• by Ray Schultz , June 7, 2023

Lee Enterprises has named Chris Coats as Virginia State editor. 

Coates will lead newsgathering in 11 markets, while continuing to serve in his current post of executive editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, that paper reports.  

Previously, Coates was the top editor of Lee’s Central Illinois newsrooms. In addition, he has been an editor in Lee’s St. Louis and Sioux City, Iowa, markets, and he also was investigations editor for The News Journalin Wilmington, Delaware, and a business reporter in Los Angeles, the Times-Dispatch writes. 

According to the Times-Dispatch, Lee’s Virginia roster includes: the Culpeper Star-Exponent, Danville Register & Bee, Bristol Herald Courier, Martinsville Bulletin, The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, The News & Advance in Lynchburg, The News Virginian in Waynesboro and The Franklin News-Post in Rocky Mount.