FRESH BLOOD FOR THE OLD GRAY LADY: A NEW NEWS

More than a tew members of the Dallas News editorial management cadre have begun to sweat as the result of the recent announcement that News executive editor Tom Simmons, 65, will retire June 30. And there is good reason for the anxiety. When Simmons goes, so does a generations-old tradition at the paper of promoting on the basis of seniority, a system that in the past has fostered decades of drowsy editorial leadership.

But now the News is adopting a fresh-new-blood approach, as orchestrated by executive vice president Robert Decherd. Decherd, 28, himself propelled into the hierarchy as a News family heir, silenced skeptics of his credentials during an aggressive two-year stint as Simmons’ assistant, becoming the reporters’ hope as the man to succeed him. But when Decherd left the newsroom 18 months ago and moved upstairs to management, most of the paper’s young mavericks felt Decherd had sold out to the status quo.

That judgement appears premature. Decherd has emerged as a one-man search committee for a new editor and morale among reporters has taken an upturn. Just the opposite has occurred among their immediate supervisors. When managing editor Terry Walsh, a 34-year News veteran, wasn’t handed the job, it bore handwriting on the wall for a host of assistant managing editors in the wait-your-turn system. “This doesn’t mean you’re going to fire us, does it?” queried one nervous assistant managing editor at a meeting with Belo board members. Not yet.

But the search does indicate that a high-powered, high-salaried editor will be brought in. Among early prospects were Jack Nelson,Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, and Bill Moyers, former White House news secretary and national television commentator. There is no indication that either is interested in coming to Dallas, but the quality level of Decherd’s search is significant; the result could mean a complete change in direction for the paper.