Managing editor leaving Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle Managing Editor Stephen Proctor, who helped lead the newsroom through a period of dramatic change, has accepted one of the top editorial posts at the Houston Chronicle, the two papers announced Monday.
Proctor, 54, will join the Houston paper this month as its managing editor. The Houston Chronicle is the largest newspaper owned by Hearst Corp., which also owns The San Francisco Chronicle.
Proctor arrived in San Francisco in 2003 as The Chronicle’s deputy managing editor for news and was promoted to managing editor in 2009. He helped guide the paper as it expanded its digital presence, both on its website and its new iPad app. He also kept staff focused on investigations and hard-hitting stories, even as the number of editorial employees shrank.
“He’s a gifted journalist and editor who made The Chronicle significantly better,” said Ward Bushee, The Chronicle’s editor. “Steve has contributed so much to The Chronicle, and we will miss him.”
The Chronicle will begin a search to replace Proctor after his official departure on June 18, Bushee said.
The move to Houston will bring Proctor, a Maryland native, closer to family on the East Coast. He has a home in Florida to which he frequently commutes.
“When I learned a few weeks ago that Steve was interested in moving east, I pounced on the opportunity to have him transfer here,” Houston Chronicle Editor Jeff Cohen told his staff Monday. “He, Chronicle Editor Ward Bushee and their team have done a fabulous job in infusing their paper with quality daily enterprise and big-picture projects that are eminently readable, agenda-setting and that capture the essence of the market.”
Before coming to San Francisco, Proctor spent 23 years at the Baltimore Sun. He began his career at United Press International after graduating from American University in Washington, D.C.