Val Pipps to teach full-time at U. of A,

Intercepted Memo:

From: Bruce Winges
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:50 AM
To:
Subject: Val Pipps

Val Pipps has decided to become a full-time teacher of communications at the University of Akron beginning with the fall 2008 semester.

I am sorry to make this announcement because Val's presence in the newsroom and his hard work and dedication to Ohio.com will be missed. I am happy for Val after talking to him about this change because he is looking forward to opening this new door in his career.

Val has been a tireless advocate for Ohio.com in general and breaking news on the web site in particular. From the time Val rejoined the newsroom in November 2006 until March, breaking news grew from 205,000 page views a month to 416,000 in March. He also was a key person in moving Ohio.com from McClatchy to its new platform last summer.

Val was one of the early advocates of Ohio.com in the newsroom when he took the position of new media editor in 1999. He then joined Ohio.com full time as a senior producer. Val worked as a national editor for Knight Ridder Digital.

Val joined the Beacon Journal as the weekend news editor in 1994. He was the news editor for the yearlong "Wheels of Fortune" project that examined the history of the rubber industry in Akron.

Val also has worked for the Gary Post-Tribune, Baton Rouge State Times, the Palm Beach Times, the Palm Beach Daily News and the Daily Oklahoman.

Val holds a doctorate in communications from Syracuse University.

We will miss him, but not quite yet as he will be here through the summer.

Thanks, Bruce