Chronicle taps tested leader as top editor
Maria Douglas Reeve, managing editor of the Houston Chronicle since November 2019, has been named the newspaper’s top editor.
Hearst Corp., the Chronicle’s New York-based parent company, said Tuesday that Reeve will lead the paper as executive editor, effective immediately. Reeve, the first journalist of color to lead the Chronicle, will succeed Steve Riley, who announced in March that he will retire after a 41-year career in journalism.
“We didn’t have to look far to find the best person to become executive editor,” said Hearst Newspapers President Jeff Johnson. “Since Maria began working for the Chronicle in 2019, we have all seen her commanding leadership, creativity and dedication to providing our readers with the stories that matter most to them. We know she will continue to
drive growth and important storytelling in the newsroom.”
Reeve, 53, joined the Chronicle from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she served in various roles including assistant managing editor of news, assistant features editor and deputy metro editor. She previously worked for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Saint Paul, Minn. She started her journalism career as a general assignment reporter at the Bradenton Herald in Florida, where she covered transportation and the environment.
Reeve joined the Chronicle four months before the coronavirus pandemic broke out. She oversaw the newspaper’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, the historic oil bust and the Texas blackouts — all while managing a remote staff.
“Even though Maria joined the Chronicle shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began and the newsroom started to operate remotely, she asserted her leadership and forged a strong relationship with the staff,” said John McKeon, publisher of the Houston Chronicle and president of Hearst Texas Newspapers. “Maria has been an unfaltering leader during a difficult time, and I have great confidence in her ability to lead this fine newsroom and to build on our mission of public service.”
Reeve said she plans to accelerate the reinvention of the 120-year-old newspaper into a multiplatform media company, with a particular emphasis on online journalism. She said readers should still expect the Chronicle to pursue the kind of public-service reporting that in recent years has been honored with a prestigious George Polk award and as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The Chronicle has also been named the top newsroom in the state for three consecutive years by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.
HoustonChronicle.com, the paper’s premium subscriber website, has nearly tripled its digital-only subscriptions over the past three years.
“We have to meet our readers where they are: print and online, and grow our digital audience,” Reeve said. “This is how we remain relevant and not only useful, but indispensable.”
Reeve, a native of Charleston, S.C., holds a master’s degree in journalism
from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in English from Davidson College in North Carolina. She has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2020 and 2021, and has taught journalism at the University of Minnesota.
Reeve is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and a past president of Twin Cities Black Journalists. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., a historically Black sorority and one of the largest sororities nationally.
“It’s a huge honor, and a huge responsibility,” Reeve said of becoming the first Black executive editor at the Chronicle. “Houston is a very diverse city and I want to make sure that our newsroom, both in culture and coverage, is diverse and inclusive.”
Reeve, who split time between St. Paul and Houston over the past year, is planning to move with her husband of 28 years, Tad, and their 13-year-old son, Cameron, to a home in Houston. They also have two adult children, Hunter, 24, and Alex, 22. She has completed 10 marathons, including New York City, Chicago and Marine Corps Marathon in Virginia.