Thursday, February 24, 2011

Westchester | Publisher Fisch is out, readers say

Three anonymous Gannett Blog readers say Michael Fisch is no longer publisher of The Journal News in Westchester, N.Y. -- effective today, it seems. Asbury Park Press Publisher Tom Donovan is interim publisher, according to Anonymous@5:57 p.m.

Fisch was named publisher in August 2007, the same time Donovan was promoted to his position at Asbury Park.

Earlier: Last year, at least 19 papers saw top executives turn over

37 comments:

  1. How convenient. TD "reunited" with CR!?!

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  2. Let PG from across the Hudson River have a go at The Journal News. I'm sure he can handle killing off TJN and the C-N at the same time.

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  3. So, was Fisch booted or did he quit under his own steam?

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  4. Bad timing! I think he bought a nice $3 million estate just before the real estate market tanked.

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  5. At the company meeting this afternoon Tom Donovan said he had no idea where The Journal News employees enthusiasm had gone. I'll tell you where Mr. Donovan, it was outsourced!

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  6. Jandell and Mike's jobs were terminated.

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  7. 8:46 - I take it that statement by Donovan was made in a negative way directed at the beleaguered staff. How callous! What else did he say during his remarks? Did CinDee Royle speak as well?

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  9. The Journal News is a total train wreck in every way. The funny thing is the demise started under Donovan before he left as publisher to run the NJ papers into the ground.

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  11. Please: Watch the highly personal attacks, and don't use the word, "bitch."

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  13. Following is an edited version of a comment posted at 10:25 p.m.:

    Fisch is a good guy and a talented newspaperman. His fate was sealed when he arrived in Westchester where he had to deal with an [XXXXX] EE playing out the string [XXXXX]. It does appear that the sales manager sealed her own fate when corporate paid its visit a few weeks back at the time the sale was completed.

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  14. Thomas Donovan named acting Journal News publisher By The Journal News • February 25, 2011

    Thomas M. Donovan will be the acting president and publisher of The Journal News while a search is conducted for a new executive.


    The leadership change was announced Thursday by Michael Kane, president of parent company Gannett's East Group. Donovan steps in to replace Michael Fisch, who left the company along with Jandell Herum, the newspaper's vice president of advertising.
    Donovan, the president and publisher of the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey and a vice president of Gannett's East Group, is a former publisher of The Journal News.
    "The Journal News Media Group is the No. 1 source of news and information in the Lower Hudson Valley," Donovan said. "It's a challenging time for our industry, but I'm excited for the chance to work again with a very talented team."
    Donovan joined The Journal News in 1999 as vice president of advertising and later was the executive vice president. He was the publisher from June 2005 to August 2007.

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  15. Anonymous said... westchester site first day on the for acting president and publisher is to fix. adverting and circlation depts I say UNDERPERFORMING AGAIN UNDERPERFORMING AND TOP HEAVY AT MANGERMENT LEVEL NO WAY AROUND IT.

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  16. Let Barry run Westchester from Poughkeepsie

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  17. 7:03 is certainly on to something. Surprised Mrs. TD lets TD anywhere near White Plains.

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  18. ANONYMOUN SAID...WESTCHESTER SITE UNDERPERFORMING SITE. BUILDING SOLD WHAT A DOG AND PONKEY SHOW. IT IS OVER THE MILK HAS RAN OUT.

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  19. 8:45, that goes for APP too.

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  20. the interesting thing here is something very wrong must have happened. i think we all know that these publisher succession things are well-orchestrated and thought out in advance. Player A goes to site B and the domino's fall into place across the company. I guess they needed to move expeditiously because there was no "plan B" ... It is hard to believe they don't have someone in the ranks at the Publisher/GM level that they can bring in to run this sinking ship. The Wilmington publisher change, bringing in the guy from Philly was the first signal, perhaps. What type of a signal does this send to those wanna-be publishers or others who do want to move up to what was once a high-profile position in the shadows of the largest media market in the US ... a damned shame this is happening to the company ...

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  21. A player is a player no matter where he goes.

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  22. There's nothing like a good newspaper (ah, I mean information gathering source). And Westchester is nothing like a good newspaper.
    It once was 350 layoffs ago, however. So Donovan, unless you rehire those mostly talented folks, just stop with the corporate B.S. No one wants to hear it anymore.

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  23. The decline of Westchester started with our old friend Gary Sherlock -

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  24. Ah yes, Gary Sherlock, the man who introduced unpaid furloughs to the Gannett brass: three unpaid weeks about 15 years ago because Westchester was not meeting its profit goal.

    And Tom Donovan, groomed by Mr. Sherlock himself. Sherlock loved his company paid Mercedes, and his Knicks tickets. He and Donovan were quite the team at the Westchester Classic golf tournament.

    Sooooo, Mr. Donovan, you wonder where the enthusiasm went? It went the way of pay freezes, furloughs and layoffs while you got bonuses and raises.

    Either Donovan lives in a cave or he's a world-class BS artist. Might be both.

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  25. I wonder what kind of deal / package Fisch & Jandell received. I will bet the farm that they didn’t get the same crappy deal we were given back in March of 2010 when they shut down Production and 165 people were let go.
    TD and CR reunited again how ironic.

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  26. Mr. Donovan, you wonder where the enthusiasm went? We can't even afford reporter notebooks but we can send Sports columnist SB to Florida for Spring Training, no one reads TJN for pro sports.

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  27. So, are any more cuts planned in the JN newsroom Mr. Donovan?

    Maybe getting a few more people on the treadmill will spice things up a bit. Maybe consolidating a few more beats will raised the energy level. Maybe cutting the coverage of some communities like was done to Yonkers and Mt. Vernon and Haverstraw and Stony Point and Ramapo will get more people to read the paper.

    Let's see how long it takes, Mr. Donovan, for you to sink this ship for good!

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  28. Donovan's just one more ass-kissing corporate lackey. He won't do anything until corporate tells him what to do.

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  29. Tom Donovan returning to Westchester - wow. My sympathies to everyone at the Journal News, who had thought they had rid themselves of him.

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  30. It is very scary that TD would return to fix Westchester. Really? That's all you got? Really? Couple things;
    -it's goingto take more than a shify in ad directorsand publishers to fix this poor paper
    -why would you do it without having a solid leader in place to make the changes neccessary just once instead of now and when a perm pub is hired? Poor people that are left working there!
    -TD to the resue? Really? OMG!
    What other hair brained ideas can we come up with? This company is turing into the biggest joke. The lack of leadership and decision making is HORRIBLE! Not just in Westchester but in all of Gannett and the entire newspaper industry. Run for the hills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  32. 2:32 hit the nail right on the head....Gary Sherlock started the demise of these once great local newspapers. Poor Bill Fanning must be turning over in his grave! This old retiree cries when reading this blog. Joe Ungaro must be doing a flip when he looks down on Gannett Drive. Sad, sad, sad!

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  33. If TD goes to Westchester, does KG get the position APP?

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  34. Sherlock might have started the voyage towards the icy waters, but the iceberg that brought this ship down came straight from Wisconsin.

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  35. amen to that, decorating rooms and dressing up for divisional meetings don't pay the bills now does it?

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