CEO Craig Dubow: 'This is the hard part'

For the chief of a news and information company, I think Craig Dubow (left) buried the lede in his memo to employees today. He notes the 25th anniversary of USA Today this week, and details the trial-and-error approach that led to its success.

But having re-read the memo a few times, I think he's using it to soften the blow of some upcoming bad news. While ticking off the efforts of the past year -- notably, the creation of the Information Center model unveiled in early November 2006 -- he never points to any concrete successes. Indeed, looking at the path of GCI's stock, the quarterly earnings reports and monthly revenue figures, it appears that little of what's been done in the past 12 months has paid off. (Yet, anyway.)

Which takes me to the memo's buried lede: "And here we are,'' Dubow writes about today's Gannett. "This is the hard part. This is where transformation gets really difficult. I want to begin talking with you more about this process and what it means. I can't take away all the pain and doubt, but I can help lead you through it."

Jeepers. Look at today's date -- the day GCI chose to send the memo. Big downsizing, anyone?

[Photo: Gannett]