The Wall Street Journal-20080111-Gannett Executive Plans to Retire After 40 Years
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Gannett Executive Plans to Retire After 40 Years
Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today, said Sue Clark-Johnson, president of the newspaper division, plans to retire in late May after 40 years as a reporter, editor and executive at the global news and information company.
Ms. Clark-Johnson, 60 years old, has been president of the newspaper division, the largest by circulation in the nation, since 2005. Before that, she was chairman and chief executive of Gannett's Phoenix Newspapers Inc., which publishes the Arizona Republic, and senior group president of Gannett's Pacific Newspaper Group. Gannett publishes 85 daily newspapers in the U.S. and owns 23 television stations.
Ms. Clark-Johnson's retirement comes amid continued travails in the newspaper industry, which continues to lose readers and ad dollars to the Internet. She told investors last month that Gannett newspapers plan to be "very aggressive" in making investments in its Web sites, given positive trends in online ad growth and readership.
In her recent role, Ms. Clark-Johnson helped lead Gannett's shift of local news to the Internet from print publications. At a Media Week meeting in 2006, she said that as part of the Information Center routines at all Gannett daily newspapers, breaking news will appear first on Web sites and digital services and less on newspapers.
Gannett Chief Executive Craig Dubow said a successor to Ms. Clark- Johnson will be named later. "I deeply respect Sue's decision, but we will miss her energy, vision, leadership and innovation," he said.
In the third quarter, ad revenue at Gannett's U.S. newspapers fell 8.4%, assuming the same properties were held in both that quarter and a year earlier.
"I deeply respect Sue's decision, but we will miss her energy, vision, leadership and innovation," Mr. Dubow said. "Few people have had more influence over the direction, strategy and success of our newspapers and, lately, our online news efforts."
