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Austin American Statesman

September 3, 2011 by · Comments Off on Austin American Statesman 

Austin American StatesmanAustin American Statesman, Fred Zipp, editor of the Austin American-Statesman since 2008, resigned Thursday, ending 32 years of newspaper publishing in Florida and Texas.

Statesman Author Jane Williams said Managing Editor Debbie Hiott would serve as interim editor while the search for a successor is conducted.

Zipp, 56, said he felt the time had come for him the reins of the newspaper.

“The politician is lucky to have a very talented group of reporters and editors who are dedicated to telling the story of Austin,” said Zipp. “They need and deserve a publisher who is unswervingly committed to the mission. I felt my passion for work and decided to decrease for others to pick up the fight.”

Williams praised the “incredible drive to improve the quality of information on paper wins. … He insisted on greater depth and context.” Zipp

Disclaimer Zipp finished his second season with the American Statesman. A graduate of Duke University, 1977, Zipp started working in the state in 1984 as sports editor, then sports editor and assistant city editor. He moved to the sister paper of Cox Newspapers’ in Florida, the Palm Beach Post, the increase in metro editor.

Zipp returned to Austin in 1998 as assistant managing editor for the supervision of local and state news at a time when the then editor Rich Oppel was to strengthen the newspaper’s staff. Oppel called Zipp as editor in 2000.

Zipp became editor eight years later, when he retired Oppel. Among his first challenges was a leader in the newsroom, while Cox Enterprises Inc. put the paper up for sale, ultimately deciding to take the role of the market as part of a corporate reorganization in the Cox Media Group newspapers and radio and television stations?

Zipp Under the leadership of the statesman won numerous state and national journalism awards. The state was named the best newspaper in the state by the editors, Texas Associated Press Managing for 2009. Statesman.com the award for best online newspaper in the state of Texas APME in 2008 and 2009.

Zipp said Williams “had a very interesting and innovative quality about it and took the man of State, through statesman.com and austin360.com to become pioneers in digital media.”

He noted that the newspaper was the first country to openly recruit readers to blogs on their websites and hire an editor dedicated social media.

Zipp urged its employees to use online tools like Twitter, Facebook, and crowd sourcing databases and video and aggressively using an old tool -the public information laws – to access government records. He is vice president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and preached about the importance of public officials accountable, the leading states to create the Texas PolitiFact the truth testing of the equipment.

“I’ve been very proud that in a time of turmoil, I had the privilege of working with a group of people who never lost sight of the fundamental work that newspapers play, and continue to play in keeping people informed and serving as a watchdog for the public good, “said Zipp.

Hiott, now interim editor of the newspaper began her career as an intern in the state of journalism in 1990, while attending what is now Texas State University. She was statesman and meter status information before becoming managing editor in 2008.

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