"A Gannett rep said that the company had no comment,'' paidContent's David Kaplan says. "If Gannett does move Resnik up as expected, it would be passing up former digital head Jack Williams for the role."
Williams was bypassed once before: In January 2008, when Saridakis was promoted to what was then a new post; he had been CEO of Gannet advertising services subsidiary PointRoll.
"Resnik,'' Kaplan says, "is well-liked within the Gannett Digital realm and is considered a sensible choice, though some have noted that he doesn’t have experience running an independent business. Gannett has been using executive search firm CT Partners, but they hadn’t been able to find any candidates that the company felt were suitable."
Saridakis' resignation from the high-profile job, disclosed April 7 in a regulatory filing, was a blow to the administration of CEO Craig Dubow.
Dubow hired Saridakis with a mandate to ramp up non-print revenues and profits. But Gannett's regulatory filings have revealed that businesses assigned to Saridakis failed to meet minimum performance goals for the second consecutive year.
Josh would be the WORST decision this company could make.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is why the stock is rallying today? NOT!!!!!!
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ReplyDeleteYou need to be more specific than that. Why would this be a bad decision?
ReplyDeleteOr, for those who support Resnik, why, specifically, would he be a good choice?
I'm reposting an edited version of the following comment left by Anonymous@2:04 pm:
ReplyDeleteNow I know that Martore has lost her mind.
I like Josh. He is a typical corporate guy. Doesn't rock the boat. He doesn't challenge anyone and he just says "yes". So he will fit into our mediocre management team.
ReplyDeleteJosh = momslikeme; metromix; highschoolsports; ripple6; cozi; planet discover; makethecharts;4info
ReplyDeletei think that is enough information for anyone to make their own decision.
Shouldn't this job require an engineering degree? Does he have one?
ReplyDeleteAn engineering degree is meaningless in a market that changes so dramatically on a global scale. Make that any degree.
ReplyDeleteHe's a lawyer, Boston University School of Law. This is all so depressing. Some background in engineering or computers would be helpful. His only background was working in the general counsel's office at AOL, and we all know what a great success AOL was.
ReplyDeleteSo he's a lawyer, so what? We have a TV guy heading a newspaper company, a B.A. in history from Wellsley as our chief financial officer, and now a lawyer heading up digital. Understand this ranked as one of America's worst places to work in 2008.
ReplyDeleteOh, exactly what we need -- another lawyer. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteJosh has been bragging to everyone here in Digital that he is going to be the next Chief Digital Officer and that he was "tight" with Gracia. So, I expected this would be the case. Gracia is weak and Gannett has no bench.
ReplyDeleteMcCorky started out as a lawyer, and joined Gannett as general counsel. Oh.
ReplyDeleteGood news is Josh was never really a practicing attorney, nor has he ever run company or built a successful business, nor has he ever invested in any companies, nor has he ever built an innovative product...hmmm...come to think of it, he would be a GREAT ADDITION to the GMC!!!
ReplyDeleteThe headhunters couldn't find anyone who really wanted the job, which tells you something in this down economy with 9.5 percent unemployment.
ReplyDeleteOf all the techies IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, an insider is the best choice.
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ReplyDeleteI wonder what bonus dubow will get now?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFollowing is an edited version of a comment posted by Anonymous@6:51 pm:
ReplyDelete[XXXXX] is already been interviewing. 90% chance he joins Saridakis at his new company. Resnik is a good person, he is a good follower.
Following is an edited version of a comment posted by Anonymous@6:29 pm:
ReplyDeleteIf this is true we are sure to be looking for a new head of [XXXXX. XXXXX] is way too smart to work for [Resnik].
"Well-liked?" Who was Kaplan talking to?
ReplyDeleteSelective editing of names Jim. Are we getting too close to some of your favorite sources?
ReplyDeleteI have not intended to be selective. Can you explain, please?
ReplyDeleteEdited version. Andy Jacobson is a guy Saridakis brought into Gannett. He used to work with him at DoubleClick. Andy would not work for Resnik. Everybody knows that Jim. If he had a choice, work for Resnik at Gannett or rejoin Saridakis at his new company, where do you think he will choose? No need to edit Jim. This is the conversations all over Digital this afternoon!!!
ReplyDeleteClearly Josh will not be getting the CDO. We all know Gracia is reading this blog and she was probably the one that tipped off PaidContent to float a test balloon and see what people "on the blog" would say.
ReplyDeleteObviously, there has yet to be one positive thing being said about Josh. Sorry Josh, you were just "punked" by your own President. They are so weak and it is sad to see them do this to someone.
For the record: I have no idea whether the post regarding Jacobson is true; I welcome replies by e-mail, which I'll keep confidential, unless instructed otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do not know whether Martore reads this blog.
If I didn't read this blog I'd have no clue that any of this is happening, e.g., Resnik, Jacobson, discussions among digital employees. It's scary having to face these truths. Most times I don't want to admit how seemingly dysfunctional and uncertain things seem to be. This blog forces me to acknowledge all the questions and growing concerns about what the future holds and whether or not I should get out while there's still a pension. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteI agree with the earlier poster, Gracia Martore totally floated this one and the short PR lady is no where to be found denying this or confirming it. It is sad to see how corporate has use this blog as a way to test out their personnel moves.
ReplyDeleteDickey said that "Josh was the best choice for us" and it seems like he is now endorsing this guy. When a few months ago he wanted to have him thrown out for the Orange Soda debacle.
Amazing how these corporate types work.
What was "the Orange Soda debacle?"
ReplyDeleteAn engineering degree would have no bearing on success or failure in this position. Certainly experience in the industry (and by that I mean in the software industry, not newspaper) is more important than an engineering background. The CDO would not actually be developing products, but needs to have the technical acumen and background to be able to properly evaluate products as they come down the pipe.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need no engineers in this here company. We is a newspaper company and don't need to know how computers _ or sewers _ work.
ReplyDeleteEngineering degree? LOL. You want him to build bridges or something?
ReplyDeleteThat, of course, 10 a.m., was a reference to software/hardware engineering.
ReplyDelete10:24 -- It's pretty clear that, as Saridakis said in his recent interview, the upper management clowns at Gannett are incapable of making simple decisions. They are, however, capable of cutting corners and weakening their products at every turn. Are you really wondering if it's time to get out?
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much money you make, but if it's not a whole lot (say at least 20% more than you could make somewhere else) you should be sending applications out all the time. If you have an extremely big paycheck, you might want to stay and bank as much money as possible, so that you'll have something to live off after this company either comes to a crashing halt or gets split into pieces.
The future of media companies in general is not bright. The future of a media company that doesn't understand the media is downright dismal.
I think "upper management" made a pretty simple decision to buy Pointroll and that is paying off (especially since Saridakis stopped being involved). Also they made a pretty simple decision to hire Saridakis - a savvy dealmaker who has had no real success in actually running a business - always getting out with some equity event before you actually had to make a profit. Another simple decision was to buy his ripple6, which might still turn out to be more than moonshine, especially since he is not there to run it.
ReplyDeleteOne might also argue that HIS tenure running the Digital division was all about weakening products. What actual products did he create at Gannett? Besides three or four reorganizations of the division and hiring a slew of AOLers?
9:11 -- I'm not saying Saridakis is a saint. Far from it. He's a business guy who's in this for the money. That said, a guy who moves from place to place making a hefty sum on each stop is savvy, particularly in the digital world. There are lot of people who have stuck around too long and been hurt financially doing so.
ReplyDeleteClearly, he's right, though, that Dubow and company don't have the ability to make decisions about the future of the company. That's clear by the way they make their newspaper publishers jump through a new set of hoops every month or so. It's as though they sit in Craig's office and throw darts at a board.
I think Saridakis has had many successes... Doublelick and most recently Pointroll as well as many successful early stage investments in companies we all use today. He is far from the guy who "runs and gets out". Investing your own money, time and energy is not something any one in Gannett is accustomed to doing.
ReplyDeleteI do not think he was right for Gannett for the long haul. He was to controversial for the management team. He is not "corporate" enough for this management team and even many employees here. We lack the passion here for solving problems and he was good at bringing that passion out in people.
Without him building Pointroll, Gannett would not have a great business today to offset the decline we are seeing in Newspaper and USAT.
I would put my money on him before I put it on anyone else WITHIN Gannett or Gannett owned properties.
There is a difference between a leader and a manager...Saridakis is a leader. Gannett hires managers...micro-managers at that.
Apparently Jason Tafler, the Ceo of Pointroll is very upset because he was not chosen as the Chief Digital Officer. Everyone here is talking about how he was passed up, but understand why. He is running this place into the ground and is not liked by many of the employees.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like he is currently trying to cut out every expense so he can make his multi-million dollar bonus. Every one in sales was told that we have to spend less on travel and start firing people so that Jason and our management team can make their special Gannett retention bonuses. Someone said that each of the Pointroll executives will make over $5 million EACH!!!!
We all know that he is checked out and he is just buying his time. We are all speculating that he will join Saridakis at GSI Commerce soon anyway. It seems like Saridakis took care of "his people" before he left Gannett. Unfortunately, he forgot about the other 300 people at Pointroll heneeded to "take care" of.