Houston Chronicle hires Diamond as assistant business editor

Houston Chronicle business editor Al Lewis sent out the following announcement:

I’m remiss in announcing that Jonathan Diamond will be joining us as assistant business editor.  He has spent much of his career at the Los Angeles Business Journal, where he rose to the rank of the publication’s top editor. He has a master’s degree in public policy from UCLA and a bachelor’s in journalism  from Boston University.

I first met Jonathan earlier this year when we both served on the same judging panel at the Loeb Awards. I’m confident he possesses the wide range of skills we need – from conceiving ambitious story ideas and managing an veteran team of reporters to serving our digital needs. He’s also a great guy.

Jonathan will start on Jan. 14. We’ll hold on to William Montgomery for a least a week through the transition. And then we’ll begin looking for ways to gently reorganize the department to fit our new mix of editors, responsibilities and workflow.

And now please indulge a moment to reflect …

The year is almost through and we have quietly made an amazing transition, onboarding several new reporters and a new business editor in San Antonio. We did this despite leadership changes at the top of the newsroom, a restructuring of the Chronicle’s copy editing and design staff, our beloved Ronnie Crocker moving to Beaumont, and a still-difficult adjustment to a new publishing system. We did this while launching a labor-intensive new tabloid and daily newsletter called Texas Inc.

All of you have come through in your own ways to make this happen while providing a reliable stream of A1 stories, posts and business page stories. Despite our myriad departmental challenges this year, our Sunday and daily business sections remain solid, our reporting and writing is excellent, and the feedback on Texas Inc. has only been high praise.

As we approach the holidays, I am far more grateful than I can adequately express. Thanks to all of you for soldiering through, and please welcome Jonathan to the Chronicle.