Miner, Slusher promoted to managing editor roles at Daily Herald

Seasoned journalists and longtime newsroom leaders Lisa Miner and Jim Slusher have been promoted to managing editor roles at the Daily Herald.

Miner was named managing editor and Slusher was named managing editor for administration and opinion, effective immediately.

Both moves were announced Thursday by Jim Baumann, executive editor of the Daily Herald. Before he succeeded John Lampinen in December, Baumann had been managing editor since 2012. Lampinen retired in December after 48 years with the newspaper, including two decades as top editor.

Calling Miner "a top-notch journalist, mentor and newsroom leader," Baumann told staffers in an email that she will oversee the daily report in the newsroom along with other functions. "She and I will alter the traditional split between editor and managing editor so she can keep her hand in with some daily editing and oversight of a couple of senior reporters," he said.

Miner, who most recently held the title of deputy managing editor/news, joined the Daily Herald in 1984 shortly after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was editor-in-chief of the Daily Illini.

"I am honored to help lead the newsroom where I started years ago as a rookie reporter," Miner said. "I learned from the very best - including John Lampinen, Jim Baumann and Diane Dungey - and I am excited to work with Jim on taking the Daily Herald into its next chapter.

"We have an incredibly hardworking and creative staff dedicated to covering the suburbs and furthering our editors' commitment to making the world a better place. I look forward to helping shape both those missions."

Baumann said Slusher, who most recently held the title of deputy managing editor for opinion, will continue to oversee the opinion pages in his new role.

"Jim brings the kind of insight, depth and breadth of knowledge, fairness and writing chops that is the envy of the industry," Baumann said. "In addition to the editorial page, he will work on projects assigned by and with me and provide the kind of counsel that I've come to rely on for years."

Slusher, who doubles as a columnist, joined the Daily Herald in 1989 after working for a radio station in Iowa and newspapers in Michigan and California. A Western Illinois University graduate, he began his career as a high school English teacher in Fulton, Illinois.

"I've had a diverse career at the Daily Herald since 1989, and for the past 12 years it's been a great privilege and a great responsibility to help establish the paper's institutional voice on important public issues and to promote productive conversations about the topics suburban residents care most about," Slusher said.

"I'm proud that this new appointment elevates that role, and I think it also emphasizes the separate duties a newspaper has both to report the news and to help people in our communities respond to the events that affect them. I look forward to advancing the response side of that equation in this new capacity."

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