In an e-mail, a Gannett Blogger has just forwarded the following memo:
From: Fisch, Mike
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 12:36:21 -0500
To: "Westchester-All
Subject: Henry Freeman to retire and Cyndee Royle to become Editor and Vice President for News
It's with mixed emotions that I announce that Henry Freeman has decided to retire from The Journal News and Gannett at the end of the year after a journalism career spanning 47 years. Henry's contributions have been tremendous over decades of driving leading edge innovations from the start up as the first Sports Editor of USA Today to gut wrenching coverage of the attack on Sept. 11th, and innovations digitally that set the standard for many of our newspapers across the company.
Henry's mentorship of hundreds of budding journalists over the years will be his lasting contribution to our industry. Always ready to fight for journalistic access and making certain we're focused on quality journalism and getting the story right have been his hallmarks. We wish him great health, prosperity and fun in his retirement.
One of those mentees that Henry has groomed over the years is Cyndee Royle who's first job in journalism was working for Henry. We are pleased to announce that Cyndee Royle will become the new Editor and Vice President for News at The Journal News effective with Henry's retirement.
Cyndee has been a key leader in the information center and we're thrilled to have someone of her caliber take the leadership reins of The Journal News and LoHud.com. Cyndee has been in key journalistic roles since 1985 and worked at The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware and came to The Journal News in 1995 and has handled increasingly greater responsibilities since. She has managed news teams in the Rockland market and well as the Westchester/Purtnam market areas. She has been involved in key innovation activities and regularly contributes to Gannett wide groups focused on ways to enhance our journalistic quality both in print and online. She knows our area, and is perfectly suited to lead our news and information efforts going forward.
We're thrilled to welcome Cyndee as our new Editor and Vice President of News at The Journal News.
Michael J. Fisch
President & Publisher
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
52 comments:
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Wow. Publisher Fisch knows how to say goodbye to departing senior managers. Cincy's Buchanan should take note. Her terse memo about Callinan's retirement showed little or no respect for Tom's long list of accomplishments. He was not perfect, but he was a dedicated soldier for many years and deserved full burial services at Arlington. Instead, he was treated shabbily by a publisher unworthy of her title and standing in the field of journalism.
ReplyDeleteAs Freeman, Callinan and other distinguished journalists leave GCI, they take with them the spirit and leadership that once made Gannett a trusted, respected source of information. Like so many before them and others to follow, they were victims of the poor judgment, out-of-focus vision and lack of leadership inflicted on newspapers by pretenders like Buchanan.
Gannett's exodus of talent promises to leave Buchanan and her cohorts to preside over the rotting carcass of a once proud, successful company.
I know of many former Gannettoids who'd have appreciated comments like those Fisch made about his departing colleague, Freeman. It might not make it right, but it adds a touch of class to GCI's mass expulsion of old, expensive employees.
Freeman's days as a news leader ended a long time ago under then-publisher Gary Sherlock. His influence gradually declined to the point where it appeared that corporate was calling the shots, and he was more of a bystander than anything else.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that corporate is maintaining a vice presidency at a property that continues to underwhelm. To apppoint one of the overseers of so many of its failures is ridiculous.
But, that's Gannett!
She knows the area? I doubt that she or Freeman could find their way around with a GPS.
ReplyDeleteThis news must thrill the ever-loyal LB!
ReplyDeleteBWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! This is going to be good! Glory Days, every day!
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ReplyDeleteWhat does all of this mean for the newsroom?
ReplyDeleteHas Royle been the one really running the place?
And who's in line to jump into her job as managing editor?
Interesting, considering the cuts made a couple of weeks ago, specifically the DME News who was heaved overboard. He was really out of the loop!
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ReplyDeleteGlad to see the executive suite knows how to copy edit.
ReplyDelete*sports editor
*gut-wrenching
*whose
*editor and vice president for news
Plus too many missing commas and run-on sentences to count.
Freeman won't be missed by anyone except the Coke machine vendor.
ReplyDeleteAt annual meetings held for the masses by the operating committee, Freeman rarely had much to say, or was not included in the speaking portion by the publisher - Sherlock or Donovan.
Now and then he'd pop up and yell out something about maintaining The Journal News' "watchdog" role. Utter and absolute BS.
There were a lot of people who left the paper, not because they were laid off, but because they saw the lack of interest Freeman had in the paper.
The layoffs and how they were done only hastened the distrust the staff had in him and in the person promoted to his position.
From Fisch's e-mail, most likely penned by Freeman himself:
ReplyDelete"Cyndee Royle who's first job" ...
Copy editors shouldn't be the only ones to see how The Journal News publisher not only lacks business sense and knowledge of the coverage area, but grammatical prowess!
Also, Fisch wrote "Cyndee," when in actually, it's "CynDee." Hey, if someone is going to use a childish catchy spelling for her name, you may as well get it right. So basically, Fisch not only doesn't how grammar, he doesn't know how to spell the new VP/News' name. Is it any wonder this paper's circulation has dwindled to less than 30,000 from a high of 155,000 before Freeman's arrival?
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ReplyDeleteWhat did he add the during his tenure as EE at the now bankrupt Journal News? How did he elevate the paper or staff in any way? The results - or lack thereof - are obvious. He didn't. Yet Gannett paid him literally millions during his 10 years for this pleasure. This is why Gannett itself is in disarray and itself on the brink of going belly up.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise here. When will we see Gannett fire up the electorate with a strategic move and pull in new energy.
ReplyDeleteNothing against the heir, but opportunities to move within the company have been shut down for years. Movement and new blood can invigorate.
Freeman was an ineffectual manager who could have left at any point without impacting the paper.
ReplyDeleteHe added absolutely nothing to the paper, and yet, in true Gannett fashion, he was permitted to amass a nice nest egg and ease away upon reaching executive retirement age.
Now The Journal News is left in the hands of his protege. Wonderful!
Why wait for Janauary, Henry? Do us all a favor and leave now.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, right. We wouldn't want you to get paid for doing nothing!
NEWS FLASH...The Journal News has removed the numerous uncomplimentary reader posts on the Freeman retires, Royle elevated story.
ReplyDeleteShocking! Once again The Journal News proves itself unable to withstand reader criticism. It leaves up some rude stuff about others, but not about its own.
That's no surprise, though, in a culture where the readers are idiots and the editors know everything.
Maybe The Journal News removed the comments because it didn't want other readers to see references to the paper's ever-dwindling circulation.
ReplyDeleteAs if anyone cares!
Congrats, Henry. You led The Journal News to the point of irrelevancy.
ReplyDeleteCompared to his successor, who rarely leaves her office, has had nothing to do with the daily news operation for many years and is out the door every day by 5, Freeman is like Ben Bradlee.
ReplyDeleteHenry is a kind and professional journalist
ReplyDeleteThere's still more dead weight though. When is Fisch going to get the heave hoe?
ReplyDeleteHere's all you need to know. Probably no more than a handful of people in the Hudson Valley even know who Henry Freeman is. That, more than anything, shows the Journal News' disconnect with its subscriber base during his tenure.
ReplyDelete12:35 - If he's so kind, he should buy going-away gifts for all the staff that remains and those who did the actual work during his disastrous 10-year tenure in Westchester. They were the "journalists" who did the work while he drank Coke and talked non stop about non-relevant topics such as his favorite college football teams.
ReplyDeleteDid he ever mention he was the founding sports editor of USA Today?
ReplyDeleteThe innovative new VP who has her finger on the pulse of the social media revolution has a Twitter account. Check it out: zero tweets, but one loyal follower.
ReplyDeleteThe paper's taken its hits on circulation, but last told it was in the 80K range, not 30K range. Henry Freeman has been an even-handed and wise leader of a hardworking (though much abused here) staff that has continued to win awards for its work despite some tough hits from corporate cost-cutting. Give the folks there a break.
ReplyDelete8:18 - 80,000 is what the Journal News is reporting. Estimates are it's far below that. In any case, seems like nearly all the comments have praised the efforts of the staff while questioning Freeman's poor work ethic and commitment to the paper through the years and the fact it was allowed to continue. Am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteJim, you are scum for allowing some of these attacks by the nameless chickens who post here.
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if one day someone decides to settle up with you for all the petty crap you have allowed people to throw around.
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ReplyDeleteI place w-a-a-a-y more restrictions and active moderating on comments here than Westchester and pretty much every other Gannett sites. Those who live in glass houses . . .
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
ReplyDeleteWestchester can report whatever circulation they please?
Oh, right. Those in the know, like 9:26pm, have it from reliable sources that the ABC audit that the newspaper goes through each year is just a farce. In fact, it is a well known fact that the entire Audit Bureau of Circulation is in cahoots with Westchester executives to fleece the advertisers by collaborating the inflated numbers they post. NOT.
Give me a break. Give us all a break. What estimates are you alluding to? Ever look at a press order? Ever look at a press run report? According to your allegations, distribution would have to be "losing" over 50,000 copies a night.
Please.
Even if that's true, and 80,000 is correct (which is highly HIGHLY doubtful), that means circulation is half of what it was 10 years ago. That is unheard of even in this climate. That is indisputable. Bottom line - your best case is a disaster. The worst case is a disaster of Titanic proportions.
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ReplyDeleteThis circulation argument is tiring. The fact is that it is down, down, down. In Rockland, where it was in high 40s, low 50s, the circulation is now in the mid to high 20s thanks to Westchester biggies sucking the life out of the Rockland operation for years.
ReplyDeleteIn Westchester, you'd have to be looking at a drop of 40 to 50 percent over the past decade. So, I think the 80,000 number is an accurate estimate when all three locations - Westchester, Rockland and Putnam are factored in.
An associated issue is how ineffectual the paper has become in all locations. You don't diminish the product and keep raising the price. That's the arrogance that has been the Westchester/Corporate culture for years.
It doesn't take long for readers to become former readers and to eventually forget about the paper entirely.
The Journal News simply doesn't have the credibility or the punch it once had. It's also doubtful, given corporate's attitude toward the community papers, that there will be improvements.
AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE WHEN THE LOCAL LEADERSHIP LIVES ONLY TO PLEASE CORPORATE.
It's the loss of local control that started the death knell ringing.
9:56, that sums it up perfectly.
ReplyDelete"I place w-a-a-a-y more restrictions and active moderating on comments here than Westchester and pretty much every other Gannett sites. Those who live in glass houses . . ."
ReplyDeleteNot the point, and you know it.
How were you ever a journalist? You seem clueless about very basic things.
I remember Henry Freeman fondly from having spent time working at the C-N with him. Those were some of the glory days of the C-N, when the paper won 7 NJPA general excellence awards in a row, while competing against the Home News (pre-sale to Gannett) and the Star Ledger in a very tough market. I won't speak to the Westchester years, but at the C-N, he was a great leader and I was sad to see him go. Godspeed Henry and happy days in your retirement.
ReplyDelete1:54 - HF, thanks for weighing in. Now, take a deep breath and have another Diet Coke. Try to relax, too. It will be bedtime soon.
ReplyDeleteHenry Freeman was and is a good guy.
ReplyDeleteWhat the potshot brigade doesn't realize is that managers and executives are at just as much a loss at what to do about the changes in the industry as everyone else is. There is not one newspaper entity -- not one! -- that has figured a way out of this.
How Henry navigated the changes, and how he handled the harsh realities in Westchester I don't know. From what I read, even factoring in bitter hype, it obviously wasn't pleasant and I'm sure he could have tried to do it better.
But you know what? Laying off one person, let alone 20 or 30 or more, sucks no matter how it is done or what bizarre scheme is used to make it "fair."
I just know that Henry was a leader at USA Today, was a strong leader in Delaware and when he ran into the collapse of the business up in Harrison, did what he could do. Which was basically try to get everyone through it.
If those hurt and disappointed by it all, rightfully, want to vent with potshots and how he "left early" and was clueless and all the rest, well, that's just angry talk from kids in the hall. Real journalists know Henry was top drawer. He isn't perfect but he did what he could to have his paper and people survive.
Criticism comes with the territory, but Henry Freeman deserves much better than the crap being thrown around here.
No one is saying he is not a "good guy." That's irrelevant to the discussion. So too are those who speak of his days (as he often does - ad nauseum in fact) at USA Today.
ReplyDeleteHe was a disengaged manager, who during tough times ignored the major problems -- whether it be the industry decline or the many issues at the paper-- rather than taking them on. In the tough times the last few years, he didn't rally the staff, he avoided it. Unless it was to discuss non-relevant topics such as college football or his trains.
You weren't there. We were. It's clear, to use a sports term he would understand, the last few years he was "running out the string." That's not a potshot. That's a fact.
Sorry if you feel that all this should be glossed over just because he has finally decided to retire.
The comments of 7:32 are typical of someone who doesn't know the facts and is spinning his argument to fit his personal perception of someone. That's fine. We all do that from time to time in our lives. But for the purposes of the discussion of this forced resignation, the facts must prevail. You clearly don't know the facts.
ReplyDelete7:32 ... It's great to have "good guys" in journalism. However, in the midst of the worst downturn in the history of the industry, what's really needed is leadership, competence, caring and engagement. This was lacking in Westchester during Freeman's failed tenure. My guess is you are one of his cronies from way back when... When times were good and mediocre managers often drew praise. Your loyalty to a friend is admirable though completely off the mark when discussing this topic. These are far different times, my friend. Far different.
ReplyDelete8:39 and 10:52 are Jim's cronies, eager to take potshots at anyone within Gannett. They clearly don't know the facts.
ReplyDeleteThere. See how that works?
When this blog was down for some months, there was a thread on Gannettoid called Westchester County (N.Y.) Journal News that contained 942 replies and 48,443 views.
ReplyDeleteThat thread, along with the welcome resurgence of this blog, has chronicled the long, sad story in Westchester/Putnam/Rockland.
Unfortunately, anonymous postings or not, most of them are true. They would make a good foundation for a book or case study on how a newspaper in a vibrant market of 1.3 million people could pretty much collapse.
For the record, you can still find on lohud.com many harsh criticisms of the management team at TJN.
http://www.lohud.com/comments/article/20101201/NEWS01/12010373/Henry-Freeman-Journal-News-editor-to-retire-Senior-Managing-Editor-CynDee-Royle-named-editor
http://www.lohud.com/comments/article/20101202/NEWS01/12020373/Journal-News-editor-Freeman-to-retire-Royle-to-step-in
10:52 is right on target with the statement that "what's really needed is leadership, competence, caring and engagement." That certainly has been lacking during Callinan's tenure in Cincinnati. He may have been a good editor in the past but he came to Cincinnati as a broken man and certainly didn't hide his bitterness from the staff about being booted from Phoenix.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that the paper names an editor with the traits that 10:52 mentioned. I have not seen "Local News Director" (aka Managing Editor) Julie Engebrecht's name brought up in discussions. She's a natch for the top job and Buchanan appears to like her - or she wouldn't still be there.
The disinterest that Freeman and his replacement had in the newspaper was so apparent, so consistent, that it drove some good people away to other jobs.
ReplyDeleteFreeman was almost invisible as a newsroom force, and his replacement is expected to be the same. She hardly ever left her office as managing editor. Will she ever be seen as a vp?
I doubt anyone wishes Henry ill, but it's a shame that his dynamo burned out by the time he got to Westchester.
He sure liked his professional sports tickets, though!
The fact is that Sherlock and Donovan ran the show and Freeman was just along for the ride.
You know, I made an early comment that made observation much less harsh and it was removed.
ReplyDeleteSo whatever line their is that I apparently crossed, I will say that Freeman made some jovial remarks after the Aug. 2009 layoffs/reapplication process was announced that showed a complete lack of sensitivity for a workforce stunned and nervous.
He also made a poor choice in one department when it came to picking a protegee.
Given that he had one time been a solid manager, and he was financially comfortable, I was surprised that he opted to remain at the paper when things started to go south.