Austin American-Statesman editor retires after 32 years

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The editor of the Austin American-Statesman, John Bridges, is retiring after 32 years with the newspaper, it reported Friday.

Under Bridges’ leadership, the Statesman was a three-time Texas Newspaper of the Year, and its investigative reporting has earned national recognition.

Bridges will be succeeded by Manny García who will also hold the title of vice president when he takes up his duties next month, the newspaper announced.

García currently leads ProPublica’s Austin-based investigative partnership with the Texas Tribune. Previously, he served as standards editor and East Region executive editor for the Gannett-owned USA Today Network. As such, he managed the journalism that flowed between the region's Gannett publications, including the Statesman and seven other Texas newspapers.

Before that, the Havana native who was raised in Miami, was editor of the Naples Daily News in Florida, then editor and general manager of the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald in Miami and senior news editor of The Miami Herald. While at the Herald, García anchored coverage of the federal raid that took 6-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ Miami home and returned him to his father in Cuba.

As a reporter and editor, García and his teams have won several prizes, including the Pulitzer, Goldsmith and Investigative Reporters and Editors prizes, as well as a national Edward R. Murrow Award. He also received the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership and is known throughout the industry for his work on diversity and inclusion.