Liz Heron, who is leaving her position as social media editor for The New York Times to lead social media and engagement for The Wall Street Journal, will have to figure out a strategy that works with the Journal’s more restrictive pay wall. The Journal allows non-subscribers to view certain stories and cuts the rest off after a couple of paragraphs, although Heron pointed out that everything that the Journal tweets and posts to Facebook is available to anyone. The Times allows non-subscribers to circumvent its pay wall by viewing stories found via links on social media, regardless of who posted it. “I look at it as an interesting challenge,” she told me. “There’s a lot to be done with engaging that network of subscribers and getting them to not only talk to us at the Journal, but to talk to each other. Whether that will be social media or some other kind of engagement, that remains to be seen at this point.” || The memo from Sasha Koren, the Times’ deputy editor of interactive news, announcing Heron’s departure on Thursday follows || Related: New York Times could look outside journalism for next social media editor (Poynter)
All,
I’m very sad to report that Liz Heron is moving on from The Times and heading to the Wall Street Journal to lead their social media and engagement team. All of you who have worked with Liz will know what a loss her departure will be for our team as well as for the newsroom as a whole. She’s played a huge role in opening up the minds of editors and reporters on almost every desk to the possibilities and importance of social journalism. She has imbued every project and conversation with sharp thinking, a passion for making our news report more social, and a keen sense of how The Times can make good journalistic use of social platforms. She has come up with great idea upon great idea for ways to engage our users and involve them in our report. Above all, she’s been an invaluable comrade and a partner in crime on our very small social team, and we’ll miss her good humor, her thoughtfulness and camaraderie.
As sad as it is that she’s leaving, I’m excited for her as she takes on a great new challenge at the WSJ. Please join me in congratulating her. Details on a farewell party to follow.
– Sasha
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