Simmons, Wall In New WaTimes Roles

An internal Washington Times memo, obtained by FishbowlDC:

Folks:

I’m please to announce two high-caliber additions to the news
staff. While you know both of them well from their other roles in the
Times’ family, their entrance to the newsroom signals some exciting
new strategic opportunities we are seizing at the start of 2009.

Here’s the scoop:

*Deb Simmons will re-join the news staff Monday as our
first-ever special correspondent, a new byline title that will afford
her sweeping opportunity to cover the extraordinary (and routinely
under-reported) intersection between local Washington and official
Washington. Deb has an unparalleled Rolodex of sources and ready
access to the national and local newsmakers that make Washington
tick. Her breadth of knowledge, her endless insider tales and her
vast source network make even the most-seasoned reporters envious.
She’s itching to mobilize those assets into some ground-breaking
journalism for our front page, Web site, TV and radio. She hopes
from this new perch to cover the intersection of local and national
politics on DC turf, Michelle Obama’s policy initiatives, education
reform, urban affairs, DC voting rights and other issues inside the
District that actually reflect the more global problems and solutions
we face as a nation. She has some great ideas on using cutting-edge
vehicles to tell her stories, from columns, blogs, videos and
newsmaker Q&As to radio and TV features. We’ll fill you in more in
the coming weeks as Deb gets the train rolling. She will report
directly to David Jones and myself.

*Tara Wall will join the news staff Monday as a senior
editor for the growing suite of social media/networking products we
are creating on the Digital side of the newsroom. We will soon be
announcing a major new product in the Digital space, and Tara will
supervise the day-to-day editorial content for that product while
developing some of her own original content for TV, radio and the
Web. She will report directly to Chuck DeFeo with dotted line
responsibilities to Jeff Birnbaum and myself. As most of you know,
Tara has an impressive resume ranging from TV anchoring to opinion
editing, and over the last several months she has spread the
Washington Times brand and content to CNN audiences across the globe
as a regular CNN contributor. Her Rolodex and her keen ability to
analyze and synthesize information in the rapidly moving digital
world makes her perfectly suited to help us develop and sustain new
products in 2009.

During the transition, Dick Amberg will run the editorial
staff on an interim basis. Tom McDevitt will have more to share in
coming weeks on some of the strategic initiatives under way in 2009
for our opinion pages. We’ll also have more news to share on Deb’s
and Tara’s exploits in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please join
me in welcoming them to the newsroom.

John

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.