New Nightliner Goldston: “An Outsider”

The Observer’s Rebecca Dana broke the news about new Nightline EP James Goldston earlier today. On the Media Mob blog, she writes that Goldston is “best known for having edited Martin Bashir’s famously discomfiting Michael Jackson documentary.”

“Goldston’s top competition for the post was Sara Just, the current second-in-command at Nightline, who was said to be the preferred candidate among the show’s tight-knit staff,” Dana reports. Unlike Just, “Goldston is still an outsider, assigned to lead a close-knit group that is often accused of elitism and clubbiness by others at the network.”

It’s a must-read report…

> Update: 12:32pm: B&C’s John Eggerton writes: “The move came as a surprise to some staffers, who thought the new exec. producer might come from the Washington ranks or someone who has been working on the ‘morphing’ of the show into a more entertainment-oriented offering — though Goldston’s Jackson credit would seem to play to that change.”