Crain’s Detroit names Smith its new editor

Jennette Smith, who has been managing editor of Crain’s Detroit Business, has been promoted to editor of the weekly newspaper.

A story on its website states, “Mary Kramer, Crain’s group publisher, said the announcement formally recognizes Smith’s role in managing the newsroom since May. She has worked at Crain’s for 17 years, starting as real estate reporter before promotions to a series of editing roles beginning in 2007. She worked most recently as managing editor.

“Other key announcements:

• Michael Lee, 43, rejoins Crain’s as the managing editor, replacing Smith. Lee left Crain’s in 2007 to join The Associated Press, where he led several national teams covering retail, health care and breaking news. He was based in New York City originally and later returned to Detroit, leading a national team of reporters and editors from the AP office here. While at Crain’s, Lee was deputy managing editor and general manager of crainsdetroit.com. He starts his new post Sept. 22.
• Beth Reeber Valone, 52, who has worked for Crain’s part time as a web editor and copy editor, will begin Oct. 5 as news editor, focused primarily on Crain’s daily digital content. Valone had worked for The Detroit News in two stints totaling 17 years; her roles there included p.m. news editor and assistant business editor. She also worked as a regional editor for Patch.com before joining Crain’s in October 2012.
• Cindy Goodaker remains executive editor, focused on strategic priorities and projects such as the upcoming Most Connected report, which will debut Sept. 28, and Crain’sannual Big Deals report on large M&A deals. She also manages the opinion page content, among other duties.
• Senior Editor Bob Allen., 55, will move to a corporate position in project management to help Crain Communications Inc. publications adopt a new content management system. This is effective Oct. 1.”

Read more here.