Darrell Christian, former AP managing editor and sports editor, dies at 75

Darrell L. Christian, a former managing editor and sports editor of The Associated Press known for his demanding attitude and commitment to excellence during more than four decades at the news agency, died Monday. He was 75.

Christian died of Parkinson’s disease at Elegant Senior Living in Encino, Calif., according to his wife, Lissa Morrow Christian. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease around 2015, his wife said.

“Darrell was the best story editor I’ve ever seen, with an unerring instinct for lead and form and zero tolerance for anything but the best,” said Mike Silverman, managing editor of the AP from 2000 to 2007 and senior managing editor until 2009. “I was very fortunate to be his deputy for a number of years when he was managing editor, and much of what I brought to the job later I owed to him.”

A no-nonsense editor known for his directness and accuracy, Christian modernized AP’s sports coverage during his seven years in charge, emphasizing breaking news and in-depth reporting on topics such as the business of sports, academics and high school safety standards. That reporting earned him a promotion to managing editor under William E. Ahearn, then the executive editor.

“Sports is just an extension of hard news, but with a slightly different flavor,” Christian told the National Press Club in 2007.

Christian was born on December 26, 1948, and was a native of Henderson, Kentucky. He began his newspaper career as a sportswriter and sports editor at the Henderson Gleaner in 1964, worked two summers in the AP’s Charleston, West Virginia, bureau, and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in 1969. After serving in the Navy from 1969-1972, Christian joined the AP in Indianapolis in 1972. He became news editor in 1975, moved to the Washington bureau in 1980, and became deputy sports editor in New York the following year.

Christian was promoted to sports editor in 1985 and coordinated coverage of the 1988 and 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics. He also oversaw the addition of extended approaches to match coverage of all major sporting events. He brought something to news stories as editor-in-chief.

“When Jackie Robinson came on the scene, sports began to develop a social consciousness,” Christian said at the National Press Club. “It really exploded in the ’70s and early ’80s with television coverage, bringing sporting events into the living room and the proliferation of money in sports, free agency where you suddenly created a whole generation of instant millionaires. And what was happening between the lines was no longer enough. That created a public hunger for everything you could possibly want to know about these athletes.”

Christian, known to the AP as “DLC,” was known for the sharp, concise critiques he sent to reporters, left in mailboxes in blue envelopes in the pre-digital era. The “blue notes” were feared by staff.

Christian said the most important story he covered as sports editor was Ben Johnson’s positive test for a banned steroid during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, which led him to… Working 48 hours in a rowHis biggest story as editor-in-chief was the OJ Simpson trial.

“It was indeed the circus of the century and it was a wild ride watching it every day,” said Christian.

Christian replaced Martin C. Thompson as editor in chief in 1992 and chaired the Pulitzer Prize investigative jury in 1995 and 1996. One of the most significant stories he oversaw as editor was the O.J. Simpson saga, the reporting of which he led with aplomb.

“Darrell was an old-fashioned competitive newsman who valued creative stories delivered quickly to readers,” said Kathleen Carroll, the AP’s managing editor from 2002 to 2016. Those values ​​permeated every decision he made in covering states, countries and sports: Make it interesting, write it cleanly and get it out the door. His gruff exterior and quippy sense of humor barely concealed his deep commitment to fast, accurate, interesting stories and the people who wrote them.”

After six years as editor-in-chief, Christian was succeeded by Jonathan P. Wolman and became director of MegaSports, AP’s multimedia sports service for newspaper and broadcast members and commercial online services and websites.

“Darrell combined old-school editing skills with a hunger to stay on top of the latest developments and innovations that would keep AP competitive at the dawn of the Internet news era,” said Michael Giarrusso, AP’s deputy for newsgathering-global beats, who worked under Christian. “He was equally at ease editing the lead of a story as he was meeting with tech startups that wanted access to AP news or photos.”

Christian became business editor in 2000 and in 2003 was appointed to the newly created position of director of sports data, combining AP Digital’s MegaSports service with AP’s sports agate service. He became editor in chief in 2006 and in 2008 founded AP’s Top Stories Desk, which he led until his retirement, when he moved to California.

“Darrell never really stopped doing what he loved to do, which was editing and illustrating,” AP golf reporter Doug Ferguson said. “He put an emphasis on getting the details done, like adjectives. And he had this great ability to know what the story was and how to get there. He made us better.”

Christian was living at home in Encino and was still going to the gym and playing golf and softball before being admitted to Encino Hospital Medical Center on May 24. A few weeks later he was transferred to a rehabilitation center and on June 25 he moved to a senior living facility.

Christian’s first marriage ended in divorce. He met Lissa Morrow while supervising AP coverage of the 1984 Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida, where she was a radio reporter. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a brother, Scott, and a niece, Erika Whitman.