Newspaper Guy to Become Deuce at Dallas Station

Here's a TV move you don't see everyday. Dallas Morning News Managing Editor, George Rodrigue is leaving the newspaper to become the Assistant News Director at WFAA.

He's been at the paper 31 years.

Maybe he sees that the future of newspapers aren't very bright, but it is very rare to see a newspaper manager go in TV news management.

Here is the internal memo that was sent out at the Morning News:

Date: Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Subject: George Rodrigue’s Departure
To: All TDMN , AH Corp All, All Denton RC, Everyone – North Plant , ITS Dallas 

A message from Bob Mong:

Our longtime managing editor will be leaving the paper in a few days to become assistant news director at WFAA (Ch. 8). He will begin there on Sept. 25.

I hired George in 1983 as a city hall reporter teamed with Terry Maxon, and I have worked closely with him during most of my career. His departure, as you may deduce, leaves a very profound, personal void. I am certain many of you feel similarly.

George carved out one of the most distinguished careers in the long history of The News, both as a reporter and as an editor.

He and Craig Flournoy won the paper’s first Pulitzer Prize in 1986. George was part of a team that won the Pulitzer for International Reporting in 1994.

Along the way, George served as day city editor, European Bureau Chief (where he risked his life covering the Balkan wars, the Persian Gulf War and the fall of the Soviet Union). He also served in our Washington bureau, went on to become executive editor of the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California and then vice president of the Belo Corp., Washington bureau where he presided over a hybrid print and television news operation. George was named The News’ 18th managing editor in 2004.

I like to call George a polymath, because he is so skilled at so many things. George also worked tirelessly to move the newsroom from a print-oriented to a more digital focused organization. All of us are indebted to George for his many contributions to journalism, to this community and for the way he developed so many promising journalists.

We wish him well, and we will miss him.

H/T Romenesko