Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Another shoe drops: Marymont takes Currie's job
Gannett has finally gotten around to making the announcement, just moments ago, that you read about long ago, here.
14 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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So, maybe we (the dwindling surviving troops) might actually be hearing from her now?
ReplyDeleteThe lack of corporate news leadership during these trying times has been stupifying!
So the person taking over the top newspaper division job for the biggest newspaper chain in the country is qualified for the job by virtue of having been the exec. editor of no-name papers in Wilmington, Del., Springfield, Mo., and Fort Myers, Fla???? Did the company even consider hiring a headhunter to find a fresh face from outside, someone who doesn't bring the baggage of a Gannett-only career into an office vacated by another lifelong Kool-Aid drinker? No wonder this ship is sinking.
ReplyDeleteBoy you got that right 5:34. They just don't get it apparently. It was the same at our little paper. Easier to hire within, even if someone more qualified from outside applied. I saw it happen in the circulation department and I'm sure (as in this case) it happens all over. This truly is why the company is in such horrible shape.
ReplyDeleteMarymont has worked at a variety of smaller properties, true. That's not necessarily a strike against her. She's smart and may have a better feel for smaller newspaper operations than other choices. Yes, some of her work produced the gimmicky (mojos!), but she wasn't afraid to try new things and her papers did some good journalism during her tenure. Of course the continued drumbeat of job cuts may render her experience moot as you can't commit either good journalism or innovation with empty desks. Can she stand up to Gracia and co. and say enough is enough? Doubtful.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that anybody grounded in journalism and newspapering would greet her annoucement with hope and support, rather than skepticism and derision. My response is: "Hey. Even though I am no longer a Gannett worker, Kate, what can I do to help?" If she and these desperate measures can keep the company surviving in front of the economy and its ugliness, the future is better for us all -- employees, former employees, retirees -- hell, everybody who depends upon a strong, free press. Good luck, Kate. Kick ass!
ReplyDelete"Can she stand up to Gracia and co. and say enough is enough? Doubtful."
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think she's going to do that to a superior who is most likely three grades above her, who she works for. How many times have the posters who want this to happen done this in their workplace and kept their job or position. Corporate doesn't work that way and neither does any other workplace.
Hey... Kate is the real deal... unfortunately we have have the same clowns at the top who have been dragging the ship down forever now it seems. Will she be able to get things done in a positive direction? we can only hope, but with the fools we have running the show it looks grim... however, Kate is a glimmer of hope!
ReplyDeleteKate and I worked together a long time ago: in Little Rock, when we were both at The Arkansas Gazette. (Gannett shut it down during the 1991 recession.)
ReplyDeleteI was business news editor, and she was metro editor. I always remember her being a smart, hard-working, descent, fair editor. (There is a Little Rock story, too long for a comment, about how she helped scoop the competition on its own story -- a survey of public school teachers. It was pretty brilliant.)
I have seen Kate only once since 1991 -- in 1994, when we both attended the first UNITY minority journalism conference.
I wish her only the best, and am encouraged that she is in that important job.
Jim:
ReplyDeleteI guess Kate didn't teach you how to spell the word "decent" when you worked together.
Anybody have ideas about who will succeed Marymont?
ReplyDeleteHaving worked as a reporter under Kate for several years in Fort Myers recently I can tell you she is a strong news person, a strong supporter of the First Ammendment who is not afraid to go to court, whether it is a fight against FEMA or a local politician.
ReplyDeleteShe is kind, professional and fair with a solid head for news.
On the down side, she walks the corporate line and talks the corporate talk -- she is first in line to, as someone else said here, drink the Kool Aid ( but then she went from executive editor of Fort Myers to one of the highest executives in the entire company so who has the last laugh?)
She also can be click-ish and rather oblivious to the failings of her inner-circle (or at least overindulgent of the shortcomings of those most in her favor).
I wish her well. One thing seems certain: she can't really do much harm at this point!
I wish I could have kissed corporate ass as well as Kate has.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just removed a comment that included an unsupported personal attack on an individual. Please don't do that.
ReplyDelete