Corporate just announced in a news release that it hired former San Jose Mercury News Publisher Jeff Kiel as publisher of Florida Today.
He replaces Mark Mikolajczyk, who has been publisher since 2006; in December, Mikolajczyk said he was leaving for a position with Craig Technologies.
Kiel was more recently executive vice president of sales and marketing at Westinghouse Solar, the release says.
In Silicon Valley's San Jose, Kiel was vice president of sales and marketing from 2002 until he was named publisher in 2007 at the MediaNews Group-owned daily. He moved to San Jose from Miami, where he had been vice president of finance and chief financial officer for the Miami Herald. Kiel held various positions at the Herald after joining them in 1988.
The Mercury News and the Herald were owned by Knight Ridder before that publisher was acquired in 2006 by McClatchy, which later sold the San Jose paper to MediaNews, Gannett's partner in Detroit, Silicon Valley, and elsewhere.
Brevard's circulation: weekdays, 59,038; Sundays, 85,496, according to the ABC's lookup database.
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| Kiel |
Kiel was more recently executive vice president of sales and marketing at Westinghouse Solar, the release says.
In Silicon Valley's San Jose, Kiel was vice president of sales and marketing from 2002 until he was named publisher in 2007 at the MediaNews Group-owned daily. He moved to San Jose from Miami, where he had been vice president of finance and chief financial officer for the Miami Herald. Kiel held various positions at the Herald after joining them in 1988.
The Mercury News and the Herald were owned by Knight Ridder before that publisher was acquired in 2006 by McClatchy, which later sold the San Jose paper to MediaNews, Gannett's partner in Detroit, Silicon Valley, and elsewhere.
Brevard's circulation: weekdays, 59,038; Sundays, 85,496, according to the ABC's lookup database.
Kiel was moved up and out in San Jose by MediaNews, sure, but the property is 20-percent owned by GCI as part of California Newspapers Partnership (Stephens owns 20 percent, GCI 20 percent and MediaNews 60 percent), so Kiel wasn't an unknown quantity in McLean.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Westinghouse Solar has been a refuge for former Knight Ridder executives since 2006: the company was formerly known as Akeena Solar and Margaret Randazzo (KR exec and McClatchy publisher in Modesto) is CFO and Gary Effren, longtime KR CFO was CFO at Akeena from 2006 until last year.
I have seen it's normal in the news business to jump around to a lot of places during one's working career. It does look however like he can't hold a job. Too simplistic? Also, looks like his background is money, not much newspapering. Hope he knows how to gather pertinent news and put it out in print and digital that's the best for this area. Brevard is not San Jose, McLean, Charlotte, or Orlando for that matter. What works there doesn't necessarily work here. Will he have the autonomy to do what it takes to right our ship or will he be just another Gannett puppet? Time will tell.
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DeleteThe name "Kiel" sure will be easier to fit in a one-column headline.
ReplyDeleteIs it "kyle," "keel" or "kill" ??
ReplyDeleteSounds like he'll be like the captian on The Concordia,the possability of sliding out on a sinking ship will always be there. Mick left in a timely matter.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you need a Pub for any way, couldn't the marketing Greg and Stover handle it.
It would be cost effective to leave it the way it was.
Replacing oldwood with drift wood!
Many of us here would have picked Greg Watson for Publisher. He knows the market and understands the players at the newspaper. Too bad they did not go internal on this one.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't afford to retain and pay experienced reporters and photographers and then we turn around and hire an expensive figurehead like Kiel? Welcome to the Gannett Way. The newspaper is dying because our content sucks and readers are jumping ship in droves and then Volia! we hire somebody without a bit of editorial or production experience. Great job corporate, Mikolajczyk II.
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