Jax biz editor leaves for Money

Jennifer Merritt, who had been the business editor of the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville for the past 18 months, has left the paper to become special projects editor for Money magazine in New York.

In her new job, Merritt is in charge of special projects such as the Best Places to Live, Best Jobs, Best Places to Retire, and Best Mutual Funds. She’s also in charge of reporters and stringers.

Merritt wrote, “The T-U is looking for a strong, coaching, energetic person to be business editor. The staff is great, full of energy and lots of potential. If you know anyone, the job is posted at SABEW and on journalismjobs.com.”

Before heading to Florida, Merritt had been at BusinessWeek for five years, where she was editor of the business school rankings project and wrote about management education.

Merritt has been a business writer at the Boston Globe, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Boston Business Journal and a metro writer at the Palm Beach Post. She has freelanced for various publications, including the Miami Herald and Modern Bride magazine. Jennifer graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism.

While there and for several years after, she was heavily involved in investigating the wrongful conviction of a man who was eventually exonerated and released from Death Row.

It was while working as an intern at the Globe that Merritt ran into now-disgraced journalist Jayson Blair, who was also an intern. Blair tried to sabotage a front-page story Merritt had written.