Wednesday, December 22, 2010

With Kane and Crotchfelt, 19 newspaper CEO swaps

This afternoon's appointment of Michael Kane as publisher of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, after the promotion of Karen Crotchfelt to publisher of The Indianapolis Star, are now at least the 18th and 19th turnovers of top Gannett newspaper executive slots this year.

This unusual turnover -- half of it, in the past month -- is among GCI's 81 U.S. community publishing newspapers, and the Tucson, Ariz., newspaper partnership. It follows recent Gannett Blog speculation that the division was due for a big reorganization. The list so far:
  1. Today. Kane to Rochester and . . .
  2. Crotchfelt to Indianapolis.
  3. Dec. 14. Leslie Hurst named publisher of The Clarion-Ledger at Jackson, Miss., replacing retiring Larry Whitaker. Her successor at The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La., hasn't been announced. is Ali Zoibi, previously of the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y.
  4. Dec. 13. Gabe Aguiree named general manager of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, replacing Dan Brown, whose departure wasn't explained.
  5. Dec. 10. Kim Wilson leaves Fort Collins Coloradoan; her departure isn't explained, and a replacement hasn't been announced.
  6. Dec. 6. Scott Johnson to publisher of the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota. He replaces Bill Albrecht, who was earlier named president of the Media Network of Central Ohio.
  7. Nov. 30. Charlie Nutt retires as publisher of The Daily Journal in Vineland, N.J. Advertising Director Joseph Calchi also assumes title of general manager.
  8. Michael Beck to general manager of Wisconsin's Stevens Point Journal; he replaced Mark Baldwin, whose departure wasn't explained.
  9. Nov. 18. Howard Griffin named publisher of The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., replacing retiring Curtis Riddle.
  10. Nov. 15. Mike Jameson leaves as CEO Tucson Newspapers, the joint operating agency co-owned by Gannett and Lee Enterprises; it publishes Lee's Arizona Daily Star. Jameson's replacement hasn't been announced.
  11. Oct. 20. Andrew Oppmann leaves as publisher of The Leaf-Chronicle for a university job; his permanent replacement hasn't been announced.
  12. Oct. 12. Lee Webber officially retires as publisher of The Honolulu Advertiser after its sale to a cross-town rival.
  13. Sept. 28. Linda Greiwe to publisher of the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri, replacing retiring Thomas Bookstaver.
  14. Sept. 13. Mark Winkler to publisher of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., replacing Richard Ramhoff, whose departure was not explained.
  15. Sep. 13. James Fogler to publisher of the Burlington Free Press, replacing Brad Robertson, who was promoted to president of the new GannettLocal.
  16. May 25. Samuel Martin to publisher of the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama. He replaces Cheryl Lindus.
  17. May 25. Lindus to general manager of The Muncie Star Press in Muncie, Ind. She replaces Gene Williams, named executive editor of the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J.
  18. April 7. Paul Grzella to general manager of New Jersey's Courier News in Bridgewater and the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick; he replaced Skip Hidlay, who left to become publisher of the Wichita Eagle in Kansas. 
  19. March 25. Mei-Mei Chan to publisher of The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., replacing Carol Hudler, who was promoted to publisher of The Tennessean at Nashville in November 2009.
Have I missed anyone? 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.
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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous12/22/2010 1:30 PM

    The name of the paper is The Star Press. It is located in Muncie, but Muncie is not in the title.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim Hopkins12/22/2010 1:51 PM

    Thank you. I've now fixed that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12/22/2010 10:32 PM

    No replacement named at Fort Collins Coloradoan while all the other papers have new publishers? This very well could mean the Fort Collins paper is on the sale block - to the Denver Post. The sale is a topic that was talked about during the session in which it was announced that Kim Wilson was no longer publisher. Salem publisher made it clear that somebody is finding value in the Coloradoan and is willing to talk about buying it. He said no sale 'yet'. Maybe it is easier for Gannett to negotiate without a publisher on board and it looks beter on the bottom line, right?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12/23/2010 1:01 AM

    In Tucson, looks like Lee's making a move to consolidate control of the partnership. They promoted their executives today, in place of the JOA head who stepped down last month http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/122210_humenik

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12/23/2010 2:06 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12/23/2010 1:11 PM

    Some posters have said that this shifting around is nothing unusual; that it shows Gannett is just getting back to business as usual.

    Well, I've got to say that the sheer number is staggering to me.

    And excuse me for being so out of touch, but what did Kane do in Westchester? The name's familiar, but I don't recall.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12/23/2010 2:11 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

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