Columnist Navarrette Discusses Move

By: Dave Astor Syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr.'s first child isn't due until Jan. 29, but she played a large role in her father's impending move from The Dallas Morning News to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Navarrette told E&P today that he and his wife, Veronica, wanted to move to California so their daughter will be geographically closer to the columnist's parents and other family members. "San Diego is a very beautiful, livable city," added the Washington Post Writers Group (WPWG) columnist, who spent much of his life in California before joining the Morning News.

When Navarrette was in San Diego last March to give a speech, he had lunch with a Union-Tribune editor. The Union-Tribune is one of Navarrette's client papers, and, according to the columnist, "my number-one market in terms of reader response." The Union-Tribune, aware of Navarrette's affinity for California, made an overture about hiring him last June and was willing to wait until the columnist's daughter was born.

Navarrette said the reasons for his decision to switch papers were "separate" from last year's circulation problems and layoffs at the Morning News. "I don't feel I'm being pushed out; I feel I'm being lured in," he told E&P.

January 28 will be Navarrette's last day at the Dallas paper. He'll stay in Texas about a month for pediatrician visits before moving to California in March. During February, he'll send columns to the Union-Tribune and not miss any of his WPWG deadlines. As was the case in Dallas, Navarrette will write two columns a week, pen editorials, and serve on the editorial board of the Union-Tribune. Navarrette -- who writes about local, national, and international issues -- said it will be interesting to see what it's like to comment on topics such as the Bush administration from California rather than Texas.

The 37-year-old Navarrette was named one of the top syndicated creators of 2004 in E&P's November issue. His column client list rose from 55 to 172 papers during the first 10 months of last year, with WPWG citing the feature's unpredictability -- conservative on some issues and liberal on others -- as one reason for the growth.

"I'm grateful to the Morning News for giving me a forum to grow my column," Navarrette said.

Navarrette will probably tell Morning News readers about his departure in his Jan. 28 column, and hopes the Dallas paper will continue to run his feature via syndication.