This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"Thank God you're here, Pyle!"

That used to be a favored greeting directed at me and other Salt Lake Tribune staffers, at least among some of the old-timers, often delivered with a maximum of mock solemnity and relief.

It was, I'm told, popularized by Editor Will Fehr when he ran the newsroom back in the 1980s. It works really well in a shop where some people come to work before sunrise and others' shifts begin in the afternoon, with other folks drifting in and out as events dictate, often just as someone else is beginning to lose hope.

The origin story is that Tribune reporter Clark Lobb was called to the Utah State Prison — back when it was on the land that is now Sugar House Park — because there was an inmate riot and hostage situation going on and Lobb was the only person the prisoners trusted to tell their story to the public.

According to this treasured lore, when the reporter showed up, the warden exclaimed, without irony, "Thank God Clark Lobb is here."

Far too good a line for a roomful of writers to ever abandon.

In the last couple of weeks, my "Thank God you're here," has been directed at Michelle Quist Mumford, our new editorial writer.

The folks who do those things have added her position so that, after a couple of years of the day-to-day editorial page staff consisting of me and as much of Deputy Editor Tim Fitzpatrick's time as he could spare from his many other tugs and pulls, we have another person focused on writing the Our View house editorials that are the core of our opinion operation.

This means, as some sharp-eyed readers may already have noticed, that I now get to be called The Tribune's editorial page editor. And Tim takes on the title of executive vice president, because his job going forward has less to do with editing and more to do with executing a strategy that will make our internet presence, and thus our prospects for survival, more robust, which means more profitable.

Thank God Tim will remain a member of the editorial board. As a third-generation Tribune hand, his institutional memory is irreplaceable.

Michelle comes to us from a background, not in journalism, but politics and the law. She's been a practicing attorney, an assistant dean at Brigham Young University's law school and an official of the Republican Party at the Utah and Salt Lake County levels.

She is, of course, stepping away from all of those roles so that she will be free to praise or skewer — mostly skewer — those institutions as the need arises.

Michelle does remain the attorney of record for some cases that are still out there and, if those matters become editorial fodder, she will of course recuse herself from our discussion. Which is legal talk for standing in the corner and putting her fingers in her ears.

My only concern going in was that, after all that time as a lawyer, she might not be able to say anything in just 400 words. But, after two weeks, that does not appear to be a problem.

So Tim, Michelle and I will be writing the editorials, the official institutional views of The Salt Lake Tribune, in consultation with the other two members of the editorial board, owner and Publisher Paul Huntsman and Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce.

The decisions we make are independent of The Tribune's news writers and editors. They don't dictate to us and we don't dictate to them. Although we read their news stories diligently so we know what's going on, and they probably don't read the editorials at all so as to avoid being tainted.

And, of course there's our very own editorial cartoonist, Pat Bagley, who remains fiercely independent of absolutely everybody.

My role expands somewhat to include more of the selection and editing of our local and syndicated op-ed columns, our online offerings and, after I get a haircut, some video presentations.

I'm also happy to visit with classes, clubs, civic organizations, church groups, marching and chowder societies and anyone who has coffee and maybe the odd donut lying about.

When William Allen White took over The Emporia Gazette in 1895, he wrote, "The new editor hopes to live here until he is the old editor."

He lasted 48 years. I won't hang on that long. But keep a watch. And keep me honest.

George Pyle, The Tribune's editorial page editor, has a lot of new business cards to hand out. gpyle@sltrib.com