Callaway departing USA TODAY for TheStreet
Stepping down as editor after instilling digital-first approach
USA TODAY announced Thursday that Editor in Chief Dave Callaway will step down July 1 to become CEO of financial news company TheStreet Inc.
Patty Michalski, managing editor for digital, will serve as interim editor in chief while the national newspaper, owned by Gannett Inc., conducts “a nationwide search” for a permanent successor, said Joanne Lipman, Gannett’s chief content officer.
USA TODAY’s Executive Editor Beryl Love will also “play a key role in the transition, leading USAT reporting teams while helping me strengthen and grow the USA TODAY NETWORK,” Lipman said. USA TODAY NETWORK is an editorial group created last year to unite and better coordinate the content of Gannett’s local and national news properties. Gannett, based in McLean, Va., owns more than 100 local news properties, including the Arizona Republic, The Indianapolis Star, Detroit Free Press and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Callaway was hired as USA TODAY’s newsroom leader in July 2012 by Larry Kramer, who was then president and publisher of USA TODAY. Kramer left the company last year and joined TheStreet as chairman of the board and, later, interim CEO. Callaway and Kramer have deep professional ties. Kramer, who founded online financial news site MarketWatch, hired Callaway to be its editor in 1999.
“Over the past four years, Dave Callaway has led a remarkable resurgence at USA TODAY,” Lipman said in a staff memo. “We will miss him terribly. But huge congratulations are in order for Dave. The new post is a recognition of the superb work he has done here.”
Befitting his background as MarketWatch editor and as Bloomberg News reporter, he pushed the USA TODAY newsroom to publish stories quickly online and was instrumental in instilling the digital-first mindset that drives much of USA TODAY’s content. The video, audio, social and mobile teams were also integrated closely into the newsroom’s workflow. The news organization’s digital audience has grown significantly.
Working with Kramer, he helped launch the Butterfly edition, which is a condensed version of USA TODAY that is inserted as a separate section into many of Gannett’s local newspapers as well as other newspapers. He also oversaw the formation of the national news hub, which led to the creation last year of the USA TODAY NETWORK.
“On a personal note, I will miss Dave’s friendship and his calm, steadfast manner that has made him beloved by those in the newsroom and throughout Gannett,” Lipman’s memo read.
Michalski joined USA TODAY in 2000 as a front-page website editor and rose quickly through the ranks as the newspaper increasingly turned to digital tools for news distribution. She was promoted to managing editor for mobile in 2012, pushing for content specifically for mobile and social audiences. She was given additional duties, including overseeing the breaking news team, when she was promoted to managing editor for all digital coverage in 2015. “Patty has been at the heart of the teams planning the launch of every redesign and news app USA TODAY has launched,” Lipman said.