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08/03/2015

Rich Desrosiers named executive editor of GateHouse Ohio Media

From Gatehouse Ohio Media

Rich Desrosiers is the new executive editor of GateHouse Ohio Media.

Desrosiers, 51, of Lake Township, comes from the Akron Beacon Journal, where he had been metro editor since 2008.

Desrosiers will lead all GateHouse Ohio publications, including The Independent, The Repository (Canton) and The Times-Reporter (Dover/New Philadelphia).

“We looked across the country for an executive editor and I think we’re fortunate to have found the best candidate in our own backyard,” said GateHouse Ohio Media President and Publisher Jim Porter. “I wanted someone who was very passionate about this community and is very passionate about journalism.”

Veronica Van Dress remains editor of The Independent and will continue to run the day-to-day operation of its newsroom. Van Dress has been editor since 2013.

Desrosiers will be based in Canton, which is the headquarters of GateHouse Ohio.

NEW LEADERSHIP

The executive editor post opened in February when Therese D. Hayt became executive director of the American Society of News Editors. She was the first woman to serve as top editor in The Repository’s 200-year history when she started in 2012.

Desrosiers said he wasn’t looking to leave the Beacon Journal, but being the top editor in Canton is a bucket-list job.

“For me, it’s the job I want to do, in the place I want to do it, and with a staff that I think is poised to do a lot of really good work,” Desrosiers said. “I want to be part of that team.”

Desrosiers grew up in Lorain but has lived in Stark County since his senior year at the University of Akron.

He and his wife, Anne, a former St. Thomas Aquinas teacher and volleyball coach, have been married 29 years. They are parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Church in North Canton. Their children — Drew, 24; Maggie, 22; and John, 20 — are North Canton Hoover High School graduates.

The Repository hired Desrosiers part-time in the sports department after he graduated from Akron in 1985. That turned into a full-time reporting job, and Desrosiers later worked as a designer and night supervisor.

In 1994, he left for the Beacon Journal, where he was a designer, sports editor, Stark bureau manager and most recently supervised the metro and business reporters.

“I’ve done just about everything, except photography,” he said.

LOOKING AHEAD

Desrosiers will set priorities for the three newspapers. Desrosiers said readers can expect accuracy and fairness, as well as a newspaper that reflects the community and is an independent voice and a catalyst for improvement.

“I think readers will be happy with what they see,” he said. “They will be excited to pick up the paper in the morning.”

 

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