APSE | Associated Press Sports Editors

How important is the new online push at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans? Important enough that Deputy Sports Editor Kevin Spain, the No. 2 person in the sports department, has been named deputy sports editor/online.

"I wanted this to be a sign to everyone of how important online is to our future," Times-Picayune Sports Editor Doug Tatum said. "I think putting Kevin in charge does that."

Spain, who has been at the paper for six years, will coordinate coverage for the its sports website, nola.com.

"My goal is to learn everything I can about online," said Spain, a 19-year veteran of the newspaper industry. "Like a lot of people in this business, I've been focused on production, layout, editing – the basic newspaper stuff. So I want to focus on learning online. Obviously, that's the future of our business."

Tatum hopes Spain's appointment will provide some stability to the paper's internet operation. The site itself is run by a company outside the newspaper, so the communication process is critical. Plus, while most everyone contributed to the online operation in the past, there was nobody casting the vision.

"My role is going to be to get our reporters up to speed on what they need to do as far as the web site," Spain said. "We are focusing a lot on breaking news and video and audio. And working with the web site for better packaging of the information."

Easing Spain's transition will be the move of special projects reporter Jeff Duncan to Saints beat columnist. Along with content for the paper, Duncan will have an opinion-based Saints blog.

"That's an interesting way to put it," he said. "I don't think that's why we did it, but I do think it can be a great benefit to my career. I want to learn everything I can learn."

Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record: Sports copy desk chief Owen Davis, formerly deputy sports editor at the Detroit Free Press, retired July 3.

Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News: Hired Brett Friedlander as a stringer covering ACC sports. Brett will focus on instant analysis and blogging, going online first with virtually everything he writes.

Toronto Globe and Mail: Tim Maloney is the new sports editor of the Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper. Maloney has had a lengthy career as a sports journalist. He has been a sports reporter or columnist at Canadian Press, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Hamilton Spectator and the National Post. He also served as sports editor of the Calgary Herald, and covered a Winter Olympics for Time. Former sports editor Steve McAllister is the new editor of globesports.com, the sports hub for globeandmail.com. And David Leeder moves from his post as editor of globesports.com to become deputy sports editor of the newspaper.

Indianapolis Star: Hired sportswriter Patrick Dorsey from the Miami Herald to cover sports in the West Bureau. The 2007 Northwestern University graduate will start July 21. Dorsey is a former Indy Star intern with previous experience at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Bucks County Courier Times of Levittown, Pa., the Ottawa (Kan.) Herald and the Parsons (Kan.) Sun. Dorsey replaces Mark Ambrogi, who is transferring to the North Bureau. Ambrogi replaces Kristen Leigh Porter, who took the job vacated by Assistant Sports Editor/Preps Pat McKee.

Baltimore Sun: Roch Kubatko, an Orioles reporter/blogger accepted a buyout and has moved to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, owned by the Orioles. Kubatko, who had the most successful blog in Tribune Company, will blog and also appear on Orioles and Ravens Xtra shows for the network.

Meriden Record Journal: Tiffany Ventura has been hired to cover Connecticut women's basketball for the. She will also paginate and copy edit. Ventura was previously sports editor for the Middletown (Conn.) Press.

Hartford Courant: It was not an easy month for the staff, which lost seven full-time and two part-time positions to buyouts and layoffs. Those impacted were part-timers A.J. Calabro and Will Schubert, copy editors Reid Walmark, Sam Ohri and Mike Bartolotta, writers Bruce Berlet, Jeff Goldberg, and Dave Heuschkel and Paul Rosano, who served as both a writer and editor for the Courant's scholastic coverage.

Nashville Tennessean: Gary Estwick, most recently with the Fresno Bee, joined the staff as a member of its Tennessee Titans reporting team.

Pensacola News Journal: Hired Jeff Haws, who worked part time for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to cover high schools in print and online.

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Jeff Duncan, formerly special projects reporter, will become New Orleans Saints beat columnist on Sept. 1. He will write three columns a week for the newspaper and maintain a daily, opinion-based blog on the Saints on nola.com.

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer: Jason Boyd left the sports copy desk for the Sporting News. Sports copy desk member Stephanie Hightower joined the universal copy desk. High school sports writer Robert Spruck left to return home to New Jersey.

Florence (Ala.) Times Daily: Cody Whitlock, who was part time with duties covering preps and producing the agate page, has been hired to work desk/general assignment at the Decatur (Ala.) Daily.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Mack Browning was promoted from senior copy editor to assistant sports editor. He is in charge of NFL, NHL, tennis, motorsports Olympics and some college coverage. He previously worked for the Tampa Tribune, the Birmingham Post-Herald and the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Orlando Sentinel: Moved golf reporter Jeremy Fowler to the Florida Gators beat, replacing Dave Curtis, who left to join the Sporting News. Moved Central Florida beat reporter Kyle Hightower to NBA beat reporter/backup Orlando Magic reporter. Moved high school reporter Iliana Limon to UCF. Reporter Tania Ganguli adds the Jacksonville Jaguars to her duties of covering NASCAR.

Daily Tribune News: Promoted Chris Stephens from associate sports editor to sports editor.

Jackson (Tenn.) Sun: Brandon Shields was named sports editor. He previously worked for the Cullman (Ala.) Times. Matt Vines, a recent graduate of LSU, was named college writer.

Selma (Ala.) Times-Journal: Barrett Welch was named sports editor. A native of McComb, Miss., he is a 2008 graduate of Mississippi with a master's degree in journalism.

Anniston (Ala.) Star: Christa Turner was named assistant sports editor. Turner returns to the area where she grew up after most recently being the Auburn beat writer for the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger Enquirer. That role has been vacant since Bran Strickland was promoted to sports editor almost two years ago. Joe Medley was moved off the Auburn beat to become local sports columnist. Alabama beat writer Creg Stephenson left to become senior writer for the newly launched Web site Crimson Confidential, a product of ESPN.

Palm Beach Post: Tim Graham, one of the paper's Miami Dolphins beat writers, left to cover the AFC East for ESPN.com.

Send personnel moves to Todd M. Adams by e-mail to tadams@scn1.com. Please put APSE On the Move in the subject line.

AUGUST 2008 NEWSLETTER STORIES

• Northwest Region report (8/29)

• Leitch: Don't be afraid of Web hits, they pay the bills (8/28)

• Carrig: A small paper with big ideas (8/27)

• Football stats made easy (8/26)

• Great Plains Region report (8/25)

• LLWS: Every Sports Editor's nightmare doesn't have to be if you follow these tips (8/23)

• Writing short – and good – high school game stories is still possible (8/22)