Downtown group chooses journalist as new leader

ST. PETERSBURG -- Joni James, a former editor with the Tampa Bay Times, has taken a new job as CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

James, who left the Times earlier this year after seven years on staff, will work with Peter Betzer, who will remain president of the downtown advocacy group, according to a release. Betzer will focus on marine science and technology initiatives, while James will take on the remaining management tasks for the organization.

“The same reason I got into journalism, to contribute to the community, is core to the partnership's mission,” James says, in a release. “I'm looking forward to building on the partnership's history, and making my adopted hometown an even better place.”

Jones was deputy editor of editorials at the Times, a position she took after working for the Miami Herald and Wall Street Journal as part of the Capital Press Corps in Tallahassee.

Jones was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the Walker Stone Award from Scripps-Howard. She also received several honors from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.

She is a graduate of Wake Forest University, and is currently working on her master's degree from the University of Florida.