Oct. 25, 2006

Otis Sanford

Otis Sanford, managing editor of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., was elected Wednesday, Oct. 25, to the leadership ladder of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association.

Sanford's election as vice chairman of the association's Journalism Today committees puts him in line to preside over the association's 2011 conference. No site for that meeting has been selected.

Sanford, 53, has been active in the association's affairs for years and has served as a member of the association's governing board of directors since 2004. He has chaired the association's First Amendment Committee and has served as the association's liaison to an ad-hoc committee of AP editor organizations focus on access issues, the Associated Press Sports Editors and the AP Photo Managers. He also was involved in planning the APME conference held in Memphis in 1999.

In addition to serving on the APME board, Sanford is incoming chairman of the Mid-America Press Institute.

Sanford began his reporting career at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. He joined the Commercial Appeal in 1977, left 10 years later to become assistant city editor at The Pittsburgh Press. In 1992 he was named deputy city editor of the Detroit Free Press, returning to Memphis two years later as deputy managing editor. He was promoted to managing editor in 2002.

He has taught journalism at the University of Memphis and at the University of Mississippi.