GateHouse offer letter to new CFO posted with SEC

The official offer of employment made by GateHouse Media to new senior vice president and CFO Melinda Janik was filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The hiring of Ms. Janik, 52, as noted in an earlier Turner Report, should be of concern to GateHouse employees, since her previous employment was with Paychex, Inc., a company that specializes in helping small businesses outscores many of their employees.

Ms. Janik will receive $275,000 a year, compared to the $250,000 her predecessor Mark Thompson received in 2007. She is eligible for a $137,500 bonus. She will also receive four weeks of vacation, and be eligible for medical and dental coverage and life insurance. And, as I noted earlier in The Turner Report:

"As usual, while she undeniably will be involved in decisions that will cost people their livelihoods, GateHouse Media has made sure Ms. Janik is protected in case the company has to send her packing. If that occurs, she will receive her full year's salary and bonus, adding up to $412,500."

You could ask GateHouse Media CEO Michael Reed about the new CFO, except that Reed is no longer talking to media, a policy that hopefully, no editor who works for him would ever accept from someone involved in a newsworthy story.