Gillespie to stay as editor of editorial pages

Scott Gillespie, the Star Tribune's interim editorial page editor since October, will remain in that job on a permanent basis.

He and Chris Harte, the Star Tribune's publisher, told colleagues of the move Tuesday in separate statements.

Gillespie, 48, who had been the Star Tribune's managing editor since 2002, called that job a privilege and said it was "an amazing ride."

"Now it's time for a new challenge," he said in an e-mail to the newsroom.

Gillespie said that when he took the interim post, he expected to return to the newsroom. He added, though, that he has "always been interested in the art of opinion writing and editing, and working with the dedicated crew in editorial the past few months has been great." In his statement, Harte said: "Scott has quickly shown himself to be an articulate and fair-minded leader of our editorial pages. He has enjoyed this new challenge, and I have been impressed with the way he has approached it. He has brought his strong journalistic experience as a reporter and editor to the job, along with an especially keen sense of balance and fairness."

As managing editor, Gillespie was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, including coverage of major stories such as the war in Iraq and the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge.

He took the interim editorial page post after Susan Albright left in October because of philosophical differences with the publisher, who favors a deeper focus on editorials about local rather than international issues. Albright was editorial page editor for nearly 15 years.

PAUL WALSH