Biz desk job changes at Detroit Free Press

Randy Essex, the business editor at the Detroit Free Press, has been promoted to assistant managing editor for business and politics at the paper, in an attempt to further align its political and economic coverage.

In addition, auto editor Jamie Butters has become business and auto editor, overseeing the daily business news operations of the paper. Butters has also been an automotive reporter at the paper. He previously worked for the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky and was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan in 2006.

Essex had previously been assistant managing editor of the Des Moines Register, where his responsibilities included overseeing Iowa caucus coverage in 2000 and 2004, before joining the Free Press in 2006.

Here is a nice story from Essex about how the paper covered the Detroit Auto Show.