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A memo today from Times deputy managing editor Jon Landman, he of the famous "We have to stop Jayson from writing for the Times. Right now" messsage, announces some backed staffing changes at the paper. The guy who's been running the continuous news desk, Bill Brink, is moving over to be managing editor Play, the new sports mag, and also work on "rich web projects" during the lulls in the quarterly production sked. Jim Roberts becomes the new director of continuous news. But he'll be doing more than Brink did in that capacity, because apparently the Times now thinks this whole online-news thing might be worth paying attention to.

Bill's departure has inspired Bill Keller, Jill Abramson, John Geddes and me to think anew about where the continuous news operation should fit in as we continue to merge the newsrooms and expand our digital ambitions. Is it enough to leave it as a highly skilled rewrite and editing desk meant to speed up the flow of news to the web? Or might we make it serve our (and our readers') growing online appetites, helping produce multimedia and newer journalistic forms like blogs? Maybe it can help us construct robust specialty news sites for politics and big running stories. Possibly we could use it to better serve a changing readership that demands our news at its own pace and in so many new forms.

Yep, kids, you really ought to keep an eye on that "web" thing. Sounds like it's gonna be huge.

Full memo after the jump.

From: Jonathan Landman
Date: February 27, 2006 10:02:09 AM EST
To: newsroom@nytimes.com
Subject: brink & roberts

Memorandum to: The Staff
From: Jonathan Landman

February 27, 2006

The continuous news desk was built six years ago as a bridge linking two separate and not-altogether-friendly newsroom principalities: the 43d Street mainland and a Digital Isle. At the beginning, traffic across the bridge was light, a new lede here, an early file there, maybe a dozen or so slugs on a normal day.

Not any more. Now trucks rumble across constantly, dumping news at a rate closer to 30 slugs per day, even 50 when the news is really going crazy. Calmly, skillfully managing the traffic with a wonderful combination of tenacity and diplomacy, Bill Brink has taught more and more of our reporters and editors the rhythms of the web, accelerating our news flow, providing a much-needed link to the IHT and virtually erasing any bad feelings lingering from the early days.

After taking us so far, Bill is eager for two things: the chance to go even deeper into web journalism and also for a new adventure. So now Bill has two jobs. First, he will become managing editor of Play, our sports magazine that had such a successful debut just before the Olympics. Bill of course brings long experience in our sports department, where he moved up through the desk to the rank of deputy. Between closings of Play, Bill will go back to work on that bridge, helping the 43d Street news desks execute rich web projects. You'll hear more (and more) about those in the coming weeks and months.

Bill's departure has inspired Bill Keller, Jill Abramson, John Geddes and me to think anew about where the continuous news operation should fit in as we continue to merge the newsrooms and expand our digital ambitions. Is it enough to leave it as a highly skilled rewrite and editing desk meant to speed up the flow of news to the web? Or might we make it serve our (and our readers') growing online appetites, helping produce multimedia and newer journalistic forms like blogs? Maybe it can help us construct robust specialty news sites for politics and big running stories. Possibly we could use it to better serve a changing readership that demands our news at its own pace and in so many new forms.

These are big issues and addressing them requires someone with the stature and experience to make sure the job of continuous news editor continues to expand. Who better to do that than Jim Roberts, one of the very best newsmen anywhere? He will become director of continuous news, a slight change in title representing our determination to reconsider the definition of continuous news and the way it interacts with the newsroom.

Few journalists can match Jim's judgment and passion for news or his skill in pursuing it. Since he started here on the national copy desk in 1987, Jim has succeeded in a wide variety of backfield roles in national, sports and metro. He has supervised coverage of national campaigns, organized night desks and of course most recently ran the national desk. I can think of nobody better suited to reconsider and reorganize our resources and our assumptions.

This is an opportunity not only for Jim but also for anyone else in the newsroom with an interesting new approach to digital journalism. Consider this an invitation to think creatively along with Jim. Give him a chance to get settled, then let him hear your ideas.