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Elizabeth Izzo Becomes New Managing Editor Of Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Elizabeth Izzo (file)
Pat Bradley/WAMC
Elizabeth Izzo (file)

Last month, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise’s long-time managing editor Peter Crowley left after nearly 20 years to pursue a teaching career. Ogden Newspapers, which owns the Saranac Lake based newspaper, has named Elizabeth Izzo the Enterprise’s new managing editor. Izzo has been the paper’s health and Lake Placid reporter for the past two years. Prior to that she worked for the Sun newspapers in Plattsburgh.  She says she had an unconventional start to her journalism career.
“I worked my way into this business. I didn't go to school for journalism. So I really had an education through mentors. And my mentors were my editors. So I've always really valued editing. And I valued the impact that an editor can have on a reporter's life because I've experienced it. So when Peter Crowley left the Enterprise in June after 16-and-a-half years in the position I had to kind of think to myself is it time for me to look for a new editor? Look for another mentor? Or is it time for me to become the mentor that I wanted? And so I decided to take the plunge and apply and it was extremely scary. It still is. But I hope to do a good job.”

Bradley: “What do you think you've learned most from your mentors? You've also mentioned in the past Pete DeMola, who's now at the Times Union, as a mentor. What do you think you've learned from them that you can practically use as the managing editor?”

Izzo:  “Yeah, great question. You know, Pete DeMola was an amazing mentor to me. He taught me everything I know about journalism. You know in a practical way he just taught me to always ask hard questions, even if it's impolite because that's the job, and to always be unrelenting and independent but to be fair to people. Because community journalism is writing a story about somebody that maybe they won't like and you have to see them in the grocery store the next day. So it's, you know, he taught me all of those values of being fair, independent, asking the hard questions and how to be a professional in this world. He also taught me how to kind of share the tools that you learn with experience in this business with others. So I hope to do that here.”

Pat Bradley:  “How many staff will you be supervising as managing editor?”

Elizabeth Izzo: “Three. I mean we our newsroom is now going to be Lake Placid reporter, Saranac Lake-Tupper Lake reporter and a sports editor.  It's a small newsroom. It's always been a small newsroom.”

Bradley:  “What kind of challenges do you see the Adirondack Daily Enterprise having as we move forward? It's been challenging for particularly newspapers but the Daily Enterprise seems to have established a niche for itself.”

Izzo:  “We are extraordinarily lucky in our circulation area because the communities of Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid residents really appreciate and value good journalism. And I would say the niche is just having an unwavering dedication to the people who live here. The Adirondacks is a well known tourist destination. But there are people who live here and have jobs here and have families here and you know there are kids in the schools and their stories deserve to be told and that's what the enterprise has done for 126 years. And I, I think that is one of the most important things that we do. It's not just writing about elected officials and government and elections but talking about the stories of everyday people who live and work here and the things that they are struggling with or succeeding with while living in the Adirondacks.”

Pat Bradley:  “Elizabeth Izzo, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise is part of a newspaper group, the Ogden Newspapers. As managing editor will your focus be strictly on the Enterprise and the Lake Placid News or will you have to be supervising other newspapers in that group?”

Izzo:  “No, my position is just managing editor of the Enterprise. We still have Andy Flynn who's the editor of the Lake Placid News.”

Bradley:  “Elizabeth, how important do you think it is as managing editor to have been a reporter for the last few years for the Daily Enterprise in taking this new position?”

Elizabeth Izzo:  “I'm totally biased. I will say that right off the bat I'm totally biased in this but I believe that the best editors are people who have been reporters before.”

Pat Bradley:  “Elizabeth Izzo, do you plan any changes? Are you contemplating anything different as you move into the job?”

Izzo:  “One thing I kind of have a focus on is we have a really young newsroom right now. Our new sports editor is in his early 20s. Both of our reporters, me and Aaron Cerbone, are in our 20s. So I think that we have an opportunity to really focus on digital first. And we're of course going to have our print products. And that's always going to be extremely valuable. But I think we have opportunities to grow with our social media presence and the way that we engage with residents online and kind of bring them into the story making process.”

Bradley:  “You hinted at the fact that you may still be reporting. That was one of the questions: will you still be able to be out there reporting since you're managing editor?”

Elizabeth Izzo:  “Yes, I will still be able to be out there and reporting. Right now we're kind of in a transition period. So I'm still the Lake Placid reporter for now until we find a replacement. Even as managing editor I'll still have some time to do some stories.”

Pat Bradley:  “How important do you think that will be for you to actually be out there and penning and writing your own stories even as you're editing your peers there in the newsroom?”

Izzo:  “This isn't super unique this kind of position that I've found myself in. And I say that because the Enterprise has always been super small and in the history of the Enterprise we've had times where the publisher was also the editor and the editor was also writing stories. And the managing editor of the Enterprise has always had to wear multiple hats. And it's a hard thing to do, to do opinion and to do news and kind of juggle all of these different hats but it's something that I think I'm prepared for.”

Izzo began her new job on July 16th. According to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise she is the second woman to be the paper’s managing editor in its 126-year history.

 

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