7 days Archive

Special section • Star Century: 100 years of The Indianapolis Star

Earle Martin

1903-04

•George F. McCulloch, founder of The Indianapolis Star, hired Martin, The Indianapolis News' managing editor, to be his paper's first lead editor in 1903.

Ernest Bross

1904-23

•Publisher John C. Shaffer hired Bross, The Portland Oregonian managing editor, to lead the newsroom in 1904.

Note: From 1923 to 1946, the publisher served as the primary newsroom leader.

James Stuart

1946-60

•In 1946, former Indianapolis Star city editor James Stuart returned from Denver to lead the newsroom under Eugene C. Pulliam. Stuart was named editor emeritus in 1960.

•Stuart was known to walk around the city room in his shirtsleeves, looking over the shoulders of copy editors and reporters.

Robert Early

1960-79

•Stuart was succeeded in 1960 by Robert P. Early, a former reporter and assistant city editor.

•Under his management, The Star won a Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for a series on police corruption. Early retired in 1979. He died in 1987 at 81.

Lawrence "Bo" Connor

1979-90

•Lawrence S. "Bo" Connor succeeded Early in 1979, taking over the management of a newsroom he had been part of since 1949.

•Connor was city editor when the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for the police corruption stories and was managing editor when it won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on medical malpractice.

•He retired on his 65th birthday in 1990, and he lives in Indianapolis.

Frank Caperton

1990-99

•Frank Caperton was named The Star's managing editor in 1990, the same position he had held at The Indianapolis News since 1984.

•In 1995, he became executive editor of The Star and The News when the newsrooms merged.

•Caperton oversaw a series of stories on race relations and pushed to make election coverage more relevant.

•He retired in 1999 at 62.

Tim Franklin

1999-2000

•The Star looked to former Mooresville resident Tim Franklin, then 39, to be executive editor and vice president in late 1999.

•When Franklin arrived, he vowed to make it the best paper of its size and immediately had the paper's reporters traveling around the country.

•Before moving back to Indiana, Franklin worked 17 years at the Chicago Tribune.

•Franklin resigned in December 2000 to take a similar job at The Orlando Sentinel.

Terry Eberle

2001-03

•Terry Eberle joined The Star in 2001 from The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla.

•During his tenure, Eberle oversaw the addition of daily theme pages on such topics as growth and development and diversity.

•He resigned as editor in January to become executive editor of Florida Today in Melbourne, Fla.

Dennis R. Ryerson

2003

•The Star newsroom is now led by Dennis R. Ryerson, an Iowa farm boy who joined the paper in March as its new editor and vice president.

•Ryerson, who had been editorial page editor and vice president of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, also has served as editor of The Des Moines Register and the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune.

•"I want the newspaper to play an even stronger leadership role, helping our community and state deal with such issues as our economy and the need to ensure that all of our children have an opportunity to excel," he said.