Newsday taps Rochell Bishop Sleets of the Chicago Tribune as managing editor

Newsday has named Rochell Bishop Sleets of the Chicago Tribune to be its next managing editor, the No. 2 job in the newsroom.

Sleets, who serves as one of two news directors of the Tribune, will join Newsday on Feb. 27, editor Don Hudson announced on Wednesday.

Sleets, 45, has worked at the Tribune for 16 years and in 2020 became the first Black person to be appointed news director, one of the top three jobs in that newsroom.

At the Tribune, Sleets oversees coverage of topics including arts and entertainment, the environment, business news and education. She helped launch an initiative to increase coverage of the Black and Latino communities and produced Facebook Live events with newsroom journalists and experts from UChicago Medicine discussing COVID-19.

“My biggest accomplishment has been making sure that we tell the stories of all the people that care about the city, especially marginalized communities and people who have been overlooked,” Sleets said in an interview. “We want to tell their full stories, both the sorrows and the joys.”

Before moving to Chicago, Sleets worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota and The Kansas City Star in editing and art direction jobs.

In Kansas City, she began volunteering as a part-time teacher of reading, writing and other subjects to at-risk students. In Chicago, while working full time at the Tribune, she became a volunteer teacher at her son’s grade school in the mornings and subsequently started a tutoring service that helps students with their schoolwork, SAT and ACT test preparation, college searches and scholarship applications.

Since March, Sleets has been a faculty adviser to the student journalists who produce F Newsmagazine at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She earned a master’s degree in teaching from National Louis University in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Sleets grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of immigrants from Belize. Her mother is a nurse, and her father was a jockey at Aqueduct and the Meadowlands, among other racetracks. He is now an assistant trainer.

“I’m from Jersey, but when I was driving around with a Realtor [on Long Island] it felt very similar to where I grew up,” Sleets said. “I know I can do really great work here, and a big part of that is getting out there” to meet local residents.

She will live on Long Island with her husband, Gentry, an engineer and former journalist. They are parents to four adult children.

Sleets will report to Hudson, who became Newsday’s top editor on Dec. 1 after serving as managing editor.

“Long Island is getting an outstanding journalist,” Hudson said. “Rochell is the perfect fit as we push to expand our footprint in today’s ever-evolving multimedia world. She has experience in a variety of newsroom areas, including investigations, digital, business, features and training and development.

“We’re fortunate to get her,” he added.

Newsday publisher Debby Krenek agreed, saying, “We're thrilled to have Rochell join our award-winning Newsday team. She's a strong editor and leader, as we continue to move Newsday's deep coverage of Long Island across a multitude of platforms, including NewsdayTV.”

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.