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Workshop Registration
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
Online Seminars
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
President's Message: A Vital Craft
By Andrew Leckey
The Media’s Payout
By Michelle Leder
What Matters Most
By Chris Roush
With Consumers in Mind
By Dick Weiss
Upping the Calendar's Cachet
By Jeff Bailey
The Media’s Payout
By Michelle Leder
December 22, 2008
At a time of phenomenal change in the news industry, with new layoffs being announced practically every day and fears over the very survival of some newspapers, one thing that remains constant is the ability to see just how ridiculous many of these very same companies can be when it comes to spending money on top executives.
Take this consulting agreement with outgoing Journal Communications CFO Paul Bonaiuto. Under the agreement, the company, which publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other papers, agreed to pay Bonaiuto just over $400 an hour for unspecified consulting work for the next two years. That this came to light only days before the company announced that it was cutting another 39 jobs - on top of two earlier job elimination announcements. This seems about as well-thought out as the trio of auto company executives taking their corporate jets to Washington D.C. to beg for money from Congress.
Of course, Bonaiuto isn’t the only former newspaper company CFO to walk-away with a sweetheart deal. As I footnoted here all the way back in 2004, former Gannett CFO Larry Miller got an even sweeter deal when he stepped down in March 2003: his consulting agreement, which pays him $600,000 a year, theoretically lasts for his life. And, because Miller is a former executive, there’s no requirement for Gannett to provide any more disclosure on whether it’s still paying Miller for his consulting services 5 years later. But I’m guessing there are a few readers of Gannett Blog who would like to know.
When newspaper companies decided to become publicly traded companies – a decision that has lately been the cause of lots of hand-wringing given the current situation – they became subject to the same SEC rules on disclosure that other companies have to follow. And if you work for a publicly traded newspaper company, there’s no excuse for not reading their filings. But since writing about your company’s foibles and keeping your job can be a difficult balance, even when things aren’t quite so bleak, it remains the job of people like me to break the silence of what newspaper companies are trying to hide in their filings.
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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
By Andrew Leckey
The Media’s Payout
By Michelle Leder
What Matters Most
By Chris Roush
With Consumers in Mind
By Dick Weiss
Upping the Calendar's Cachet
By Jeff Bailey
The Media’s Payout
By Michelle Leder
December 22, 2008
At a time of phenomenal change in the news industry, with new layoffs being announced practically every day and fears over the very survival of some newspapers, one thing that remains constant is the ability to see just how ridiculous many of these very same companies can be when it comes to spending money on top executives.
Take this consulting agreement with outgoing Journal Communications CFO Paul Bonaiuto. Under the agreement, the company, which publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other papers, agreed to pay Bonaiuto just over $400 an hour for unspecified consulting work for the next two years. That this came to light only days before the company announced that it was cutting another 39 jobs - on top of two earlier job elimination announcements. This seems about as well-thought out as the trio of auto company executives taking their corporate jets to Washington D.C. to beg for money from Congress.
Of course, Bonaiuto isn’t the only former newspaper company CFO to walk-away with a sweetheart deal. As I footnoted here all the way back in 2004, former Gannett CFO Larry Miller got an even sweeter deal when he stepped down in March 2003: his consulting agreement, which pays him $600,000 a year, theoretically lasts for his life. And, because Miller is a former executive, there’s no requirement for Gannett to provide any more disclosure on whether it’s still paying Miller for his consulting services 5 years later. But I’m guessing there are a few readers of Gannett Blog who would like to know.
When newspaper companies decided to become publicly traded companies – a decision that has lately been the cause of lots of hand-wringing given the current situation – they became subject to the same SEC rules on disclosure that other companies have to follow. And if you work for a publicly traded newspaper company, there’s no excuse for not reading their filings. But since writing about your company’s foibles and keeping your job can be a difficult balance, even when things aren’t quite so bleak, it remains the job of people like me to break the silence of what newspaper companies are trying to hide in their filings.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism