The USA Today Sports Media Group said today that former BBC executive Mark Kortekaas had been named senior vice president of digital.
He's at least the third SVP at the sports group, and at least the 22nd senior manager overall hired or promoted under USA Today Publisher Dave Hunke's watch, since a summer 2010 reorganization.
In October, group President Tom Beusse said he'd hired two other SVPs: Dave Morgan as editor-in-chief, and Peter Lazarus to head multimedia sales.
Today's announcement says Kortekaas "was most recently based in London with the BBC." However, his LinkedIn profile says he left that post in March. After that, he was a self-employed consultant, the profile says.
The sports media group was launched in January 2011, the announcement says, and "encompasses all sports initiatives across USA Today, as well as Gannett’s 81 daily media properties, 23 broadcast television stations, HighSchoolSports.net, BNQT.com and MMAjunkie.com."
Earlier: At Sports Media Group, vertical or silo?
 |
| Kortekaas |
In October, group President Tom Beusse said he'd hired two other SVPs: Dave Morgan as editor-in-chief, and Peter Lazarus to head multimedia sales.
Today's announcement says Kortekaas "was most recently based in London with the BBC." However, his LinkedIn profile says he left that post in March. After that, he was a self-employed consultant, the profile says.
The sports media group was launched in January 2011, the announcement says, and "encompasses all sports initiatives across USA Today, as well as Gannett’s 81 daily media properties, 23 broadcast television stations, HighSchoolSports.net, BNQT.com and MMAjunkie.com."
Earlier: At Sports Media Group, vertical or silo?
Of these 21 USA Today executives hired or promoted, many are women.
ReplyDeleteBut how many are members of racial or ethnic groups?
Ahh, thank God. Another SVP at USA TODAY. We hadn't hired one in about 8 days and I was nervous we were falling behind. Then again, perhaps we have already hired all the VPs and SVPs in the world?
ReplyDeleteJesus Frigging Christ. Isn't this what Payne and gel man are supposed to be handling? Where the he'll is the investment in veteran reporters who can break stories and enterprise ? What is wrong with Hunke?
ReplyDeleteUSA Today now has more vice presidents than the Life and Money sections. Perhaps they can do some writing and reporting, 5:49. they may have to. So many chiefs with so many potential ideas means there are too few people to execute them.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: how many out-of-work friends will Mr. digital be hiring?
Yet another off-the-scrap heep senior exec just marking time until the next gig. Would love to see someone who actually WANTS to work here instead of HAVING to work here.
ReplyDeleteI think Beusse is one of the few good ones we have, so I'm giving him every benefit of the doubt. He makes the other clowns look like amateurs.
ReplyDeleteRather than hiring people who can produce compelling, interesting stories and content, Mr. Hunke would much rather hire overblown executives at inflated salaries. No wonder the organization is in freefall.
ReplyDeleteHunke still needs to hire about a dozen more VPs before he'll have as many as Teldar Paper had in "Wall Street" (1987):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-gordon-gekko-at-teldar-shareholders-meeting-wall-street-7841013.html
Go about 2:05 in for a good laugh.
Consultant - one who has failed at his chosen profession so he becomes a consultant to lead others down that same path to failure.
ReplyDeleteGood thing they laid off salespeople to afford this guy. You can never have enough spare VPs (SVPs).
ReplyDeleteYipes: There have been so many hires that I misplaced one.
ReplyDeleteAt least 22 -- not 21 -- have been hired at the level of general manager, vice president or higher when I include Mark Pesavento, who was named USA Today Sports Media Group's vice president of content late last month.
You've got to be freakin' kidding me! USAT was always bloated at the top, but after all the layoffs and buyouts of people who actually did the work and enforced certain standards, this crap with hiring more execs just sickens me. Doesn't anyone making these decisions see how quality has diminished in recent years and how workloads have increased to the point where people are ready to throw in the towel? Why is USAT doing this? When will USAT hire some real journalists who are capable of rolling up their sleeves and putting out a great product. All these promises and high-end salaries are getting us nowhere. All the distancing from what we once were -- that proud heritage -- has dug a deeper and deeper hole. This news of this hiring is not what any of us in the trenches needed to hear.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe any of the new VPs are African-American.
ReplyDeleteWhether you believe in affirmative action or think it's time has passed, the fact remains that without anyone at the top saying that diversity of thought and background is important to keep the product relevant to a changing nation, you indeed end up with a bunch of white people.
Gannett's commitment to diversity, without the need of any government mandate, was once a source of real pride. It would be one thing if it had been rejected. Even worse, it has been totally forgotten.
Was this necessary? This flowchart keeps getting more disgusting by the week.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if they hire blacks, whites, or people with polka dots. Just give us capable senior management. So far, with only an exception or two, they have been woefully inadequate in that area. And it starts with Hunke. Time to go Dave.
ReplyDeleteAh, at least now I know where the money from my furlough is going. Makes me feel better that a new SVP has a job.
ReplyDeleteFriggin' unbelievable!
Used to be, the mantra at USA TODAY was getting rid of layers of management and ensuring you had the real "do-er's" as close to the top as possible. That was, oh, about two years ago. Give it two years and it'll circle back. Until then...
ReplyDeleteBeusse has - at least - 4 SVP's, including this new one. Under those SVP's are - at least - 6 VP's. That does not include anyone this new guy might hire. Then sprinkle in a few Directors and Consultants still knocking around, and you get a very top heavy organization, for sure, in the Sports Group alone. Of course, time will tell if they actually get anything done; one wonders how much 'time' Gannett has allowed. Jim links back to an earlier post questioning vertical vs silo. Good question, and Good Luck reining Sports in, Gracia.
USA Today: More VPs than reporters. More VPs than photographers.
ReplyDeleteAt this rate, we'll soon have as many VPs as readers.
Ms. Ellwood, Martore -- surely this isn't your plan. Is it?
Sucks that we are dealing with this again. But, we might be OK this time around. I called a college friend I know at CBS in LA to ask about him. They said he is the real deal, and had he not been their CIO, he probably would have been their best developer. He built the original NBC Olympic site for NBC, totally rebuilt Sony Online, and started at CBS Internet Group and eventually was promoted to head of IT for CBS Globally. She said he left CBS to work for the BBC, but she did not know what he did there. So, not saying we need another big a** salary, but she could not stop talking about this guy. Only time will tell if it's a success or another shot across the bow of this sinking ship.
ReplyDeleteThe inverted pyramid is for writing news, not for staffing a news organization.
ReplyDeleteI'm SO glad I'm not at the bottom of said pyramid anymore.