They're significant, however, because they reveal a continuing trend within GCI's executive ranks: More publishers, general managers and other top supervisors are now expected to juggle multiple responsibilities, often across several communities. Fewer executives doing more work saves big bucks.
Moreover, the broader lesson for everyone is this: Publishers and GMs get their jobs because they're best at doing Corporate's bidding. Now, however, Corporate's message is more clear than ever: No one's job is guaranteed, no matter how loyal they may be to the top brass.
In Wisconsin, the changes involve The Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc, and The Sheboygan Press. They're about 33 miles apart along Lake Michigan. According to my reader:
- Manitowoc lost its managing editor, and its head of circulation. (Barely a month ago, the ad director left for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and hasn't been replaced.) Meanwhile, Manitowoc's general manager will also serve as advertising director for the paper, and for the Sheboygan daily.
- Sheboygan lost its advertising director. Its general manager (who's also the paper's
managingexecutive editor!) will now also bemanagingexecutive editor at Manitowoc. Plus, Sheboygan's head of circulation will now also run circulation in Manitowoc.
You gotta wonder how far Gannett figures it can stretch people. Then again, maybe this is a good way to separate the BSers from the producers.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, though, that the general manager/double managing editor mix seems pretty odd!
I'd be interested in knowing what pay raises/bonuses these people will get. Money can be a great motivator!
I worked with both papers' GMs for years and have a lot of respect for both of them. I'm sorry about my other colleagues who lost their jobs in the switchup, but at least the remaining employees are left with talented, hard-working leadership.
ReplyDeleteThere are MANY excellent managers in Gannett and it's a shame to read so little about them here. Probably because people who would speak up are too busy working to visit this blog.
I was part of the July 2009 RIF. That sucked, but remains outweighed by six great years and many lasting friendships.
Remember, though: Gracia Martore is setting the multi-tasking standard.
ReplyDeleteShe's basically Gannett's de facto CEO. Plus, she's officially GCI's president, chief operating officer, chief financial officer -- and, unofficially, the chief digital officer.
All that, plus, she's on the eight-member board of directors of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT.
According to its website, "the Center is founded to honor the vision of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and his call for a holistic education that includes the development of human and global ethics. It will emphasize responsibility as well as examine meaningfulness and moral purpose between individuals, organizations, and societies."
I believe it would be the Herald Times Reporter, not Recorder, Jim. Great reporting.
ReplyDeleteOuch! Thanks. I've now fixed that.
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of specifics:
ReplyDeleteIn Sheboygan, general manager does not mean manging editor. It means publisher and executive editor. (There is no managing editor.)
Mike Knuth will be EXECUTIVE, not manging, editor of the Manitowoc paper.
This story in the Herald Times Reporter does not say either way what that change means for Knuth's Sheboygan job:
http://www.htrnews.com/article/20101109/MAN0101/11090505/Knuth-named-executive-editor-of-Herald-Times-Reporter
How can one person be executive editor of two different places, especially for two papers that do not have managing editors?? That certainly changes the meaning of an executive editor!
Thanks. I've fixed that. I think.
ReplyDeleteThe three gents that now share circulation, advertising and editorial management duties for Manitowoc and Sheboygan are on top of their game and have spent years in their markets and the surrounding area. Door-to-door, the offices are less than 30 miles apart, and they already collaborate on many advertising and editorial initiatives.
ReplyDeleteThere's differences, HTR readers look north to Green Bay for the big city, Press folks look south to Milwaukee.
Once you've moved out press, prepress, mailroom, finance, classified sales, and circulation service, the building gets pretty empty. Why call someone a publisher and give them a car if they're just watching over a third of the staff as ten years ago?
At least with these three guys, and those I know of their staff, they can still get a relevant and profitable paper & website out to the public.
These are all talented folks who have worked hard for their newspapers and communities. So this isnt meant to be a ding on them. But you have to ask yourself: If now this, what's next? Don't both of these towns deserve an editor of their own? If these were large papers, each with managing editors, then perhaps having one exec ed over both would make sense. But Knuth is very much in the mix at The Press, hands on and involved. He was already having to carve out considerable time to be GM; now he must edit two papers and be over all ops at one of them? There are many who are publisher or GM over two sites; that usually works well because there is a strong editor at each place who steps up when the boss is away at the other store. Knuth won't have that luxury He will have to dip even deeper into the Press, tapping a senior editor (not many of them left) to shoulder more. The HTR is thin in supervising editors, too. And, sorry, when as editor Knuth must decide which site gets the most love, it will be the one that lists him as general manager.
ReplyDeleteSo when will The Journal News and The Poughkeepsie Journal share publishers and editors?
ReplyDeleteOr will the publishers become general managers?
And what's with The Journal News' vice president news position? Do other papers have this? Talk about shrinking staffs! Why not make the job managing editor?
HTR readers look to TRivers when they want to visit the big city... :)
ReplyDeleteThis has been happening in Ohio as well.
ReplyDeleteMNCO was already a group, but the General Manager in Fremont also covers Port Clinton and Camden Michigan. In MI she has an Ad Director, but she has no one in Fremont or in Port Clinton so she does it all herself. Badly. Actually most of Port Clinton activity is handled in Fremont anyway...
Then there's Zanesville and Coshocton which have had the same general manager and ad director for several years. That GM has two other sites as well, all of which were additionally affected by the consolidation of the Advertiser weeklies.
Then there's the Mansfield-Bucyrus-Marion "sub-group". There is one GM for all three papers, and the Ad Directors just swapped sites (there were only two for the three papers).
If Gannett could get rid of local offices completely, I'm sure they would. It's so inconvenient having so many locations to monitor.