There are rumblings that Gannett may have chosen a new top editor to replace the recently departed Denise Richter at The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La. That appointment could be one of two or more top-level editor changes in Louisiana. Anyone else heard this?
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
15 comments:
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I think I saw that one posted on journalismjobs.com recently.
ReplyDeleteThis paper needs to choose in-house and quit bringing in out-of-towners. The last thing Lafayette needs is another "synagogue" headline to describe a Catholic church. That said, I expect another Wisconsin transplant whose first column will be about how cool "crawdads" are.
ReplyDeleteplease deliver us all if they pick an internal candidate...
ReplyDeletesome money is on Don Hudson coming in from Jackson, MS.
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, Hudson was a finalist a few years ago when Ted Power ended up giving the job to Richter. He met with some of the staff at the time. He seemed like a very nice man who cared about journalism. I do not think he is the worst they could do for that job.
ReplyDeleteThere's one internal candidate that could do the job, and it's not the current person in charge. (She's too quick to go home at night and has no clue what it takes to run a newsroom.) Moving the one qualified internal candidate up would leave a huge opening in another department. Don't expect this opening to be filled until after the first quarter. It's all about saving $$$$$$$$$$$. Meanwhile, the slashed staff tries to just get the paper out every night due to the inept regional copy desk while being surrounded by empty desks that were once filled by co-workers.
ReplyDeleteTo 5:48: Who is the internal candidate who could do the job? I have my suspicions......
ReplyDeletesupposed internal candidate who probably could do the job is bob heist, sports editor. but he's out of the running. last week Hurst brought in a FOL (Friend of Leslie) who was most-recently editor of an 8,000 circ paper that she was laid off from. Sweet lady but demonstrates zero knowledge of operating a paper the size and scope of TDA -- which probably means she'll be hired for the job.
ReplyDeleteHeard the FOL who visited Lafayette last week is out of the running. Some money is on another Gannett outsider from North Carolina. He's visiting them this weekend or early next week, I believe.
ReplyDeleteNorth Carolina guy is visiting today. Internal candidate(s) are out. Anyone posts that the managing editor leaves too early hasn't worked there. She's there all the time. It's sad, actually. Same with Bob Heist. He probably would have made a good top editor if there was a staff left to manage. Under the current circumstances, there's just nothing left.
ReplyDeleteYou guys got hosed.
ReplyDeleteUh, 2:24, do you want to expand? Is there something folks there should know?
ReplyDeleteFrom today's Advertiser:
ReplyDeleteBrian Tolley, who has extensive experience as a newsroom leader for print and digital publications, has been named executive editor of The Daily Advertiser/Daily World family of publications, President and Publisher Leslie Hurst said Tuesday.
Beginning April 19, Tolley will become the top editor for The Daily Advertiser, the Daily World in Opelousas, theadvertiser.com and dailyworld.com, The Times of Acadiana, L and Acadiana Moms magazines, and related publications.
"We're excited to bring Brian Tolley's expertise with traditional print and innovative digital media to Lafayette," Hurst said. "His career shows a commitment to finding new ways to engage readers, including specialty Web sites and social networking."
"I'm very excited to join Leslie's team," Tolley said. "I think you have a tremendous staff of journalists there to work with. And Lafayette itself. My family and I look forward to becoming a part of the Lafayette community."
Tolley most recently served as executive editor of The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, where he led a staff of more than 100 journalists.
The newspaper won its first North Carolina Press Association General Excellence award in 2005. The paper's Web site, fayobserver.com, was judged the best in the state in 2006.
He also launched a series of digital initiatives, including daily video newscasts, a weekly prep football program online and specialty sites dealing with crime, youth sports, entertainment, the nightclub scene, pets and other topics.
A new networking site connected the families of military service personnel at nearby Fort Bragg.
Tolley also served as assistant managing editor of The Columbia (S.C.) State and as an editor with the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.
"The things that will be important to me will be emphasizing local news, strengthening our digital products and engaging our readers in two-way conversation," he said. "One of the first things I want to do is seek feedback from the readers about what we can do better."
It just falls under the topic of "Stupid Publisher Tricks." But I think the folks there have had this before.
ReplyDeleteThis guy's been a sports guy almost all his career. He gets a shot to run Fay, wins a nice award BASED ON THE PREVIOUS GUY'S work, never wins another one, then gets his butt canned and, Voila! gets a job with Gannett.
4:11: You're way off base. Fayetteville won a bunch of awards each year under Tolley and made numerous upgrades to the paper and website despite a shrinking staff. It's a shame the publisher there wouldn't just let the editor do his job, but folks in Lafayette will love him, especially if they want to see the product improve. (And no, I'm not Tolley, but I did work for him.)
ReplyDelete