With the departure of Edward Greenspon -- who served just under seven years -- from The Globe and Mail, Doug Kelly of the National Post becomes the dean of Toronto newspaper editors.

He has been on the job since 2005 (I can't yet find a more specific date than that). He replaced Matthew Fraser, who had the job for two years (?) after replacing founding editor Ken Whyte, who left in 2003 as part of a major management purge.

Lou Clancy is next, having become top editor at the Toronto Sun in October 2007 (quickly tracking top-job changes at the Sun is proving challenging. If you can help me out, please do).*


Michael Cooke became the Toronto Star's top editor in March.

The Star has seen significant turnover. Cooke replaces Fred Kuntz, who had been top editor for slightly more than two years.

Kuntz, who had spent a significant part of his career either at the Star or within the larger TorStar organization, had replaced Giles Gherson in October 2006. Gherson came to the Star from the Globe. He only lasted about two years.

Gherson came after new TorStar CEO Rob Prichard (who has now the ex-CEO) pushed out John Honderich as publisher in 2004, replacing him with outsider Michael Goldbloom; Honderich had effectively been his own editor at the end.

Jim Travers had been executive editor before being made a national affairs columnist. I can't yet confirm when he stepped down or if Travers began the job before the newspaper wars commenced.

In any event, it would seem that getting the top job these days hardly means you're set for life.

A plea for help

This post is still incomplete, but if you have some information to contribute about executive turnover in Toronto newspaper newsrooms since the newspaper wars began in 1998 (I have more on the Globe in this post; also in this one), I'd be most grateful. You can leave a comment or email me (link at upper right).