T-Squared: The End of Miller Time

I'm truly sorry to share a bit of Trib staff news: Our editor, Mark Miller, will be leaving us in mid-December to return to New York and a job with his old employer. Sort of.

You may recall that Mark, a native Texan and SMU grad, came to us this time last year from Newsweek, where he spent 21 years of his illustrious career — most recently as the magazine's editorial director and the editor of Newsweek.com. At the time, Newsweek's owner, the Washington Post Company, had just sold the venerated newsweekly, and future prospects for it and its remaining employees were not clear. Mark was therefore poachable, and poach him we did. He was eager to return home, and he quickly warmed to the challenge of helping us evolve from a fledgling, Andy Hardy-esque, put-on-a-show-in-the-garage operation to an innovative, professionally run news organization.

Mark did yeoman's work — that was evident to us from day one, and apparently not only to us, because many of his old compatriots in New York spent the better part of the last year trying to lure him back. Finally one did: Tina Brown, who merged her Daily Beast website with the remnants of Newsweek not long after Mark exited the building. She recently offered him, and he accepted, the chance to be the director of editorial operations for "NewsBeast," as the combined entity is jokingly known. Turns out he missed the big city. Tina's gain, our loss. Yours, too.

Fortunately, we have someone to fill his big, natty shoes. Emily Ramshaw, reporter extraordinaire and, lately, our deputy editor, will take over as interim editor. Emily has a more-than-ample amount of passion, smarts and skills to lead the Trib, along with vision and ambition that should gladden the hearts of public service journalism fans far and wide. I know she'll do an amazing job, and in very short order you'll know it, too. Along with Brandi Grissom, our managing editor, and Ross Ramsey, our executive editor (and — take note, prospective hires — a story editor to come), Emily will take us, and all of you, to bigger and better places.

Please join me in wishing Mark well and congratulating Emily as the Trib enters its next great phase.