Updated: Rob Russo joins CBC as managing editor of Parliamentary bureau
Rob Russo, the former Ottawa chief for the Canadian Press, is joining CBC as the managing editor of the parliamentary bureau. Russo takes over for Paul Hambleton in September, who is moving to Toronto as the new managing editor of Radio and Television programming.
Rob Russo, the former Ottawa chief for the Canadian Press, is joining CBC as the managing editor of the parliamentary bureau. Russo takes over for Paul Hambleton in September, who is moving to Toronto as the new managing editor of Radio and Television programming.
"Robert is a proven journalistic leader and innovator, and widely respected by his peers as one of the most passionate and hard-working leaders in the industry," said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News in a statement. "Robert will build on an impressive track record at the CBC Parliamentary bureau with a mandate to drive original, enterprise and investigative journalism."
Russo has been at the helm of the Canadian Press bureau since 2003 and he was awarded the Charles Lynch Award for lifetime achievement as a Parliamentary journalist in 2010.
Related content on J-Source:
- CBC memo on Rob Russo joining the parliamentary bureau
- Postmedia extends CEO Godfrey’s contract to 2016
- Seamus O’Regan quietly left CTV National News
[node:ad]
In an e-mail to J-Source last month, Russo explained his decision to leave the news wire.
"No one has given me the undignified nudge. I've no new job, but I hope I will have one once I get a rest," he said. "The truth is that CP is now in a position to command the high-ground of news service journalism after some rough years. It's well led and has solid and committed ownership. And the Ottawa bureau will be staffed by some first-rate reporters for years. If I was ever going to try something else, now is the time."
Hambleton's new role integrates the management of news programming for both television and radio, and includes the radio news duties formerly by previous radio manager and now new liasion with the CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler.
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.