Newspaper division President Bob Dickey's pick this week for new Coloradoan publisher reflects the growing influence of Louisville uber-Publisher Denise Ivey, a reader tells me, in an e-mail that points to one other Ivey protegee who also got a top job. "Looks like a continuing purging of the innovative initiative of Sue Clark-Johnson for the bean-counting metrics of Dickey -- which has been Ivey's claim to success,'' the reader tells me in an e-mail. "Suggests a much more corporate, bottom-line driven initiative by Dickey than the innovation that SCJ was trying to push."Join the Coloradoan publisher debate, in the original post.
Ivey was named president of the Mid-South Group in early 2006; some critics have waggishly tagged her Poison Ivey.
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Ivey was a product of the Watson regime...so you know what counts in her management rationale.
ReplyDeleteAll in search of bucks...just get me the bucks.
Well, it's a good thing there isn't room for nuance in our industry. You're either an innovative journalist, or a bean-counting nightmare. I don't know Ivey all that well, but it seems like she's done good things here in Louisville. She communicates regularly to the news staff, offers praise for good work, and has fixed up our crumbling building -- something the former publisher didn't do. And in an era of job cuts and falling circulation, I'm happy to draw a paycheck from a paper guided by someone with her financial acumen. If that makes me a bean counter, so be it.
ReplyDeleteI will likewise have to say Ivey has done a good job here in Louisville. She's not been here long enough to see what the final outcome will be, but so far so good.
ReplyDeleteGood for Louisville. Seems like it always was more of a rational, more calm, and reasonable place to perform. A far cry from places like Westchester and Cherry Hill.
ReplyDeleteOne down...and many more to go.
Pensacola was lucky to have her for so many years. That fact was made painfully obvious when her idiot replacement and his disciples-of-asskissery tanked the paper in the course of one calendar year.
ReplyDeleteDenise has always worked really hard and is a truly nice person who treats her employees as well as she can. She was in the doghouse for awhile because of some big lawsuit that cost GCI a bundle, (not her fault), but she eventually got back into GCI's good graces with a lot of persistence, a practically unheard-of feat in Gannett.
ReplyDeleteTalk about drinking the kool-aid. I would love to know who suggested that Sue Clark-Johnson had innovative initiatives. How about a contest to name even one (and, no, for those of you dying to put the information center--should I say, a nice way to get rid of talent--in that category, enough have weighed in to determine it does not qualify).
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong on Ivey, Jim. She is loved in Pensacola. They'd love to have her back.
ReplyDelete"loved in Pensacola" ... "lucky to have her"? Speaking of disciplies of asskissery. Sounds like you've tapped the pipeline, Jim.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few people in Louisville would be happy to give her back.
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to hear some positive comments for a change. I'm sure there are many publishers out there who have done a good job and deserve some recognition for doing so.
ReplyDeleteThe effect of bean-counting management. http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/tribune_s_zell_to_journalists_i_m_firing_a_bunch_of_you_making_the_rest_work_harder
ReplyDeleteYou all, most of you, at least, may have forgotten the big run-up in stock price, sales volume, and profits. And the price was paid by those under the likes of Watson and others.
ReplyDeleteIvey was one such person. They all had a bully mentality. And some of those remnants remain today. It was not just "smarts" that won the day.
Ok, if Ivey is such a powerhouse then tell us why Dickey got the job instead of her?? They both were Sr Group Presidents....and speaking of Dickey, other then canned press releases announcing new Publishers..what has he done?? Never thought I'd see the day where so many mid level managers are being named publishers from out of nowhere...Thanks Gary, you ran off all the talent.
ReplyDeleteAnon3:56PM
ReplyDeleteYou have no clue do you? My bet is you don't even know Kim. Go back to your self-glorifying job of trying to save the world and leave good people you don't even know out of it.
Here here 3:56! whats the deal here? Dick-man has done a whole lot of nothing so far. I say let's save his big fat salary and have no one in that post. They all seem to be do nothing idiots! when are we going to wake up and deceide that this place is a total joke? A mere shadow of its former self. I'm not tlaking the problems regarding the current financial situation, but the lack of talented leaders that can help make adifference. I remember growing up in this company that I would step in front of a bullet for my boss. Today, no dice! that goes for almost everyone in current pub roles with the exception of a few good ones that have not been crushed yet.
ReplyDeleteWhen are going to clean out the corporate staff? If they need to save money get rid of the 4th floor in McClean and rent the space out. Seriously we would not see a bit of difference. Heck most wouldn't know they didn't have a job because they all "work from home" especially on Friday's in the summer! Geez!