Michael Ferro makes major changes to Tribune Publishing's structure and leadership
On the morning of March 2, Tribune Publishing sent out a press release reporting the latest financial quarter results - and, oh, by the way, announcing some significant changes to the company's structure, the first changes we've seen since Michael Ferro, formerly of Chicago Sun-Times owner Wrapports, essentially took over the company.
The short version is that the editors of each of the ten major daily newspapers Tribune owns became editors and publishers of their local media groups.
This is going to get annoyingly technical, so bear with me.
The way Tribune is structured is that it has eight "media groups" - one per each region where the company has a major daily newspaper. Each group contains the newspaper itself, plus whatever smaller daily newspapers, weeekly newspapers, alternative newspapers, commuter newspapers and magazines the company happens to own in the region. So, for example, Chicago Tribune Newspaper Group is made up of Chicago Tribune itself, RedEye, the Mash, Hoy, all of the daily, weekly and not-quite-daily newspapers Tribune bought from Sun-Times Media, Chicago and Naperville magazines and local news websites.
Traditionally, a newspaper had a publisher and a head editor/EIC. The EIC is in charge of determining the paper's editorial nitty-gritty, determining the paper's overall editorial directions and priorities, meeting with section editors to figure out what the stories are going to be and what's going to go into the upcoming issues. The publisher has the overall responsibility for the paper as a whole, both the financial and the editorial sides. A 2011 article by the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald publisher gets into a bit more detail, but ultimately, he or she is the person who is ultimately in charge.
When the paper is part of a larger company, that gets more complicated. Until relatively recently, each Tribune newspaper had its own editor and a publisher. But the last few years have gotten a bit more complicated, appointing the same publisher for more than one paper. During the previous round of major changes back in September 2015, things got more complicated still. The best I can understand, each newspaper had a separate publisher - except Los Angeles Times and he San Diego Union-Tribune, which had the same publisher, while Baltimore Sun's publisher doubled as a publisher of The [Allentown, Pennsylvania] Morning Call. Which made a certain amount of sense, since, in both cases, they head media groups that are close(ish) together geographically.
Also, the publisher of each East Coast newspaper reporter to the Publisher of CEO of the East Coast Publishing group. The publisher of Los Angeles and San Diego media groups also technically reported to the CEO of the California Media Group - except that the CEO was himself.
Told you it was going to get complicated.
If nothing else, Ferro's changes make things more straight-forward. Each paper's EIC also became its publisher, and the larger regional groups are gone.It worked out great for LA TImes/San Diego Union-Tribune publisher Tim Ryan, who got promoted to President of Publishing, the guy all he newly minted EIC/Publishers (except LA Times' editor - more on that later) are going to be reporting to. Ditto Chicago Tribune Media Group publisher Tony Hunter, who was appointed President of National Revenue and Strategic Initiative. But it had to suck for Baltimore Sun/Morning Call publisher Richard Daniels, former Hartford Courant publisher who served as the two papers' interim publisher and only got confirmed as permanent publisher in the beginning of January - only to watch the job vanish from under him. It had to suck even more for Tom Wiley, only managed to serve as Hartford Courant's publisher for two months. At least Sun-Sentinel's publisher Howard Greenberg was already planning to retire later this year.
Tom Wiley, Hartford Courant Publisher in Jan 5, 20116 - March 2, 2016. (via Lauren Schneiderman/Hartford Courant)
And the former publishers weren't the only people who got fired/were compelled to leave. Denise Warren, head of the East Coast Publishing group, was also head of Tribune's digital strategy and operations. She was based in New York City. Tribune CEO Jack Griffin wanted the company's digital initiatives to be based there. But after Ferro orchestrated his ouster, that whole plan went by the wayside as the new head of the company wanted the digital strategy to be centered right here in Chicago. According to the press release, Warren didn't want to relocate, so...
Per Robert Feder, Michael Rooney, Tribune's Chief Revenue Officer, also left the company, as did Joyce Winnecke, head of the Tribune Content Agency wire service, and Bob Fleck, publisher of the ex-STM papers.
But what does this all mean? We don't know yet. The press release only talked about some LA-based initiatives, which, while interesting, aren't as relevant to me as the Chicago-based stuff
The Company also announced that it has acquired LA.com and will launch a new channel to celebrate Los Angeles and extend the reach of the Los Angeles Times brand. [LA Times EIC] Davan Maharaj will take on additional responsibilities as Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Times and will oversee the global launch of this new content vertical and will report to [Tribune CEO Justin] Dearborn
The press release framed combining EIC and Publisher roles as "ensuring our local brands remain vital to the communities they serve." Which I don't really buy - having a publisher who is invested in the community does the same thing. The whole thing is cost-cutting, plain and simple, and the fact that it comes just as the company announced the acquisition of LA.com and the launch of the "new channel" isn't a coincidence.
My concern about this arrangement has to do with something I raised back when Sun-Times eliminated its managing editor position - the more responsibilities you give to one person, the more you strain them. The more balls they have to keep in the air, the more likely you are to drop one of them.
Ken Doctor pointed out another problem. One of the publisher's responsibility is to find ways to generate revenue - and most editors have zero experience with that.
And, as I was finishing up, I realized another thing. With an EIC and a publisher being the same thing, there are fewer layers between Ferro and the people responsible for what goes into the papers. If someone from the higher up wanted to pressure the EICs, there is no publisher to get between them. And we know Ferro doesn't mind influencing editorial decisions with all the subtleties of a sledgehammer.
But what really struck me about the press release is that Tribune didn't use "transition to digital" or "digital transformation" once. Those phrases - or some variant thereof - used to show up on all Tribune press releases, and Ferro himself loved talking about "digital transformation" to the point where it became a running joke among Sun-Timers. But this press release talks about "organic digital growth." For the first time ever, Tribune referred to itself as a " content-first organization." These days, newspaper companies like to talk about how they are "digital first" - which isn't quite the same thing.
What does that mean? Again, I don't know. But the word choice has to be deliberate.
And finally, the press release mentions that Ferro "chose to transfer all of his ownership in Wrapports and the Chicago Sun-Times to a charitable trust" to avoid appearances of conflict of interest. Which means he's really not in charge of the company he created. But I have no idea what the charitable trust actually entails, and, so far, I haven't seen anyone explain it.
On the more personal note... I have to wonder what this means for my blacklisting. I have no idea who gave the order - all I know is that it came from high up, somewhere on the executive side. But now, Jack Griffin is gone, and Bob Fleck is gone. Could there be a window of opportunity?
I may soon have a chance to find out.
Emphasis on may.
The short version is that the editors of each of the ten major daily newspapers Tribune owns became editors and publishers of their local media groups.
This is going to get annoyingly technical, so bear with me.
The way Tribune is structured is that it has eight "media groups" - one per each region where the company has a major daily newspaper. Each group contains the newspaper itself, plus whatever smaller daily newspapers, weeekly newspapers, alternative newspapers, commuter newspapers and magazines the company happens to own in the region. So, for example, Chicago Tribune Newspaper Group is made up of Chicago Tribune itself, RedEye, the Mash, Hoy, all of the daily, weekly and not-quite-daily newspapers Tribune bought from Sun-Times Media, Chicago and Naperville magazines and local news websites.
Traditionally, a newspaper had a publisher and a head editor/EIC. The EIC is in charge of determining the paper's editorial nitty-gritty, determining the paper's overall editorial directions and priorities, meeting with section editors to figure out what the stories are going to be and what's going to go into the upcoming issues. The publisher has the overall responsibility for the paper as a whole, both the financial and the editorial sides. A 2011 article by the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald publisher gets into a bit more detail, but ultimately, he or she is the person who is ultimately in charge.
When the paper is part of a larger company, that gets more complicated. Until relatively recently, each Tribune newspaper had its own editor and a publisher. But the last few years have gotten a bit more complicated, appointing the same publisher for more than one paper. During the previous round of major changes back in September 2015, things got more complicated still. The best I can understand, each newspaper had a separate publisher - except Los Angeles Times and he San Diego Union-Tribune, which had the same publisher, while Baltimore Sun's publisher doubled as a publisher of The [Allentown, Pennsylvania] Morning Call. Which made a certain amount of sense, since, in both cases, they head media groups that are close(ish) together geographically.
Also, the publisher of each East Coast newspaper reporter to the Publisher of CEO of the East Coast Publishing group. The publisher of Los Angeles and San Diego media groups also technically reported to the CEO of the California Media Group - except that the CEO was himself.
Told you it was going to get complicated.
If nothing else, Ferro's changes make things more straight-forward. Each paper's EIC also became its publisher, and the larger regional groups are gone.It worked out great for LA TImes/San Diego Union-Tribune publisher Tim Ryan, who got promoted to President of Publishing, the guy all he newly minted EIC/Publishers (except LA Times' editor - more on that later) are going to be reporting to. Ditto Chicago Tribune Media Group publisher Tony Hunter, who was appointed President of National Revenue and Strategic Initiative. But it had to suck for Baltimore Sun/Morning Call publisher Richard Daniels, former Hartford Courant publisher who served as the two papers' interim publisher and only got confirmed as permanent publisher in the beginning of January - only to watch the job vanish from under him. It had to suck even more for Tom Wiley, only managed to serve as Hartford Courant's publisher for two months. At least Sun-Sentinel's publisher Howard Greenberg was already planning to retire later this year.
Tom Wiley, Hartford Courant Publisher in Jan 5, 20116 - March 2, 2016. (via Lauren Schneiderman/Hartford Courant)
And the former publishers weren't the only people who got fired/were compelled to leave. Denise Warren, head of the East Coast Publishing group, was also head of Tribune's digital strategy and operations. She was based in New York City. Tribune CEO Jack Griffin wanted the company's digital initiatives to be based there. But after Ferro orchestrated his ouster, that whole plan went by the wayside as the new head of the company wanted the digital strategy to be centered right here in Chicago. According to the press release, Warren didn't want to relocate, so...
Per Robert Feder, Michael Rooney, Tribune's Chief Revenue Officer, also left the company, as did Joyce Winnecke, head of the Tribune Content Agency wire service, and Bob Fleck, publisher of the ex-STM papers.
But what does this all mean? We don't know yet. The press release only talked about some LA-based initiatives, which, while interesting, aren't as relevant to me as the Chicago-based stuff
The Company also announced that it has acquired LA.com and will launch a new channel to celebrate Los Angeles and extend the reach of the Los Angeles Times brand. [LA Times EIC] Davan Maharaj will take on additional responsibilities as Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Times and will oversee the global launch of this new content vertical and will report to [Tribune CEO Justin] Dearborn
The press release framed combining EIC and Publisher roles as "ensuring our local brands remain vital to the communities they serve." Which I don't really buy - having a publisher who is invested in the community does the same thing. The whole thing is cost-cutting, plain and simple, and the fact that it comes just as the company announced the acquisition of LA.com and the launch of the "new channel" isn't a coincidence.
My concern about this arrangement has to do with something I raised back when Sun-Times eliminated its managing editor position - the more responsibilities you give to one person, the more you strain them. The more balls they have to keep in the air, the more likely you are to drop one of them.
Ken Doctor pointed out another problem. One of the publisher's responsibility is to find ways to generate revenue - and most editors have zero experience with that.
And, as I was finishing up, I realized another thing. With an EIC and a publisher being the same thing, there are fewer layers between Ferro and the people responsible for what goes into the papers. If someone from the higher up wanted to pressure the EICs, there is no publisher to get between them. And we know Ferro doesn't mind influencing editorial decisions with all the subtleties of a sledgehammer.
But what really struck me about the press release is that Tribune didn't use "transition to digital" or "digital transformation" once. Those phrases - or some variant thereof - used to show up on all Tribune press releases, and Ferro himself loved talking about "digital transformation" to the point where it became a running joke among Sun-Timers. But this press release talks about "organic digital growth." For the first time ever, Tribune referred to itself as a " content-first organization." These days, newspaper companies like to talk about how they are "digital first" - which isn't quite the same thing.
What does that mean? Again, I don't know. But the word choice has to be deliberate.
And finally, the press release mentions that Ferro "chose to transfer all of his ownership in Wrapports and the Chicago Sun-Times to a charitable trust" to avoid appearances of conflict of interest. Which means he's really not in charge of the company he created. But I have no idea what the charitable trust actually entails, and, so far, I haven't seen anyone explain it.
On the more personal note... I have to wonder what this means for my blacklisting. I have no idea who gave the order - all I know is that it came from high up, somewhere on the executive side. But now, Jack Griffin is gone, and Bob Fleck is gone. Could there be a window of opportunity?
I may soon have a chance to find out.
Emphasis on may.