Dallas Morning News veteran editor Keith Campbell retires after 31 years

Keith Campbell, a 31-year veteran of the Dallas Morning News, is retiring as chief editor after leading the newsroom through coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, a summer of racial justice protests, and an epic winter storm.

Campbell has held leadership roles in almost every aspect of the newsroom, from sports to newspaper border control to Mexico reporting.

“I love the paper with all my heart, but I felt it was about time,” said Campbell. Earlier this year he told news publisher Grant Moise of his plans.

Katrice Hardy, who joined The News as Editor-in-Chief in August, praised Campbell for ensuring a smooth successor to lead the newsroom.

“In my nine weeks here and before I got here, Keith was a great partner,” said Hardy. “I will miss his passion, his commitment to The News, our newsroom and our community.”

After an email announced his resignation on December 3rd last week, awards from fellow editorial staff flowed quickly. One employee said, only half-jokingly, that it was “like the newsroom was told that a corner of the building had collapsed.”

Keith Campbell, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Dallas Morning News. (Smiley N. Pool / Employee Photographer)

“Keith joined us as the news editor for the St. Petersburg Times and has developed into so many different roles and done them all well,” said Bob Mong, former editor of The News. “He’s also a nice person and resilient, which is what it takes to work in this environment.”

Campbell’s career at The News spanned some of the best years for the newspaper industry and some of the toughest.

“I think we’ll find out. The opposite is unthinkable for democracy, ”he said.

Campbell joined The News in 1990 as Assistant News Editor and received a number of promotions from Assistant Sports Editor to Community Editor to Senior Editor and Vice President in 2018.

Mike Wilson, who was editor-in-chief of The News until he stepped down in September 2020, said editor-in-chief of a big city newspaper was “an absurdly big job best suited for masochists and assholes.”

“Keith didn’t love pain or power,” added Wilson.

“After everything he was responsible for, it was absolutely not his fault that he occasionally took the DART train home to Plano after a day at work and found that he didn’t have a car in the train station parking lot because he used it to go to work was Dallas that morning, ”said Wilson. “He had a lot on his mind.”

As the longtime editor in charge of the newspaper’s front page, Campbell has witnessed the story several times. One election night, while he was overseeing the copy table – the last stop before the newspaper went to bed – Campbell called the editor to say, “We have to stop the presses.”

While movies have made this phrase famous, it’s rarely used.

The headline on election night in 2000 said that George W. Bush had won the presidential race. But in the early hours of the morning it became clear that it was too close to call.

Moise described Campbell as “a passionate journalist and director of The News for more than three decades.”

“He’s always approached his craft with a balanced temperament and a steady hand,” said Moise. “Keith will be missed by many in our company, including me.”

What’s next? Campbell said he wasn’t sure.

“Since my decision, I’ve spent most of my time guiding the editorial team through challenge after challenge. I find it hard to imagine doing anything that involves words, ideas, and guidance, ”he said. “I’m looking forward to everything that lies ahead of me.”

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