The Bay Area News Group, which owns newspapers in the East Bay, Silicon Valley and San Jose, has finally shed the pretension of autonomy and has named itself a single editorial entity.
According to a memo obtained by blogger Richard Brenneman, the BANG papers, led by editor Dave Butler, will now share a single managing editor for print, Bert Robinson, and a single managing for online, breaking news and photography, Randall Keith. Robinson and Keith served in similar capacities at the BANG flagship, the San Jose Mercury News.
Sports, photo and business will similarly fall under a single BANG editor.
This will mean more sharing of content between papers, though it's not clear if further staff cuts will follow. The papers, which include the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times, will retain their editorial boards to run opinion and commentary.
From the memo:
Beginning today, we are taking another significant step in streamlining our organization to maximize our operating efficiency. Continuing the process that began with the creation of the Bay Area News Group, the news divisions of all Bay Area News Group newspapers will now operate under a single, common management team under the direction of Dave Butler, editor of the Mercury News and vice president for news for MediaNews Group. This move follows similar consolidations in our other divisions.
Dave’s appointment and the announcement of the first official BANG-wide news management team are logical next steps in our efforts to make full use of the breadth and depth of the entire group. While a less-formal arrangement has been in place for some time, our recently negotiated labor agreements recognize complete consolidation.
This reorganization will have an immediate impact on top management, and it’s with regret that we also announce that [BANG Executive Editor] Kevin Keane and [BANG-Easy Bay Managing Editor] Pete Wevurski are leaving the company today. Please join with me in thanking them for their years of service and wishing them well in their new adventures.The rest of the memo is here.
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14 comments:
Blob indeed.
Brilliant! The memo is a classic.
I feel like strangling the next executive who uses the word "efficiency."
Amen, 12:35... I'd go to your sentencing as a character witness!
I use to use the word clowns to describe their "executives"...now, it is apparent I have insulted the clown profession.
How about once saying that business stinks, revenues, circulation are falling and we need to cut our overhead to survive? Why sugarcoat the obvious. Do they think everyone else are idiots?
All this reorganization is fine, but how about bringing in some people with fresh ideas.
Get ready for this same bullcrap once the OC Register comes into the fold. Carolyn Garcia, executive editor, Orange County Register. Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
BANG = Dud
MNG needs to GTFO ASAP !!!
lol
I like the way they say "these two are leaving the company" really? Did anyone ask themif they wanted to leave? Funniest crap ever, these memos are.
I am sure this is a dumb question, but, is there anyone in the lang organization in charge of growing revenue? If not lang, how about the individual newspapers? I have yet to see a creative idea in the last few years that shows some thinking on growing the business. Why isn't there a bit of focus on that? Please give me a name or two.
world ends. no comments posted. a bankrupt medianws continues to have layoffs...over the past four years, hundreds of comments. boy, they are hated by employees, other newspaper employees and past employees. you have to be real stupid to make that many hate you.
Thursday, July 7 is the scheduled union vote in San Bernardino. Pray that there is enough spirit left to vote for ourselves.
How many are voting? 12?
I'm sure singleton is lying awake nights worrying about the vote.
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