Our View

Rod Thomson, executive editor of the Gulf Coast Business Review, has been promoted to the new position of editor of the editorial pages for The Observer Group Inc.

Thomson will have responsibility for the weekly editorials, opinion pages, letters to the editor and contributing opinions for the Longboat Observer, Sarasota Observer and East County Observer.

“This is a perfect match of Rod’s best talents and our company’s needs,” said Matt Walsh, editor and CEO of The Observer Group.

“Many of our readers have seen Rod’s every-other-week column in the Sarasota Observer and may remember his popular twice-weekly column from his days at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune,” Walsh said. “Now, all of our Observer readers will get the benefit of reading Rod’s thought-provoking and common-sense commentary on local issues.

“And this will come as no surprise to our readers: We are happy to appoint Rod to this position because his political philosophy aligns perfectly with our company’s,” Walsh added. “He, too, is a steadfast proponent of individual freedom, personal responsibility and capitalism.”

For the past five years, Thomson has directed the editorial staff and content of the Gulf Coast Business Review, which is also owned by The Observer Group. Prior to that, Thomson spent nearly six years traveling to and from Haiti while he worked for the Sarasota-based Hand to the Plow Ministries.

Thomson is a graduate of Michigan State University and a diehard Spartans and Detroit Tigers fan. He has been a journalist for 27 years, having served at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa and the Herald-Tribune and written articles for the New York Times, People, Picture Week, National Review Online and Focus on the Family.

Thomson is an elder in his church and a director of Hand to the Plow Ministries. He and his wife, Kim, have been married for 30 years. They have eight children and two grandchildren and live in east Sarasota County.

Thomson can be reached at [email protected].