The Advocate gets a new editor...

When here! Networks bought The Advocate from PlanetOut Inc., people wondered what kind of changes might be in store for the leading LGBT news magazine. The first change is a big one: Jon Barrett has been named the new editor in chief.

He replaces Anne Stockwell who remains as editor at large. I've worked with Anne several times in recent years and think she's first-rate. I hope she enjoys her new role which will also include story assignments for sister publications Out and Out Traveler.

Here's a statement from Barrett: "The Advocate has always mirrored the needs of its readership, whether that meant advancing the explosive push for civil rights in the 1960s, documenting the heady liberation of the 1970s, or assuming the serious--and necessary--mantle of newsmagazine in the 1980s and '90s. What it means to be a member of the LGBT community continues to evolve, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to carry on with Anne Stockwell's incredible work, ensuring that The Advocate and Advocate.com are in step with--and ahead of--these changes."

He certainly comes in with strong credentials: Barrett most recently served as the Features Director for O at Home, an Oprah Magazine. Prior to that, he worked as the Senior Editor for Cargo, from the Conde Nast group, and as a Senior Editor for Real Simple, a Time Inc. publication. He now comes back to The Advocate after having served for six years as the publication's Senior News Editor from 1997-2003. Before coming to The Advocate he was an Assistant Editor at the Windy City Times, Chicago's premier LGBT weekly newspaper.

His writing credits also include two books: 2002's Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham, from Alyson Books, and working as a writing collaborator on Evan Wolfson's Why Marriage Matters, published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.