Gannett's decision last week to replace Burlington Free Press publisher James Carey removes a source of negative publicity for the company. Carey held the top job since 1991, an exceptionally long time for a GCI publisher. Over the years, he'd been a lightning rod for criticism by the independent weekly Seven Days, which delighted in chronicling his every foible. Most recently, it was the newspaper's decision to end free parking for employees other than the top brass, Seven Days said in July. Carey was bumped up to chairman, a position Gannett often hands publishers just before they retire. (You know it's a fake title because individual Gannett papers don't have boards of directors requiring a chair.)
His replacement as publisher is Bradley Robertson, who'd been head of advertising at GCI's Des Moines Register. Curiously, given Carey's 16 years in the job, GCI's statement announcing the change doesn't include any of the usual boilerplate niceties about years of dedicated service, blah, blah, blah. (Of course, that might come with his inevitable retirement.)
[Image: Newseum]
[Image: Newseum]
This guy never allowed the Editorial Board to take a stand on the most controversial Vermont issue of his tenure: Civil Unions. He drove around in a car with the bumper sticker, "No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace." He grew up in the Old North End of Burlington, but he was pretty out of step with Burlington's progressive vibe ...
ReplyDeleteThe guy never met with advertisers, even after Sue Clark Johnson asked her publishers to get in the trenches and do so to build relationships.
ReplyDeleteHe threatened everyone with their job in front of their staff and peers.
The entire advertising management team would be locked in his office for day long meetings on a whim, while customers were trying to track down assistance for their ads.
Robertson is a breath of fresh air. I hope he can clean up the messes and bring back some vitality and credibility to this paper.
Test
ReplyDelete