Trib Total Media Executive Editor Susan McFarland, who led the news organization through a period of dramatic transformation and sweeping digital growth, will retire Sept. 15, the company has announced.

During her five years as the top newsroom leader, the Tribune-Review has been recognized three years in a row as “Best Overall Newspaper” in Pennsylvania by the Keystone Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

“The decision to retire was not easy because I have spent my entire adult life at the Trib, and our company really is like a family,” McFarland said. “But the demands of leading a 24/7 news organization are great, and I look forward to having the time to pursue some other interests.”

McFarland, 62, who began her career as an intern at the Trib in 1980 and was hired as a full-time reporter in 1981 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, has won numerous reporting and design awards, as well as international journalism fellowships in Japan and Brazil.

In her current role, McFarland ushered in a transformation of the Trib’s news operations that elevated its core print publications — the Westmoreland and Valley News Dispatch editions — and propelled TribLIVE.com to market dominance by breaking records in the number of unique users and page views.

She also oversees more than a dozen of the company’s weekly newspapers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties and more than 30 hyper-local websites operated under the Neighborhood News Network umbrella.

After growing its online presence by 27% from 2016 to 2020, TribLIVE is now the most visited local news website in Western Pennsylvania and the second largest in the state.

In her time at the helm, Trib journalists have won more than 250 local, state and national awards.

“Sue’s leadership has been indispensable to our growth,” said Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto. “Her understanding of our industry and her eye for innovation have placed us in a strong position to move forward. I am forever grateful for the time I have had to work with Sue over the last five years.”

Bertetto said McFarland will assume a part-time advisory role with the company that will include coaching writers and editors and working on special projects.

As she looks back on her award-winning career, McFarland said being involved in some of the most pivotal moments in recent history — from the bitterly contested 2020 presidential election to a pandemic that killed more than 3.1 million people worldwide — has been both challenging and rewarding.

“I have never been as proud of our staff as I have during this incredibly difficult time,” she said. “At the height of the pandemic, even when the state was locked down, the streets of our towns were empty and covid-19 cases were surging, our staff was out there in the public doing their best to keep our readers informed.”

During the worst days of the pandemic, McFarland spearheaded an investigative project exposing missteps at Brighton Rehabilitation & Wellness Center in Beaver County that led to one of the nation’s deadliest covid outbreaks. The series garnered several journalism excellence awards. A video that was part of the project was named a finalist for a national EPPY Award, which honors the best in digital media.

“My most meaningful moments in journalism have been when we’ve been able to right a wrong, be a catalyst for change or an advocate for those unable to fight for themselves,” she said. “It’s our responsibility as journalists.

“The Brighton project was our opportunity to act on behalf of these vulnerable citizens to do all we could to prevent a tragedy of this magnitude in the future.”

Another tragedy that became an international story, the Tree of Life killings in Squirrel Hill, propelled McFarland to embark on a monthslong quest to produce a riveting documentary about the massacre’s first anniversary. The documentary garnered numerous accolades, including the prestigious national Sigma Delta Chi Award. The piece also was recognized by the World Association of News Publishers and was a finalist for an Emmy Award.

Art McMullen, a retired general manager of the Trib who met McFarland when she was an intern, called her a dependable colleague and one of the most dedicated employees the Trib has ever had.

“She’s always there and always willing to do whatever it takes to get the news out,” he said. “She’s done everything in her power to make the Trib the best newspaper.”

Rick Monti, a Trib Total Media consultant and board trustee, described McFarland as a “hands-on” editor.

“Too often the top job in the newsroom has nothing to do with editing,” Monti said. “That doesn’t apply to Sue. I’m not sure how many reporters realize an award they won was a result of her skill with words.”

McFarland, who grew up in Mt. Pleasant, said she was raised in a family of voracious newspaper consumers.

“Sunday mornings, my Dad would buy copies of the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer at the local newsstand, and we’d spend a good part of the day reading and talking about the most interesting stories of the day,” she recalled. “Those papers were my window on the world, and I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

She plans to continue her already extensive travels around that world with her husband, Dr. Bernard Bandini, who soon will retire as a nuclear engineer at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory in West Mifflin.

“I have been gifted with a remarkable opportunity to have a career meeting remarkable people, having an insider’s view of history playing out before me. And I’m proud to say that as I am ending a chapter of that career, I love this business as much today as I did when I was a 20-year-old college student just beginning my career.”

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