About six weeks after New Times Broward*Palm Beach editor Tony Ortega was tapped to take over the Village Voice in New York, VVM has named his successor, Robert Meyerowitz, who comes to South Florida via the Anchorage Press.
Here's the announcement from VVM Executive Associate Editor Andy Van De Voorde:
April 20, 2007To: Broward Editorial Staff
From: Andy Van De Voorde
Folks,
I was hoping to make this announcement in person, but am equally happy to do it by email.
I’m pleased to announce that we have found you a new editor. He will start in mid-May, so it won’t be long before you have a chance to meet him in the flesh.
He is Robert Meyerowitz, a veteran journalist who has plied his craft in environments ranging from the shooting wars of Latin America to the wilds of Alaska.
Meyerowitz is an experienced adventurer, writer, editor, and manager, and most recently has served as editor-in-chief at the Anchorage Press, a weekly paper well-known to us given that our old pal David Holthouse once toiled there. Under Robert’s stewardship, the Press has won numerous awards for news and feature writing, and even garnered praise from the local daily for producing “thoughtful and provocative journalism” that brashly defied industry trends toward consultant-driven blandness.
I believe that same description applies in spades to your own paper, and in that sense I think you will find Robert a kindred spirit.
He was born at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and raised in upper New York State. He attended New York’s Bard College, an enclave of original thinking located at Annandale-on-Hudson. After getting out of school, he says, “I really needed to see what war was like, so I decamped for Nicaragua. I wanted to get shot at, and
did.”
When not dodging bullets, Meyerowitz worked as a correspondent for AP Radio and NPR, as well as stringing for numerous daily and weekly publications, including the Sun-Sentinel, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Newsweek. He ranged throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and as a result speaks a bit of Spanish.
In 1994 he headed to Anchorage “because I wanted to live in another place as earthquake-prone as Nicaragua.” After spending three years as a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, specializing in A-section features for the Sunday edition, he was hired in 1998 to edit the Press.
During his stint in Alaska, Meyerowitz also freelanced for New Times; in fact, during a past life, he was even a regular contributor to our music sections. Additionally, he briefly served as editor of the Honolulu Weekly before deciding that one man can stomach only so much Don Ho music.
Despite being based in the frozen North of late, he has continued to make annual treks to Latin America, and remains a frequent visitor to Cuba. In other related news, he reports having been attacked by both a moose and a raven.
I’ll shortly send you some of Robert’s clips so you can get a look at how he operates in print.
In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for your hard work during the transition. When we finally make it to Gulfstream, your first win bet is on me.