Moving to the Arizona Republic was a big and important step in my career.  I finally reached the level I had work toward — the second level in newsroom management.  In 1987, The Republic was run by the managing editor.  Next on the organization chart were the assistant managing editors, of which I was the newest, with a newly created job.

Here’s the press release send by the parent company, Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.

PHOENIX, ARIZ . (July 30, 1987) — Howard I. Finberg, former photography and graphics editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, has been named to the newly created position of assistant managing editor/graphics at The Arizona Republic.

In his new position, Finberg will be responsible for the visual aspects of the paper–supervising the photo, graphic arts and page design departments. He also will play a major role in the redesign of the newspaper, a pioneer in pagination.

Later, after one of the three AMEs left the paper, I would assume responsibilities for the features sections and the Sunday editions.

In addition to the press release, there was a nice note in the newsroom’s newsletter, EN.  I like the small personal touch which talked about my interest in cooking.