In 1998, Laura McGann writes today in a new post on the Nieman Lab blog, Leder's Poughkeepsie Journal editor shot her an e-mail, saying her job on the business news desk would not be waiting for her when she returned from abroad.
Five years later, Leder launched what's become a wildly popular investment site, Footnoted.org. Leder posts "nuggets of interesting information pulled from the fine print of securities filings for valuable investor news,'' McGann says. "This month Morningstar purchased the site for an undisclosed sum. Leder will continue to run the editorial side and contribute content. Morningstar will sell subscriptions to her premium content (some content will remain free)."One of Leder's best "gets'' was discovering that former Gannett Chief Financial Officer Larry Miller received a 2003 consulting contract with Gannett worth $600,000 a year for the rest of his life. (The deal is described under the heading "certain relationships" in that year's proxy report to shareholders.) The contract would continue until either the company or Miller canceled it. I couldn't find any evidence the contract had been rescinded in a recent search of Gannett's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Got a Gannett survivor success story to share? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Thanks, Jim, for highlighting my story. I still remember sitting in Christchurch New Zealand after spending four months backpacking with my husband (and spending all of our money) only to learn via email that my job in Poughkeepsie had been eliminated. Though momentarily upset, I now consider it the best thing that ever happened to me because it prompted me to get out of daily newspapers and do something else. Despite this, I don't have any plans to take my former editor out to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Michelle. This is one more example of Gannett letting its best and brightest slip away rather than nurturing the talent and encouraging it to stay within the company.
ReplyDeleteGannett has had the "best and brightest" of its In Crowd working to create things like this and they can point to few successes. Some day, the company will probably be able to thank the folks that it chased away -- think Michelle and Jim -- for pounding the final nails into its coffin.
Many of Gannett's former editors and reporters are successfully continuing their careers at www.patch.com. Once a journalist, always a journalist.
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