FT’s Lex editor replaced because of nagging health

Dean Rotbart, who runs NewsBios.com, writes that the Financial Times replaced its Lex editor last week after 18 months because John Authers had been suffering from health problems.

Rotbart writes, “The answer, NewsBios.com has learned, is that Mr. Authers has been wrestling with a nagging health issue almost from the onset of his Lex tenure.  Although his ailment is not stress-related, his physicians have recommended he scale back his professional demands in light of his persistent health problems.

“In an exclusive phone interview from London, Authers offered a strong endorsement of his replacement, Stuart Kirk, who has already assumed responsibility for the Lex.  Kirk, currently based in New York, will relocate to London later this year.

“‘He is brilliant,’ Authers said of Kirk, who until now was responsible for the U.S.-based Lex team and also served as Authers’s deputy.  Authers said that Kirk is likely to continue largely in the same direction that he had, adding that Kirk is an ‘exciting guy to talk to’ and has ‘very great enthusiasm for the column.’

“Most of the changes that Authers, himself, made to the agenda-setting Lex during his period of oversight involved adjustments to its online editions and electronic distribution, including having Lex contributors participate in streaming online video commentaries for FT.com.”

Read more here.