Carole Leigh Hutton, former editor-in-chief of the San Jose Mercury News, ended her editorship Thursday after less than a year. She told Editor & Publisher Friday that she left the position on her own.

“I left and I am going to do something else,” she told Editor & Publisher Friday. “I think it is trying to figure out the right next step. My next step probably has nothing to do with the business.”

Hutton, who assumed the position in May, told E&P she plans to stay in Silicon Valley.

David Butler, currently vice president of news for Mercury News parent company MediaNews Group, is replacing Hutton. The Mercury News announced Hutton's departure in an article Friday.

Some staffers said they were shocked she tendered her resignation after such a short time. “It was a surprise,” Pete Carey, a business and technology writer, told E&P. “Nobody had any idea. She was just appointed in May. It means that MediaNews is taking the changes in the dynamic of the newspaper industry extremely seriously.”

According to E&P, Hutton's short time as editor took place during a major upheaval within the paper, which included cutting staff and consolidating MediaNews Group's many Bay Area papers, affecting business and editorial operations.

Hutton said she was never opposed to any of the consolidations, according to E&P.

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