Merely risking life and limb to put out the paper during a howling hurricane is no longer enough to keep your job in the Gannett Co. Vers. 2.0. That is today's morale-boosting message from Corporate, as the shake-up continues at Mississippi's Hattiesburg American: Kathleen Williams is no longer executive editor at the paper, and her position has been eliminated, the paper is now reporting."We appreciate all that Kathleen has done to improve our newspaper," General Manager Tracie Fowler told her paper for its story. "In this economy, when resources are being constricted, these are some of the tough decisions that we have to make. This is strictly a business decision."
Managing Editor Dan Davis assumes the top newsroom position.
The shift follows Fowler's elevation two months ago, to the new position of general manager. Her promotion came after Publisher Skippy Haik announced plans to leave, on relatively short notice to staff, and in the wake of Gannett's decision to move printing and other production to The Clarion-Ledger in nearby Jackson.
Above-average circulation declines may be an issue. (A huge mitigating factor, to be sure: The American's market has suffered population losses after hurricanes.) As of Sept. 30, daily was 16,446, down 7% from Sept. 30, 2007; Sunday, 19,683, down 7.9% -- at odds with the companywide average, according to Deutsche Bank. By comparison, excluding USA Today, circulation across the company fell 5.6% daily and 4.3% on Sunday during.
Can anyone add details? Plus, are there other papers that recently lost executive editor positions to budget cuts?
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: today's front page, Newseum]
http://hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090312/NEWS01/90312019
ReplyDeleteLooks like the ME will be top newsroom position.
God do I hope this means that Corporate is finally going after do-nothing editors and other higher-ups. You could save six lower-rung employees for everyone of these high-salaried failures.
ReplyDeleteI worked with Kathleen after Hurricane Katrina, and she was a fantastic editor and human being. A bunch of us from other newspaper slept at her house for about a week after the storm. She's held some big-time newspaper jobs at other dailies, and will be missed.
ReplyDeleteLOUISVILLE, KY
ReplyDeleteAnother Rat Running
VP of Info Tech for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY, Gary Shawd, is leaving the sinking ship of Gannett to climb aboard a smaller boat he was once on back in Sioux Falls. We hope he will be happy there; we will be. Will his replacement be coming from "within"? Stay tuned!
Isn't her spouse EE in Muncie, Indiana?
ReplyDeleteSo what difference does it make whether the title is EE or ME? There's still going to be a top editor in charge and the senior management work is still going to get done. Saying the position has been eliminated is a bunch of baloney.
ReplyDeleteI still can't understand how Wilmington has an EE and two AMEs, but no ME. Is there a quota of asses you have to kiss before you get promoted from AME?
Or is there an actual real reason, like the salaries of MEs and above get paid by Corporate, while everyone else comes out of the local budget?
The executive fat is not just a Gannett feature, but all these chains going under could slash millions in payroll for all its executive VPs in charge of nothing. MediaNews, Tribune, McClatchy, they all do it. And they hold off trimming the fat until all else fails. By that time, the companies will be bankrupt.
ReplyDeleteA do nothing editor? You don't know Kathleen and what she meant to the paper. She edited and wrote stories, wrote editorials, snapped pictures and never asked any staff member to do anything she wouldn't do herself. She put in 12 and 14 hours a day. She was anything but a failure and you show your ignorance when you say something stupid like that.
ReplyDelete3:53 PM
ReplyDeleteIt means there's one, not two, on the payroll so it does make a difference.
@4:09
ReplyDeleteI think everyone would agree that Kathleen worked hard. I respect her as a journalist and appreciate all I learned from her. I wish her the best.
There's no such thing as a do-nothing editor in a place like Hattiesburg. You literally have to have your hand in everything, especially these last few years. Kathleen is a fine person and a good editor. She's on the national board of APME. And yes, she led the paper through Katrina. Not that Gannett cares about that.
ReplyDelete4:09 PM
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you, but I'm going to follow grandma's advice: If you don't have anything nice to say about someone, keep quiet.
4:09 Yes, a do-nothing editor. Under her regime both advertising and circulation declined dramatically. Someone has to walk the plank, and she took the job that carries the blame.
ReplyDeleteRe: Yes, a do-nothing editor. Under her regime both advertising and circulation declined dramatically. Someone has to walk the plank, and she took the job that carries the blame.
ReplyDeleteNo, seriously, you're an idiot. She's responsible for advertising? Circulation? Under her leadership the newspaper won more awards than it ever had previously. Whoever you are, you're petty, vindictive and just plain stupid. Grow up!
Most have missed the point here.
ReplyDeleteKathleen likely was a good editor and a hard worker. I understand she did an excellent job during the Katrina emergency. But just stick to the facts. Hattiesburg is a depressed small Mississippi town. A sixteen thousand daily newspaper can not support two high price editors when advertising is down and getting worse. Just this year several large advertisers have closed their doors. Twenty-Five percent profits have never been an issue in Hattiesburg. Complain and whine all you want - It was a good decison...and a surprise that it did not happen earlier.
The best to you Kathleen. You will land on your feet and things will turn out for the better for you.
Here's the thing. Economics or not, now, more than ever, newspapers need strong editors and leaders. Could Hattiesburg have supported two top editors? Maybe not. But does it need a sycophant General Manager who wouldn't know good journalism if it smacked her in the ass? I'm guessing not. But that's what they've got.
ReplyDeleteHattiesburg and its whole staff gave first-class treatment to reporters passing through after Katrina. Hot meals, a place to write, space on the floor, even a tank of gas. They were fantastic. A tip of my hat to Kathleen and all who worked with her through that. Top-shelf journalists who -- despite the sad and probably clueless comments of some -- should still be working for our company.
ReplyDeleteWhy should readers care about the hospitality provided to reporters? Did that increase ads or circulation? Doubt it. This isn't a boarding house business, but a news organization.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post and the newspaper article don't mention the EE's future plans. Did they just dump her? It is my understanding her husband is also employed in the newspaper business, just not the American.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Gannett, which used to have a wonderful record for providing opportunity to women, is increasingly becoming a bastion of white male leadership and employees. Look around. There are fewer women in leadership roles every day.
I have met Kathleen briefly and know she has an excellent reputation as a journalist and editor, and she was lauded from many for her work during Hurricane Katrina.
ReplyDeleteWhile Kathleen's work before, during and after the hurricane was stellar (as were the employees, managers and work of several other Gannett sites following the storm, including all of the ones in Louisiana), that only represents a small fragment of her entire tenure at the American. In my opinion, the decision of whether someone stays or goes should not be based on their work during a few weeks, good or bad.
Kathleen's reputation precedes her, and if she is as wonderful and talented as many people have said she is, she will land on her feet and come out the better for this situation.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked at the American and having lived in (and married a woman from) Hattiesburg, I can tell you that the market is being under served by GCI's treatment of The American. I believe we're likely less than 18 months away from the newspaper being donated to the Foundation. And that's assuming revenues experience no further collapse triggering a shuttering of the operation all together. A savvy local owner, however, could have the operation at 35% NIBT within those same 18 months. Hey, GCI! You wanna sell it me?
ReplyDeleteI don't know Kathleen or whether she was a good journalist, but I do think it's a move in the right direction for Gannett to start trimming from the top.
ReplyDeleteMy paper would do just fine without the EE -- he never contributes anything to the daily process.
We must start running like a small paper, with no room for seat-fillers whose job description is 'thinking big thoughts.' Everyone needs to be hands-on, and managing editors, or city editors, are better positioned to take on the few necessary duties of an EE than the other way around.
Let me get this straight, 1:05 AM. It's OK for Kathleen to lose her job because Gannett needs to cut from the top. Wow. Such insight. Fact is you don't know a think Kathleen or what kind person or editor she is or was. She was a working EE writing stories and edits and shooting photos and blogging and editing daily copy. She bled for her staff and worked hard to keep all of them working. Some of them there today owe their continued livelihoods to her and it is not inconceivable that her fierce defense of them cost her her job.
ReplyDeleteAs for your EE what do you know of what he contributes to the daily? Since I don't know him and wouldn't presume to judge I can only say for certain something he does do every day. He carries the weight of the staff and expectations on his shoulders. He raised his hand when others, like you, didn't. He raised his hand to accept responsibility for back-stabbers who only show courage in anonymous posts. He raised his hand to take on the public and the publisher and a corporate office that doesn't have a coherent plan to get out of this mess. He raised his hand when others would only cower behind their desks and stay out of the line of fire.
Doesn't do anything? Have you ever been brave enough to walk into his office and ask him what he does? Or tell him you think he isn't doing enough?
Of course not. That would take something you don't have.
Next time you blithely suggest it's OK to cut someone's job why don't you show some courage and raise your hand?
So sorry to see anyone lose a job in this economy. If cuts had to be made though, I think Tracie did the responsible thing by eliminating the EE position. Maybe that means there's less chance of losing reporters. IMHO, Hattiesburg is a gold mine for great stories, if only there were more reporters to find them.
ReplyDelete"Snapped pictures?"
ReplyDeleteThat's not a journalist, 4:09, that's a grandmother! Anyone saying an editor went above and beyond by "snapping pictures" demeans every photojournalist who still has a job in today's market.
Do reporters "scribble" for each edition?
I don't know Williams and I'm an unemployed journalist myself, but Gannett - and other newspaper companies - should do this more often. Usually it's the low-paid grunts who get laid off before receiving the bum's rush out the door because upper management fears that a laid-off employee may "crack."
Amen, 3:12! The buck stops with those in power. If the paper does poorly, remove the high-paid schmucks who are responsible. Hopefully, the paper's security staffers quickly escorted Williams to the door.
Oh, that such would happen elsewhere!
I, too, used to be a staff member under Kathleen during Katrina both before and beyond.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can't say that Kathleen was my favorite person in the world, I can say that if it were my decision between her and Dan Davis, I can say that it would be Dan Davis that got the axe all day long. There's no reason she couldn't be dropped back to an ME position.
Main reason being that DD is an old school journalist and does not do a good job of adapting to the new journalism environment.
All you Kathleen supporters, please link me to one---just one---news story that didn't smack of advertorial she wrote. And for all of you who believe that she was a talented journalist, just read her blog entries. Case closed. About snapping pictures, I would think that an EE would know better than to put up a photo gallery with no cutlines.
ReplyDeleteI certainly did not think Kathleen was near the leader that Dan Davis is.
My guess 4:44 PM is that you worked for Ms. Williams and she kicked your lazy, no-talent butt out of the HA.
ReplyDeleteThe viciousness and anger on display in these posts is shameful. No wonder the public thinks journalists are arrogant. You are all in this together, but some of you take glee in denigrating a colleague.
What's wrong with you people?
6:01 PM
ReplyDeleteSo, I guess you found cutlines, non-advertorial stories and great blog entries that truly engaged the community? OK.
Dan is a very talented person and has worked hard to get where he is. From what I can see the staff respects him more than KW and I believe he will do a fine job. KW talks all the tech lingo but she can't even operate her email or phone correctly. Dan is a very smart man and will do fine.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the person to be axed be based on that person's performance, skills and leadership rather than simply having advanced to the EE position? Some EEs are far better in every sense than the MEs who work below them. Axing the top person because that person makes more money and would therefore represent a bigger savings to the company is a shortsighted foolish way to make that call. I would stand behind my EE any day over my ME, who makes less money but is not as good a leader, is less consistent and who tends to do things based on personal preference and mood instead of doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteGOD! Bring back Kathleen! It has been nightmarish ever since she left
ReplyDelete