A publisher who believes in editorial independence

Suzanne Stevens, the editor of the Portland Business Journal, writes about publisher Craig Wessel, who is retiring later this year.

Stevens writes, “Craig values editorial independence. He values it as a publisher and as a consumer of news. He knows that without it, the content suffers.

“That’s not to say Craig and I don’t talk shop. He is a news guy through and through. He’s informed. He reads most every story our newsroom churns out and as much other news as he has time to ingest. He feeds us tips, shares ideas and makes source introductions whenever possible. And then he steps back, and let’s us do our jobs.

“He sends personal notes to reporters, editors, designers and our photographer praising our work. He pops champagne to mark our victories. We celebrate — a lot. There are happy hours, our annual trek to the Winter Ale Fest, our Hood to Coast team. Craig has never said no to an opportunity that would bring all of us at the PBJ closer.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.