tribune...The Wall Street Journal names Alan Murray as deputy Washington bureau chief. Thomas Petzinger , outgoing deputy, becomes a special assignment reporter...The Orange County Register names Danielle Herubin , formerly M.E. at States News Service, as Washington bureau chief. She succeeds Jeff Weir , who becomes a press secretary in California... Neil Morgan , editor of the San Diego Tribune, becomes an editor and columnist for the newly merged Union-Tribune. Gerald Warren , editor in chief of the Union before the merger, retains his title on the new paper...The Los Angeles Times launches a satellite edition aimed at New York and Washington readers and also hires freelancer Linda Grant as a senior business writer and promotes reporter Kevin Roderick and Ventura City Editor Rick Barrs to assistant metro editors, reporter Patt Morrison to Denver bureau chief and Assistant Foreign News Editor Jane Engle to "World Report" news editor.

Magazines: TV Guide names James Bellows as Los Angeles bureau chief. Best known as the last editor-in-chief of the New York Herald Tribune, Bellows also guided the Washington Star and L.A. Herald-Examiner, was the first M.E. of "Entertainment Tonight," executive producer of ABC's "World News Tonight" and executive producer of "USA Today on TV." The magazine also names Jeff Jarvis as its first full-time critic. Formerly at the New York Daily News, Jarvis has been accused by the Chicago Tribune of having "an uncommonly sharp intellect for a newspaperman.".. David Kamp leaves Spy to join Gentleman's Quarterly as senior editor. "I hope to bring some of Spy's satirical bite to GQ," he says, "including the sonnets I plan to write." Meanwhile, Spy dismisses a photo assistant, a copy editor and a researcher in cutbacks...Business Week promotes Senior Editor G. David Wallace to assistant M.E., replacing the late Anthony Parisi ...Life names Daniel Okrent as assistant M.E., replacing Mary Steinbauer , who retires...Former Philadelphia Magazine editor Ron Javers replaces the retiring Frank Zachary as editor of Town & Country. "Keep reading," one enthusiastic staffer says, when asked about Javers. "Wait 'til you see the changes we plan." The new editor sounds more subdued, saying alterations will be "evolutionary not revolutionary" but include "more real stories by real writers." That said, Javers hires Senior Editor John Anderson , formerly an English professor, to write about education, Associate Editor Khoi Nguyen , formerly a contributor to the defunct Connoisseur, and M.E. John Rizzi , formerly at Lear's... Regardie's skirts extinction after Bill Regardie 's vow to "mothball this sucker" elicits a 35 percent increase in ad pages. Regardie had said that unless 10,000 readers among those who received the D.C.-based business magazine free began paying $5 an issue, he'd be forced to close shop. By mid-February he still hadn't received "near enough [paid] subscriptions" but was able to send his February/March issue to press...The Advocate opens a Washington bureau staffed by senior editor John Purnell , formerly at the Washington Times, and a yet-to-be-named reporter. The national gay magazine also hires Entertainment Editor Jeff Yarbrough ...Washingtonian film critic Pat Dowell resigns after Editor Jack Limpert refuses to print her review of "JFK," which he calls a "vague political statement" that wasn't "fair, useful or intelligent." Dowell is replaced by Jayne Blanchard , whose review looks beyond the politics of the film and praises its technical aspects. That's more to Limpert's liking, though he still considers Oliver Stone 's film "lousy journalism and lousy history."

The Networks : Russ Mitchell leaves KMOV in St. Louis to co-anchor CBS' new overnight broadcast that debuts this month. His partner has not been named. Also, CBS News hires reporter Regina Blakeley , formerly at KATV in Little Rock...At ABC, Senior Producer Deborah Leff leaves "World News Tonight" for "20/20." Linda Mathews , formerly editor of the L.A. Times Magazine, replaces Leff at "WNT." (Senior Editor Bret Israel succeeds Mathews at the magazine.) ABC also launches its overnight entry, "World News Now," with anchors Aaron Brown and Lisa McRee . Brown leaves KIRO in Seattle and McRee departs from WFAA in Dallas...Reporter Stone Phillips leaves ABC's "20/20" to anchor "Dateline NBC," the new magazine show that debuts March 31, with Jane Pauley . David Rummell leaves CBS' "60 Minutes" to become "Dateline" senior producer. Also, Robert Wheelock leaves the "Today" show to become London bureau chief for NBC News.

Cable Connections : John Sununu agrees to sub for presidential candidate Pat Buchanan on CNN's "Crossfire." Meanwhile, CNN decides not to renew the contracts of reporter Marc Levenson , anchor Rick Moore , Cairo correspondent John Sweeney and London-based producer Mitch Leopard . A spokesperson refused to comment on the reason behind each dismissal but says all four will be replaced. CNN hires freelancer Jack Smith as senior producer for political coverage from Washington and Joie Chen of Atlanta's WXIA, Brian Nelson of Headline News, Ralitsa Vassileva of Bulgarian television and London-based Hilary Vowker of ABC as CNN International anchors...Turner Broadcasting launches its Airport Channel – 18 hours of news daily in six U.S. airports – and its Checkout Channel, with feeds to 150 grocery stores in 14 markets...Group W Productions cancels " Jane Wallace Live" three months after its launch.

Features Desk : The Philadelphia Inquirer names Jane Eisner , assistant to the editor, and Fred Mann , Sunday magazine editor, as assistant M.E.s for features. Eisner replaces William Ward , who becomes metro editor; Ward succeeds Steve Seplow , who will report from Moscow beginning next year... The Miami Herald promotes Steve Sonsky , formerly arts and entertainment editor, to executive features editor, and Elissa Vanaver , formerly deputy features editor, to features editor. Features editor Bill Greer becomes enterprise editor.

UPI: Roy Brightbill , laid off in October after 22 years with the wire service, is rehired as news editor for the Europe/Middle East/Africa division. He replaces Julian

Isherwood , described by a spokesperson as "interim" editor, who remains as Nordic correspondent.

Friends and Family: Among the 200-plus names and phone numbers in media baron Robert Maxwell 's address book, as reported by James Warren in the Chicago Tribune: Barbara Walters (three numbers), Mike Wallace (three); Time Warner CEO Steven Ross ; Charles

Brumback , CEO of the Tribune Co., which sold Maxwell the New York Daily News (seven); the Tass news agency; and archrival Rupert Murdoch (14).

Radio: National Public Radio names Sunni Khalid , formerly of the Baltimore Sun, as a reporter on its foreign desk; Andrew Bowers , formerly with Boston's WBUR-FM, as a Washington reporter; and part-timer Korva Coleman as a full-time newscaster.

Local TV Feeds: Anchors Sam Brown and Ann Rollins leave Knoxville's WATE. Brown jumps to rival WKXT; Rollins launches a consulting firm. A WATE spokeswoman won't discuss the changes, but Rollins says her departure was a mutual agreement. "When you've been on camera long enough, you begin to ask, 'Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?' " she says. "I decided no, and I'm hap-py." The duo is replaced by Rick Benjamin from Davenport's KWQC and Denise Dillon , from WTVM in Columbus, Georgia... Bruce Hamilton , formerly at WCPX in Orlando, returns to native Philadelphia to anchor for KYW. He replaces Steve Bell , who will anchor updates produced for cable's USA Network... Paul Beavers leaves WKYC in Cleveland to become news director at San Diego's KUSI.

In Memoriam: Gerald "Scoop" Mahoney , who covered every major fire and many major crime stories for the Boston Globe from 1952 to the late 1970s, died at 63... Elithe Hamilton Kirkland , who began as a reporter for the Dallas Morning News in the 1920s and later covered state politics for the Dallas Times Herald, died at 84. At the Times Herald, she and her editors decided it best to sign her dispatches "L.E. Hamilton" to disguise her gender.