McClatchy’s editor for Sacramento Bee and West region to leave for leadership post in Utah

Lauren Gustus announced Tuesday she is leaving her position as editor of McClatchy’s West Coast publications to take a leadership role with the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah.

Gustus will become executive editor of the Salt Lake City news operation, which is a nonprofit corporation.

She has led McClatchy’s 10 newsrooms in the West and The Bee’s editor for almost three years, arriving in Sacramento in February 2018. She also has been The Bee’s president since April, as well as a driving force in efforts to support local journalism as Director of Community Funding Initiatives.

“Lauren has been an innovator and creator,” said Kristin Roberts, McClatchy’s senior vice president for news. “Under her leadership, we have launched community funding initiatives in California, the West Region and beyond.”

Roberts praised Gustus for her work in developing the “Lab Model” of community journalism in many markets, including the most recent Equity Lab in Sacramento, whose journalists focus on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in the region.

“(She) brought smart, energetic and entrepreneurial journalists throughout the region into roles of formal and informal leadership,” Roberts said.

Gustus led newsrooms to creative solutions in providing news and information for audiences, with a focus on expanding and deepening the digital news while sharpening approaches to accountability journalism.

She created an investigative news team for the West, steered collaborative coverage with other news publications to present solutions in “Destined to Burn,” a series of stories about fire danger in the West, and expanded school coverage in Fresno through the Education Lab.

“McClatchy newsrooms in California are building the case that there is a sustainable path forward for local news,” Gustus said. “This would not be possible without the support of our community or the dedication of our journalists. I am eager to take all I have learned here and apply it at the nonprofit Tribune.”

Gustus came to The Bee from McClatchy-owned Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas, where she was executive editor. Before that, she was executive editor of the Coloradoan in Fort Collins.

Gustus returns to the Salt Lake Tribune, where she worked early in her career. Her last day with McClatchy is Dec. 1.

This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 9:45 AM.