David Carr’s NYT profile of new MediaNews chief executive John Paton the other day is a must-read for those trying to divine the future of, say, the company’s Bay Area News Group newspapers. Although the piece doesn’t address it, it’s well-known within BANG that Paton, who took over in September, put the kibosh on the ill-conceived plan to rebrand the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times. But those hoping for a bit more job stability under the new regime may not want to celebrate just yet, based on a Paton meeting with company execs last week. An excerpt:
According to Mr. Paton, his new employees at MediaNews were hoping to discern the silver bullet that would enable them not only to survive, but prosper. Instead, he worked his way through a detailed presentation about outsourcing most operations other than sales and editorial, focusing on the cost side that might include further layoffs, stressing digital sales over print sales with incentives, and using relationships with the community to provide some of the content in their newspapers.
