Linda Williams will oversee the daily news report. Steve Riley will be in charge of enterprise reporting, including the Sunday paper, and the visual journalists. Dan Barkin will oversee the online report.

Williams, Riley and Barkin had been deputy managing editors reporting to Drescher when he was managing editor, the No. 2 job in the newsroom. He was named the top editor in October.

The changes will make The N&O newsroom "quicker and more responsive" by cutting a level of management, Drescher said, and will allow the paper to maintain another front-line position, such as a reporter or photographer.

Drescher said the three veteran editors are well-positioned to expand the paper's efforts in daily news, investigative reporting and online information.

"They are journalists of integrity," Drescher said in a meeting with the staff Monday. "They are good newspaper managers and leaders, and I have great respect for them."

Williams, 55, will oversee the metro, business, sports and features sections and the paper's news copy desk as senior editor for news. She worked at The N&O as a reporter in the 1970s and returned in 1997 after stints at The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. She served as metro editor before becoming deputy manager for local news in 2005.

Williams said she hopes to work with online to serve both online and print audience.

"The paper matters to the people who want their news online right away, and the paper matters to the people who still want their daily newspaper in the morning to be something special," Williams said.

As senior editor for enterprise and visuals, Riley will oversee the paper's investigative reporting and weekend newspapers, as well as the design and multimedia departments.

Riley, 49, came to The N&O in 1986 as a political reporter. He was named government editor in 1995 and oversaw the sports and metro departments before becoming deputy managing editor for special projects in 2003.

He sees his main focus as maintaining and expanding the paper's traditional watchdog role, making sure the increasing focus on online and breaking news doesn't squeeze out the paper's attention to in-depth reporting.

"These are the stories that have an impact on people's lives that no other media are going to tell them," Riley said.

Barkin will become senior editor for online, where he will oversee the online news report at newsobserver.com and reader participation, including the Sunday Q section.

Barkin, 54, joined The N&O staff in 1996 as business editor after working at several papers in Maryland and Virginia, including The Baltimore Sun and The Virginian-Pilot. He was named deputy managing editor in 2000, and last year took over the paper's reader participation efforts.

In that role, he has spearheaded the triangle.com Web site.

In his new role, he will expand that site's efforts to both provide readers with more information and encourage their participation on the Web and in the print edition.

Barkin said he hopes to continue to make The N&O the "dominant news and information source in the region."