San Francisco Chronicle's executive VP, editor, Ward Bushee, announces retirement; Hearst yet to name successor

Kendall Sinclair

SAN FRANCISCO , September 23, 2013 (San Francisco Chronicle) – Ward Bushee, The San Francisco Chronicle's executive vice president and editor, announced his retirement Friday after five years at the editorial helm of the Hearst Corp. newspaper and nearly four decades in journalism.

Bushee, 64, will continue to play a role in the Hearst Fellowship Program as well as contributing to some company-wide projects. No replacement editor has been named.

Bushee's departure follows the May retirement of former Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega. The paper and its digital operations are now led by Publisher Jeffrey Johnson, former chief executive of the Los Angeles Times, and President Joanne Bradford, who honed her online media skills at Demand Media and Yahoo.

"Ward made many contributions during his tenure as editor," Johnson said in a statement. "His steady hand and thoughtful leadership guided the paper through some difficult times. He positioned the newsroom well as we accelerate our digital strategies."

Bushee came to The Chronicle in February 2008 from the Arizona Republic, where he had been editor since 2002.

The Northern California native worked at the Salinas Californian and the Marin Independent Journal, and was on the startup staff of USA Today in 1982. He had top editorial positions at publications including the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.