Newspapers are supposed to be in the business of providing the truth, but not in Springfield, where just before new owners GateHouse Media, took over the newspaper, former owners Copley Press bought out the three and had them sign a confidentiality agreement:
In October, The State Journal-Register offered a voluntary severance program to about half of the paper's 345 employees. The deadline for accepting the package is Monday.
On Nov. 20, (former publisher Sue) Schmitt, editor Barry Locher and managing editor Robert Pope announced they will leave the paper Dec. 14, drawing nationwide attention within the publishing industry.
GateHouse Media co-president and chief operating officer Scott Champion, who introduced (new publisher Scott) Bowers to the newspaper staff Friday, said he understands the sudden resignations of Schmitt, Locher and Pope created negative perceptions in the community about their departure and the future of the newspaper.
Champion said Schmitt, Pope and Locher each accepted a buyout offer from Copley Press, but were prevented from discussing the package by a confidentiality agreement. The Copley offer was to expire at the end of this year, he said.
Each of the three said when they announced their resignations that their decisions were personal and professional and that they had not been asked to resign.
"You hate to lose good people," Champion said. "But we want to get a new management team in place and get things back to normal. People are going to see that the paper isn't going away."
2 comments:
Since when is it the publics business how much an editor gets paid or what there buyout package is if they leave? When did that become the news.
Newspapers and other media are always preaching, quite correctly, the duty of government to be open with the people. One of the best ways to ensure the respect of the public is to model proper behavior and be aboveboard with their own business dealings. If you are not willing to be completely truthful about your own company, why should anyone trust you when you write about others? For the media to all of a sudden claim it is not the public's business is the height of hypocrisy.
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