Wisconsin biz editor Leute retires

Jim Leute, the business editor of the Janesville Gazette in Wisconsin, is retiring on Friday.

Gazette opinion editor Greg Peck writes, “Word has it applicants with business reporting experience have been slim as we seek to replace Jim Leute. In my book, he’s irreplaceable. He’s a Janesville native who spent most of his career at The Gazette. He knows and understands Janesville better than almost anyone. He had his thumb on most every morsel of business and economic development news. When I arrived at work with a nugget of supposed insight, he usually already knew it.

“Jim was an important confidant as I crafted editorials. His reports and knowledge base for supportive background information were big benefits to me. It helped that our desks sit side by side. His now sits empty.

“More than as a valued co-worker, however, I’ll miss Jim as a friend. We’ve socialized with our wives. Wisconsin college and pro sports are among our common interests.”

Read more here.

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.