For more than 10 years we have worked hard to make CommonWealth the state’s leading journal of politics, ideas, and civic life. I say “we,” but in reality it is the editorial staff and contributing writers of CommonWealth who deserve the credit for the reputation the magazine has gained over the years with community leaders, the press, and the public as a must-read. Now we make the transition to new leadership at the top of the masthead. Bruce Mohl—a veteran reporter, bureau chief, and editor with the Boston Globe for nearly 30 years—will be our third editor since we started CW in 1996, and he will oversee the magazine starting with the Spring 2008 issue.
Bruce has served in a variety of key positions at the Globe, as both a reporter and editor, since beginning his career there in 1978. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Gerald Loeb award in 1992 for his coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994, managing coverage of that year’s elections, including the campaign for US Senate between Ted Kennedy and Mitt Romney. Most recently, Bruce has been the Globe’s consumer reporter, covering a range of issues including the state’s antiquated ticket reselling laws and the recent introduction of competition to the auto insurance market. He also wrote the weekly Consumer Beat column.
Since January 2007, CommonWealth’s acting editor Michael Jonas has not let the journal become stagnant. Recent cover stories about the state’s community colleges, “green” development in the old mill city of Lawrence, and the crisis in municipal finances have been enhanced by online forums on our website, public events to discuss different points of view, and in-depth reporting on the issue of bringing casinos to Massachusetts. Last year CW also introduced new Web-based content and our first blog, Beyond Red & Blue. Michael and his team, including managing editor Robert David Sullivan and staff writer Gabrielle Gurley, deserve our thanks for ensuring that CW is still seen as a key player in the highly competitive, and evolving, world of Massachusetts journalism.
CommonWealth is facing some difficult challenges in the years ahead. As a quarterly publication of politics and public affairs dedicated to longer stories and features, we need to find ways of staying timely and relevant in between our publication dates while staying true to MassINC’s nonpartisan mission. It will mean taking some risks and looking at doing some things differently. But I am confident that Bruce and the CW staff will expand the reach of the magazine to a larger and more diverse audience, use cutting-edge technology combined with old-fashioned shoe leather journalism, and help us make the right decisions for another 10 years of success.
greg torres, publisher