Sun-Times biz journalist Roeder leaving for state job

David Roeder

Veteran business reporter and columnist David Roeder is leaving the Chicago Sun-Times to join the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn, reports Chicago journalist Robert Feder.

Feder writes, “Roeder told his bosses Wednesday that he has accepted a position as communications manager for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, starting Oct. 21. Based in Chicago, he will work on promoting business development for the state.

“During his 17 years at the Sun-Times, Roeder, 58, specialized in covering real estate development and the financial markets. He also was an impassioned advocate for his colleagues in the newsroom as treasurer of the Chicago Newspaper Guild and a longtime member of the union’s bargaining committee.

“‘Dave has had just a terrific run at the Sun-Times specifically on the commercial real estate beat,’ said Jim Kirk, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Sun-Times. ‘He will be greatly missed by his many newsroom colleagues as well as those in the business community who followed his writing over the years.'”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.