Frank Wood's long newspaper war with Gannett in Wisconsin's Green Bay, from 1980 to 2004, was chronicled in The Chain Gang: One Newspaper versus the Gannett Empire. The book was written by Richard McCord, hired by Wood to tell the story of his paper's battle against the publishing giant.
Wood died yesterday in De Pere, Wisc. He was 82, the Green Bay Press-Gazette said today.
Wood bought what he renamed the Green Bay News-Chronicle in 1976. The paper had started four years before by a labor union striking against the dominant Press-Gazette over the paper's conversion to cold type. GCI entered the market in 1980, when it bought the Press-Gazette.
Wood eventually gave up the fight, selling the News-Chronicle plus 22 other dailies and other publications to GCI in 2004, for an undisclosed sum.
In a statement announcing the deal, GCI said no immediate changes in operations were planned for the News-Chronicle. Wood, then 76, said he was pleased that his employees would "have the additional opportunity offered by becoming part of a much larger organization." The statement also quoted Ellen Leifeld, then publisher of The Post-Crescent in Appleton saying:
“We want to spend some time to better understand the publications, get to know the employees, and develop a plan to carry on the tradition that Frank started 51 years ago when he and his wife, Agnes, bought their first weekly newspaper in Denmark, Wisc.''
A year later, June 2005, GCI closed the paper, merging its operations into those of the Press-Gazette. At the time, blogger Jim Romenesko quoted a GCI spokesperson saying: "The Green Bay News-Chronicle is a business that has not been successful for years. It’s a business decision.”
The shuttered paper's circulation had fallen to an estimated 5,000 copies, according to this Wikipedia article. Today, the surviving Press-Gazette's weekday circulation is 43,278.
Wood bought what he renamed the Green Bay News-Chronicle in 1976. The paper had started four years before by a labor union striking against the dominant Press-Gazette over the paper's conversion to cold type. GCI entered the market in 1980, when it bought the Press-Gazette.
Wood eventually gave up the fight, selling the News-Chronicle plus 22 other dailies and other publications to GCI in 2004, for an undisclosed sum.
In a statement announcing the deal, GCI said no immediate changes in operations were planned for the News-Chronicle. Wood, then 76, said he was pleased that his employees would "have the additional opportunity offered by becoming part of a much larger organization." The statement also quoted Ellen Leifeld, then publisher of The Post-Crescent in Appleton saying:
“We want to spend some time to better understand the publications, get to know the employees, and develop a plan to carry on the tradition that Frank started 51 years ago when he and his wife, Agnes, bought their first weekly newspaper in Denmark, Wisc.''
A year later, June 2005, GCI closed the paper, merging its operations into those of the Press-Gazette. At the time, blogger Jim Romenesko quoted a GCI spokesperson saying: "The Green Bay News-Chronicle is a business that has not been successful for years. It’s a business decision.”
The shuttered paper's circulation had fallen to an estimated 5,000 copies, according to this Wikipedia article. Today, the surviving Press-Gazette's weekday circulation is 43,278.
Weekday only 43,000? Didn't realize they had sunk that low for such a huge metro area.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia isn't a realistic or accepted source, even for high school kids. You have access to the latest ABC, use that number. Granted, ABC is no longer what it once was, but what is?
ReplyDeleteABC says 43,278.
ReplyDeleteGannett knew before they took control of the News-Chronicle , that they were going to shut it down. Both because of control issues that Al has, and because of a tax write off.
ReplyDeleteThere is no ABC data for the News-Chronicle that I can find. And as 3:41 noted, the correct weekday circulation for the Press-Gazette is 43,278.
ReplyDeleteAbout the only thing I can say for Gannett was that they gave us a decent interval (11 months) before they shut us down, and gave us a week to prepare a goodbye issue. I'm not sure about the ABC data, but we were at 9,000 when Gannett bought us, and the circulation did slide as people started to think if they were going to give their money to them either way, they might as well get more for it.
ReplyDeletethat canned speech is used every time they buy a newspaper or rival. absolutely meaningless hype - they don't care about the paper or employees, they just want all the competition gone so they can have a monopoly and raise rates. then hope and pray it can get printed, delivered or better yet correct ads in it.
ReplyDeleteI knew people who worked at the News-Chronicle when Gannett bought it, and no one believed the canned speech then, either.
ReplyDeleteI heard the same speech when Gannett purchased the Wisconsin property where I worked. I knew every word coming out of Ellen's mouth was a lie. I'm so glad I escaped that place before the furloughs, layoffs and reductions in force were put in place. My supervisor, my supervisor's supervisor and my president-publisher are gone, too: resignation, reduction in force due to GPC and forced retirement. With all this bad blood between Gannett and those it destroyed, is there any wonder why readers and advertisers now stay away from my old paper? Get a clue!
ReplyDeleteNice to know there was a publisher out there who did the right thing. It really must have hurt him to summon up the guts to go to Gannett and sell his paper after such a vicious fight. But that gave his employees some extra months of a paycheck and a chance to sort things out. Wish I knew of other publishers thought of their employees and not themselves all of the time.
ReplyDeleteI was a newsroom employee at the Press-Gazette when the deal went down and was physically present for the announcement of the purchase by the then-publisher, a nasty and avaricious man even by Gannett standards.
ReplyDeleteEveryone with a brain in the newsroom (i.e 100 percent) knew that they bought it to shutter it despite their claims. The real reason, of course, was to create a monopoly environment for ad sales. But, you see, in the USA it's not a lie when untruth comes from a corporation. And of course, when it's a campaign donation it's protected free speech, according to the Supreme Court. God bless America.
As for the circulation of 43K-ish, know this: Without the Green Bay Packers, the circulation is more like 30K or even less. The freak circumstance of an NFL franchise -- oops, I mean a "storied" NFL franchise -- in a glorified cow-town means a lot to the paper, and is the principal reason it always ranks among the top in the company for profitability. Not that the Press-Gazette is the paper of record for all-things-Packer. Anyone with a brain who lives in Wisconsin knows that honor belongs to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which, in fairness, I should point out is far larger in circulation.
The News Chronicle folks reading this can all hold their heads high. They were a worthy opponent and did a good job with the resources they had. In the end, that is all any of us can do. There is no shame in being relatively small. The shame is in being relatively much bigger and still being bad.
I am 10.45 a.m. and forgot to say one thing. When I arrived in the Press-Gazette newsroom and learned of the history of the paper that sparked the creation of the News-Chronicle I went to the library and checked out a copy of "The Chain Gang." The public library in Green Bay had (and probably still does have) three or four copies of it -- a gift, probably, from Mr. Wood. I was alarmed at what I read and even more alarmed when, as the months went by, I saw pretty much everything in the book confirmed by my own two eyes. My fault wasn't joining the paper, though. My fault was staying too long. For this no one is to blame, I am responsible.
ReplyDeleteA final note: I was surprised at how many of my fellow newsroom employees had not bothered to read the book, or at least claimed they had not read it. Someone once said there is no fool like an old fool. I'd like to create my own version of that aphorism right here: There is no fool like a willing fool.
Nice posts, 10:47 and again at 10:58. I'm a former Gannettoid in Wisconsin, and when I want to read any state news, especially politics, I go to jsonline.com. Hands down the best newspaper in the state, and certainly the most imformative. Leaves the 10 Gannett papers here in the dust.
ReplyDeleteOops. informative.
ReplyDeleteI work at a paper which bought and passed out 50 copies of the Chain Gang after Gannett had bought the Wisconsin papers from Thompson. What a hoot! The advertisers loved the story and ate it up, we dominated, Then years later Gannett bought our little paper. The famous words of They Might be Giants "Everything was right is wrong again!?" slide in my brain on the way to work nearly everyday. God bless Frank
ReplyDeleteFrank Woods was a gentle giant of a man and a complete gentleman. He fought Gannett for years and his word was his bond. Frank was the most moral and ethical man I worked with in my years at K mart.
ReplyDeleteIf Gannett leadership had half his wisdom,grace,ethics and empathy for his employees GCI would not be in this mess today.
Rest in Peace Frank! You will be missed.
Dale
I am also a former Wisconsin gannettoid. And I agree with the other posters that the Milwaukee J-S dominates the state market. I even pay for a subscription for the J-S electronic version. The J-S and an unusually talented Associated Press originate 90% of the major statewide stories.
ReplyDeleteThe Appleton P-C likes to tout its title as Newspaper of the Year from the WNA. What they don't say is there are only four papers in their circulation category and the J-S doesn't participate.
You know you can edit wiki if you know better.
ReplyDelete