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on January 05, 2015 at 4:17 PM, updated January 09, 2015 at 8:59 AM
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 05, 2015 at 4:17 PM, updated January 09, 2015 at 8:59 AM
The Plain Dealer newsroom moved last year from The Plain Dealer Building at 1801 Superior Avenue into a space in Tower City Center. His appointment was announced Monday afternoon by Advance Publications, The Plain Dealer's New York-based owner. Rodrigue, 58, replaces Debra Adams Simmons, who left the newsroom last April to accept a corporate position with Advance.
Rodrigue brings a strong journalism background to Cleveland's leading news source. Before jumping to television in September, as assistant news director at ABC affiliate WFAA-TV, he was the long-time managing editor of The Dallas Morning News and a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter.
He also worked as vice president of the Washington Bureau for Belo Corp.'s newspapers and TV stations and as executive editor of Belo's Press-Enterprise, a newspaper in Riverside, California.
George Rodrigue He said he enjoyed his brief foray into television news but that he saw a rare opportunity to lead a first class newsroom. He becomes editor of The Plain Dealer January 19.
"The Cleveland job was something I just couldn't turn down," he said. "I value the work that a good newsroom like that does. I'm looking forward to getting back to that."
Steven Newhouse, chairman of Advance's digital arm, Advance.net, said he interviewed Rodrigue and believes he has the experience and passion to guide the newspaper through challenging times.
"It's the reality of 2015 that we've got to start to achieve the same level of excellence with a lot less resources. There's no getting around that," Newhouse said. "He's got the experience and the knowledge to put together hard-hitting, quality journalism. I think he will do well under the constraints we're all dealing with."
In August of 2013, The Plain Dealer laid off about one third of its newsroom staff, most of which is represented by Local One of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild. The Guild fell to fewer than 100 members, from a high of nearly 400 just a few years ago.
Advance split its Cleveland news operation into The Plain Dealer and the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The new, non-union NEOMG has been allowed to grow while The Plain Dealer staff has continued to shrink.
Newhouse said he could not say if Rodrigue would be allowed to boost The Plain Dealer with new hires.
"I really can't speak to the internal Plain Dealer situation," he said.
Newhouse said Rodrigue reminds him of former Plain Dealer Editor Doug Clifton, another Pulitzer winning journalist who prized quality writing and insightful stories that helped the region to address a quiet crisis.
Wendy McManamon, the president of the newspaper guild, agreed that Rodrigue's credentials are impressive.
"He sounds like the kind of strong, responsible journalist that we welcome," she said. "I don't know what his options are. We know Advance calls the shots. I hope he makes it the kind of place people want to stay. I hope he'll be vocal and I hope he'll be supportive of strong journalism."
Rodrigue said he intends to assess where The Plain Dealer can "add value" to the community, but that any expansion must make commercial sense. He plans to get to know Cleveland and The Plain Dealer before he embarks on any changes.
"I've got to hear from lots of folks there before I have my own theories sized up against reality," he said. "Folks inside and outside of the newsroom."
In an interview, Rodrigue emerges as a versatile journalist steeped in traditional values.
"A lot of the work that's had success online takes the same values that led to success in print," he said.
Rodrigue started as a reporter for The Dallas Morning News in 1983 before becoming city editor, European bureau chief (stationed in Berlin and Moscow) and a member of the paper's Washington bureau.
He won two Pulitzer Prizes while at The Dallas Morning News, and the newsroom won a third Pulitzer under his leadership.
He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where he focused on economics and law. He's married to Wendy Meyer, a landscape architect and fellow UVA graduate. They have two grown children.
His Cajun French surname, pronounced "rod-REEG," is common in southern Louisiana, he said. Though new to Northeast Ohio, his son is a Kenyon College graduate and he's familiar with the region.
He said he and his wife look forward to making a home here.
Robert L. Smith covers economic development for The Plain Dealer
George A. Markell
