 |
| Ellwood |
I pointed to this possibility in April 2010 here:
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-award-for-ellwood-sign-of-more-to.html
Here's the announcement:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gannett-veteran-susie-ellwood-named-executive-vice-president-and-general-manager-of-usa-today-2011-06-06?siteid=nbsh
tsk tsk, asleep at the wheel Jim
ReplyDeleteWatch out, Ms. Frank and Mr. Jones. Here comes the Ellwood axe.
ReplyDelete....Plus the gaolers..
ReplyDeleteMy Boss say it ain't so!!! You tell us stuff no one cares about and then the world turns upside down and you are where??????
ReplyDeleteheh don't forget, My Boss has a team now!!!
ReplyDeleteI was on The Arkansas Gazette's Marketing Committee in the late 1990s when Ellwood was the Little Rock paper's head of marketing; Craig Moon was the publisher, and I was business news editor.
ReplyDeleteSmall world, eh, Susie?
2:17 So, instant assessment?
ReplyDelete2:20 Gawd. I'm going to have to think very carefully about my response to your question. I'm sure my readers in Little Rock will understand.
ReplyDeleteThis is well deserved and USAT will benefit greatly from Susie's leadship and ability to cut through the BS and fifedoms there.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
Is this a new position? or is it one that has been dark for a while?
ReplyDelete2:33 I wouldn't pay that much attention to the table of organization because I think things are moving too quickly now on this long-promised reorganization. Still to check in is Maryam, but somehow I think she's coming up with ideas.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a new position, and I strongly suspect she's now prepping to assume Hunke's job.
ReplyDeleteA powerful, dynamic leader is exactly what we need. Get the axe out, susie. Start at the verticals and then the vice presidents. Plenty of low hanging friut to prune.
ReplyDeleteEllwood and Hunke are very, very close, so if anything, this is support for the direction that Hunke has taken USAT.
ReplyDeleteOh, I imagine Ellwood loves the verticals. She may not like how they're being run, or who's running them, but I seriously doubt she's been brought in to knife the sites.
ReplyDeleteGeez....another do-nothing senior exec to add to the ranks. I can now see why we had to layoff so many people. It was to fund Hunks ever-expanding management team. Oh well, better get the consultants on the phone. We'll need a plan.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the question we all want answered is: will she move to the DC area!?!?
ReplyDelete2:42 is a perfect example of morons posting here with no knowledge. Ellwood is the farthest thing from a do-nothing exec.......anyone who has any knowledge of her work knows different.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope 2:42 is wrong. But her sentiment is shared by many who see an abundance of under worked, underskilled, under qualified senior managers here who are way overpaid.
ReplyDelete2:57 I'm calling your bluff: Do you have such knowledge of Ellwood's work?
ReplyDeleteNoted for the record: The top editor at the Detroit Free Press is Paul Anger. He was Hunke's editor when that paper won a Pulitzer Prize in April 2009.
ReplyDeleteWhat fantastic news for her. USAToday cynics....give her a chance. Things will improve at USAT with her onboard.
ReplyDelete2:57 - I'm gonna bet 2:42 isn't too far off.
ReplyDelete2:57 here. Yes, Jim, I do. Going back many years to now in Detroit. I'm not a corporate plant, just someone who loves this business and has had the opportunity to work with her and watch firsthand the results she's gotten as well as how she's lead. That's good enough for me, and I can tell you it will be good for USAT, too. That's it, roger out, let the bashing of this message begin.
ReplyDeletePardon me, ``led.'' --2:57
ReplyDeleteMy g-d! What is it about the failed strategies from Detroit? From Vega, to Hunke, to Ellwood, the Detroit properties have been bleeding red for decades. All they know how to do is cut as they can't make money. Now the same thing is happening at USA Today. These are the crappiest people and executives in the industry!
ReplyDeleteIf I understand what is happening, and I think I really do, I would not expect to see any change in the makeup of the verticals or what USA Today currently looks like. But I believe there will soon come wholesale and across-the-board personnel changes, including and especially Hunke, and perhaps even other seemingly unrelated community paper positions. We are heading into a very busy few days and it's going to be a bitch putting out the Daily Miracle. But I have every confidence it will publish.
ReplyDeleteWhen the company needs change for a national strategy, who does it turn to? Another local market executive. This tired approach is the usual Gannett approach, which has proven to be an issue over and over again. The local market folks may be good at what they do locally, but the continued infusion of having the majority of management come from the local markets is absolutely deadly for the critical innovation and changes that the company despartely needs to thrive. Many who post on this blog may disagree, as they also come from this same point of view and background. If it doesn't change, the company as a whole will fail.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise that marketing people involved. They need someone who can take a fresh look, quickly reppraise where we are and where we are going, and sketch out the route we are going to take. Maryam is spearheading up this effort.
ReplyDelete5:17 makes a great point. Unless you go for a swing for the fences hard ass from, say the Times or the WSJ, this is what you get. Same old same old from the minor league. Usa Today, in particular, could benefit from some crusty hard ass newsroom types.
ReplyDelete5:17 nailed it.
ReplyDelete5:23,
ReplyDeleteIn my experience here at USAT, the LAST people you ever want to get involved in solving problems and setting the strategic direction are the marketing people! Witness the Wilks disaster.
I hope to God that Susie takes a swing at Lee "Shovel the Shit" Jones. Get some actual leadership in here instead of a blowhard who points the finger of failure at everyone but himself.
ReplyDeleteAs a person with first-hand knowledge of Ellwood's abilities and character (AND every reason in the world to loath the company that disposed of me because I cared more about community than corporate) Susie is the real deal. This is one of the very few smart decisions (Michael Kane's leadership is the other) that Gannett has made on the newspaper side in the past several years. Not every Gannett exec is a bad exec....but there are a lot fewer good ones than there were when I started.
ReplyDelete8:20. Many of us hope you are right. What has been so frustrating post transformation has been the utter lack of focus on the product. Make some smart decision making, put the right people in the right jobs, give us leadership (instead of second guessing and indecision) and you will win us over immediately.
ReplyDeleteThis is sad.
ReplyDeleteUSA Today's online story about Ellwood's promotion appears to be, nearly word-for-word, the press release. The story's byline says, "From staff reports." I wonder what will run in print in Tuesday's editions?
I hate to be negative, but Ellwood is just a puppet for Hunke. That is the function she served in Detroit and that is the function she will serve at USAT. Whatever Dave wants, Susie will do. Ellwood is a smart woman but her failing is her blind allegiance to Hunke. Dave hates to get his hands dirty, so my guess is that Susie has been brought in to do his dirty work.
ReplyDelete6:12,
ReplyDeleteNot afraid to get his hands dirty. And also not afraid to take credit from those who do.
11:34 I used to be the one in the newsroom who had to write these stories, and just once tried to make it a real story with some outside views. The managing editor personally got involved and edited out anything that didn't match the press release. There's no winning on these stories.
ReplyDelete