Chris King, managing editor of the St. Louis American, is leaving the newspaper this week after more than 16 years to serve as public information manager for St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. This Thursday’s edition will be King’s last. Linda Lockhart has been named The American’s interim managing editor. http://www.stlamerican.com/business/business_news/american-names-lockhart-interim-managing-editor/article_be9b6bf4-236c-11eb-9d9d-9f8819f4062c.html
Donald Suggs, the publisher of The American, had this to say about King’s departure, “Chris has been an integral part of our newsroom for many years and has worked tirelessly in service of our mission and our community.”
“He is a brilliant editor and writer who managed the St. Louis American editorial team during Ferguson and through some of St. Louis’ other most contentious times in recent history. We’ve worked together to ensure that The American provided rigorous in-depth coverage of The St. Louis African American community.”
“Under King’s tenure, the American has earned The Golden Cup awards for overall excellence as a newspaper serving 5,000 and more from the Missouri Press Association, six of the last eight years,” Suggs said. “We have also won a series of legal journalism awards under his leadership; he has a real passion for the courts and a canny grasp of legal issues. I am excited for the next phase of his career and look forward to working with him in his new role.”
King previously edited Car & Travel in New York and covered Connecticut for The New York Times. He also teaches College Writing at Washington University.
“The American has been a dream journalism job in many ways, and I will miss the privileged access it has given me to a community I love,” King said, adding that he is passionate about his next chapter and “the opportunity to play a role in criminal justice reform from within a prosecutor’s office.”
Dawn Suggs, acting digital editor, said, “Chris is a consummate editor, a visual artist, musician and keen art enthusiast with a cosmopolitan world view.
The St. Louis American staff wishes Chris King the very best in his new position working on behalf of criminal justice reform and looks forward to hearing from him often in his new role.
King begins his new position on Monday, Nov. 16. He may be reached at Christopher.king@wustl.edu.