Inky Names Two New Managing Editors
The Philadelphia Inquirer has named two new managing editors, each with a title suggesting the paper is putting new emphasis on its digital operations.
Sandra Clark and Gabriel Escobar were both promoted Wednesday — Clark to managing editor of features/operations/digital, Escobar to managing editor of news/digital. The two move up the hierarchy to fill space left by Stan Wischnowski, the former executive editor, who was promoted last week to be the vice president of news operations for Interstate General Media, the company that owns the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com.
The press release announcing the duo’s promotion was careful to mention that both were deeply involved with Inquirer.com, the newspaper’s paywalled website: Clark had served as the editor of the website — and will continue to — while Escobar was credited with helping develop the site and its “social media linkages.”
“These promotions guarantee our commitment to readers that we will provide the best news report — in print, online, social and mobile — in our region,” Bill Marimow, the Inquirer’s editor, said in the press release announcement.
Clark had been a deputy managing editor at the paper since 2011; Escobar had been a deputy managing editor since 2012. (The paper, until this week at least, listed four deputy managing editors on its masthead.) Clark a University of Kansas graduate and a former Peace Corps volunteer who has spent her journalism career at the Inquirer; Escobar previously served 16 years at the Washington Post, along with stints at the Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Daily News, and Hartford Courant.
Taken overall, the promotions announced at the Inquirer and IGM since Gerry Lenfest became the company’s sole owner place a lot of emphasis on continuity. The only outsider to receive a major appointment — Mike Topel, the new interim editor of Philly.com, came from Digital First Media, but even he previously spent much of his career at the Inquirer and Philly.com.
The promotions of Clark and Escobar are effective immediately. The announcement is below.
