Former islander returns to lead Bainbridge’s community paper.
Former islander Dennis Anstine takes the editorial reins of the Bainbridge Island Review newspaper this week, succeeding longtime editor Douglas Crist.
Anstine is a 40-year veteran of both daily and weekly West Coast newspapers, and lived on Bainbridge from 1987 until 1993.
His most recent editorial positions include a tenure as managing editor of the twice-weekly Portland Tribune in Portland, Ore., and posts at the Seattle Times and Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard.
“We’re very fortunate to have found someone with so much pertinent experience and a regional connection,” Review Publisher Chris Allen Hoch said.
Anstine, a Scottsbluff, Neb., native, began his career in the late 1960s as a newsman for the Associated Press in Los Angeles, after studying journalism at San Jose State University.
Moving to the Northwest to escape the city life, he took a job as city editor of The Olympian in Olympia, Wash., before settling in Port Townsend as editor of the Leader.
Anstine came to the weekly newspaper during contentious times. In his five years on the job he covered declining industry, hard fought environmental lawsuits and six murders. Having worked at large city papers, he said the raw intimacy of community news was both challenging and stimulating.
“It was really an eye opener for me in the sense of how personal community journalism can be,” he said. “When you’ve been isolated to some degree from the reader, and that shield is taken away, you have to be very honest and you have to be able to explain why you do things. It makes the journalism more real.”
Anstine moved to Bainbrigde in 1987 and commuted to Seattle, working as a sports reporter for the United Press International wire service.
Following his time on Bainbridge, he spent two years as editor of another weekly, the Journal of the San Juan Islands.
In 1997 he was hired as managing editor of The Business Journal of Portland, and went on to become the first editor of the newly founded Portland Tribune.
Anstine went back to school in 2006, studying non-fiction writing at the University of Oregon.
At the Review he said he will meld strong writing with a balanced approach.
“I accentuate good writing, good journalism, honesty, and reflecting the community as fairly as possible,” Anstine said.
Much has changed on Bainbridge since Anstine left in 1993, but he said he wasn’t surprised to see its continued growth and rising cost of living.
He plans to immerse himself in the community as he readjusts to island life.
“I’ve lived here,” Anstine said, “but I feel I still have a tremendous amount to learn.”
Anstine succeeds Crist, who wraps up a 16-year stint with the Review and has served as editor since July 1999.
Last October, Crist announced his intention to leave the newspaper to take some time off and pursue other professional opportunities.
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Changing guard
New Review editor Dennis Anstine can be reached at danstine@bainbridgereview.com or 842-6613.
Outgoing editor Douglas Crist will be with the Review for a few weeks during the transition, and can be reached at dcrist@bainbridgereview.com
