Romenesko

TO: Observer and N&O staffs

FROM: Rick Thames and John Drescher
RE: Features merger
DATE: March 5, 2009

We are pleased to announce that the features departments in Charlotte and Raleigh will merge and work together as one department. The editors in each department will plan together, communicate daily and assist each other in editing. Each staff could take the lead in planning and executing certain coverage areas or certain days of the week (or certain sections). We will explore the possibility of sharing copy editing and designing. When it comes to reporting, we will seek to expand our reach by avoiding duplication. We want to preserve as much local content as possible. But some stories, if reported in a certain way, could be effective in each paper. Each paper will have full access to the reporters on each staff. In an era of retrenchment, this effectively enables each department to expand its number of regular contributors. Click the link to read more.

There are many issues to be worked out. We will build on the lessons and successes from the merger of our sports departments in July. That merger has benefited each paper by avoiding duplication and enabling readers in each community to read the best work from the other paper. That merger has made our sports pages better. The features merger will do the same.

The merged features department will be led by The N&O's Linda Williams. She will work daily with The Observer's Michael Weinstein and The N&O's Debra Boyette to build upon the strengths of each paper. Linda is The N&O's senior editor/news; she oversees news, sports, business and features. Linda, who was reared in Fayetteville and is a UNC graduate, joined The N&O in 1974 as a reporter. She also has reported for The Oregonian, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. She returned to The N&O in 1997 as capitol/state editor and later served as metro editor. She will spend several days a week in The Observer newsroom. She will visit The Observer Monday.