It is a time for change
 | Keith Crain is editor-in-chief of Automotive News. |
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It doesn't seem that long ago that my friend David Halberstam and I were interviewing a young reporter from the Detroit Free Press. David was in Detroit working on The Reckoning, an automotive book that turned out to be a best-seller. I was looking for an editor to help launch Crain's Detroit Business, and David and I agreed that Peter Brown was the guy.
After he had been at Crain's a few years, I needed a new editor at Automotive News, and Peter was my obvious choice. He didn't know anything about cars or the car business, but he was a great journalist. That began a career of about a quarter-century with Automotive News as editor, then associate publisher and recently publisher. Now he's going to retire April 30. The years have gone by fast, and we have had a great time as peers. I shall miss his wisdom and great journalistic skills. He is good.
But it's time for Peter to turn the baton over to Jason Stein, another longtime journalist with Automotive News. Jason started as a reporter in Detroit and then worked in Europe, eventually becoming publisher of Automotive News Europe. He returned to become editor and recently associate publisher of Automotive News. He will be a great publisher as well with all the right journalistic instincts. He has been well-trained and has a great team.
I am equally pleased to see KC Crain become group publisher of the entire Automotive Group, which includes Automotive News, Autoweek, Automobilwoche and Automotive News Europe. He will be busy but also will be shepherding a great team.
I am not going away -- not for a quite a while, I hope. I will continue to be editor-in-chief of Automotive News and chairman and CEO of Crain Communications so I will continue my interest in Automotive News.
Covering the automobile business is quite different today given our ability to communicate with our audience instantly rather than just once a week. And the car business has changed dramatically as well.
But it is now more exciting than ever, and I don't expect it to get any less so.
It is exciting to see a change at Automotive News, but it is not without a bit of sadness. Peter Brown is a great journalist, and I will miss his contribution to this journal. But we wish him well on his retirement.
I am just sorry it didn't happen a decade from now.
You can reach Keith Crain at kcrain@crain.com.
