I meet Chris many years ago when he was the innovative editor of The Orange County Register in California.
He is the one that dispatched reporters to the malls and created the first “Shopping Mall Reporter” press cards!
His editorial and newsroom management changes made The Register one of the most innovative U.S. papers in the 1980′s.
One day, we were in Bergen (Norway), both speaking at the Scandinavian Society of News Design (SND/S) and he told me a big lesson that I will never forget:
“You can make great changes in any newsroom, but as editor you must explain the changes one to one, devoting as much time is needed. If sometimes I was not able to implement changes, always was because I didn’t follow this rule ad I didn’t talk one by one.”
Chris Anderson became very soon a successful newspaper executive and was the publisher and CEO of The Register.
The Register earned two Pulitzer prizes under Anderson’s leadership and he was named Editor of the Year by the National Press Foundation in 1989.
Today, The Oregonian announced that Chris is going to be his new publisher.
Chris is now 59, but I am sure that he is not intimidated by the big challenges of the newspaper market.
If I were a journalist at The Oregonian, today I will be very, very happy.
He was, he is, and will be a Media Innovator!
(In the picture, Editor in Chief, Chris Anderson, is sprayed with champagne by photographer Brian Smith, and other celebrants in the Register’s newsroom after word arrived about the Pulitzer win.)
Tags: Bergen, Chris Anderson, Maedia Innovators, National Press Foundation, Norway, Organge County Register, Pulitzer, SND/S, Shopping Mall Reporters, The Oregonian
