Monday, June 06, 2011

USAT | This assignment says Ellwood's got chops

Ye old chopping block
Just-named USA Today deputy publisher Susie Ellwood is on the cost-cutting team now led by Gannett Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh. Here's the relevant paragraph from CEO Craig Dubow's March "transformation" memo; she's on Team No. 5, which is all about:

"Transformational Cost Restructuring: How can we best ensure we have the right resources in the right areas to meet changes in the industry and our portfolio? Led by Paul Saleh, senior vice president and chief financial officer -- Gannett. Team members include Mark Cornetta, Stacy Cunningham, Susie Ellwood, Don Lemire, Susan Motiff and Evan Ray."

11 comments:

  1. In today's announcement, Publisher Dave Hunke himself said Ellwood had been brought in to be an executioner:

    "As she manages the day-to-day responsibilities and focuses on implementation and execution of our strategies, we will be able to accelerate our efforts and aggressively pursue further innovations, including the expansion of our unmatched Sports, Travel and Life franchises."

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  2. Thousands and thousands of Gannett employees will be losing their jobs...it's just a matter of time. It's not if, it's when. Somewhere in somebody's computer is an Excel worksheet with your name on it. Believe it!

    Plan accordingly...you have been warned.

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  3. I don't see Susie cutting where cutting needs it most. At the top. We need a lean, mean management structure, not useless overhead.

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  4. Her appointment landed with a giant thud in the newsrooms today. People aren't sure whose behind needs kissing anymore. Hillkirk & Co. Are on very thin ice.

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  5. How many vice presidents does it take to screw in a light bulb?

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  6. 7:26 - unfortunately that's not part of the transformation. In fact, it's just the opposite. We seem hellbent to add to our already bloated management ranks at the expense of those who can actually enhance the brand. This is just the latest example.

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  7. Is it possible to convert some of these editors to content producers? That's what The New York Time's Bill Keller did. Have any of these people reported in the past?

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  8. Doubtful any of them could report and write on deadline, experience or not. Maybe they could do the soft stuff the verticals are banking their business model on.

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  9. Maybe they could contribute to Life's recipe section. A FULL page in today's paper. This is what we've become??????

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  10. Please give these people some actual work to do.

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