VARIETY: Chris Krewson has been tapped editor of Variety.com, overseeing all editorial content for the website and contributing to its vision and content strategy. Krewson, currently executive online editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, will report to Variety group editor Tim Gray. “We considered a lot of great people, but Chris was everybody’s favorite. With his innovative ideas, as well as his people skills, Chris will be a major asset as our website expands and improves. And since readers have indicated they want information in both print and online, Chris will be able to help us coordinate and differentiate the two media since he has a strong background in both,” Gray said. MORE
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Our effort to significantly increase the coverage of South Jersey gets a major boost next month with the addition of four new reporters to the staff. The four journalists—Darran Simon, Claudia Vargas, Kevin Riordan and Mike Newall [pictured, left]—join a South Jersey bureau that is now a major media player in the Garden State. Our staff across the river has increased even while competitors continue to cut back, and the combination of talent and greater numbers has placed us in an enviable position. The new hires will allow us to increase coverage of South Jersey in specific areas. […] Mike Newall has spent the last six years as a reporter for the city’s two alternative newspapers, the Philadelphia Weekly and the Philadelphia City Paper. He has also worked as a freelancer for Philadelphia Magazine, the National Catholic Reporter, the New York Post and Current TV, where he produced a documentary on crime and guns in Camden. Mike graduated from Catholic University, where he co-founded a literary magazine. A New Yorker, Mike will be a general assignment reporter. He joins the staff on Jan. 4.
ALSO: Phawker Olympic Swimming Correspondent and Daily News reporter St. John Barned-Smith is heading to Paraguay for a two year stint in the Peace Corps. He will also be opening up the Phawker South America Bureau and sending back dispatches from south of the Equator. Godspeed, man.