Bert Robinson, who started at the Mercury News 26 years ago as an intern, was named yesterday as managing editor, which puts him in charge of the 227,119-circulation paper’s newsroom of approximately 155 people. He’s actually been doing the job since David Satterfield quit last November to take a PR job. But an announcement yesterday made it official.

Beats he’s covered include Santa Clara County, Sacramento and Washington. He’s also served as city editor and assistant managing editor.

Robinson was recently honored by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for his ongoing efforts for a San Jose sunshine ordinance. As a founding member of San Jose’s Sunshine Reform Task Force, he helped draft the city’s proposed sunshine ordinance.

Also yesterday, the Merc named Deborah Petersen as features editor. She joined the paper in 2006 as the editor of the enterprise team in Metro, and became the deputy features editor last June. She had previously worked as an editor and staff writer at The Hartford Courant.