Berkeley Daily Planet managing editor Michael Howerton, who has been at that paper since 2003, is headed to the San Francisco Examiner. Justin De Freitas, a cartoonist, writer and editor at the Planet, is taking over as managing editor. The moves were announced in Editor Becky O’Malley’s column, where she says of Howerton: “He’s been a pleasure to work with, we regret his loss and we’ll miss him, but in truth it’s a good decision for him. He’s supporting a family, with a spouse who hopes for an academic career. The Examiner is part of a larger organization that seems financially stable and offers an upward career path. Very few new jobs are on offer in journalism — it’s a compliment to the Planet that our employees are being recruited for one of them.”