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ProJo Sale: Media Experts Weigh in on Journal’s Future

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Kate Nagle, GoLocal Contributor

The news that GateHouse Media is poised to be the new owner of the Providence Journal has garnered the attention of media academics and experts who have weighed in on what the acquisition will mean for the oldest continually published daily newspaper in the U.S.

"They've been savaging newsrooms across the country," said Michael Scully, Assistant Professor of Communications at Roger Williams University. "Gatehouse Media has been buying flags all over the [U.S.]. The model seems to repeat itself: They buy, they survey, they layoff."

"Now, I'm not sure if the [GateHouse] business model is working, but I do believe they are destroying local media," continued Scully. "Every time you fire a daily newspaper reporter, editors must fill open space with wire copy, which means the paper loses its "local appeal."

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Alan Mutter, adjunct faculty member of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and former City Editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, said he believes that while there will be drawbacks, there could an upside to the move.

"In joining GateHouse, ProJo would be part of a large regional cluster of newspapers, which will enable operating efficiencies for the publisher in the areas of news gathering, ad sales, marketing, production and administration. This could mean staff reductions where positions are redundant, which would be unfortunate for the affected employees," said Mutter. "On the other hand, readers and advertisers may benefit from ProJo’s affiliation with an organization with additional regional resources and reach."

Business Decisions

Jon Chesto, Managing Editor at Boston Business Journal who has covered GateHouse extensively, said he wasn't surprised that GateHouse had strong interest in buying the Journal.

"It makes sense that New Media Investment Group/GateHouse would be interested in The Providence Journal. While it’s a bigger paper than the publications that the company has typically acquired in the past, it does fit in nicely with their New England footprint, which is primarily focused on Eastern Massachusetts," said Chesto.

"Assuming this deal comes with the ProJo’s printing operations, it would provide a good printing alternative for The Patriot Ledger and The Enterprise. Those dailies are currently being printed for GateHouse at The Boston Globe in Dorchester, but Globe owner John Henry has put that building up for sale, which means that the Globe will likely have a diminished printing capacity at some point. (Henry also owns a printing plant in Millbury.) Rhode Island also represents a brand new market for GateHouse’s growing Propel digital marketing service for small- and mid-sized businesses," said Chesto.

Dan Kennedy, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University, said that we would have preferred to see the Journal sale go to local -- not national - bidders.

"It's almost a certainty that there will be significant cuts at the Journal when and if GateHouse buys it. I thought the [GoLocal] story about having a ratio of one FTE in the newsroom for every $1 million in revenue was very interesting, but I have no knowledge of whether GateHouse will follow that formula or not. Still, acquisitions are invariably followed by cuts, as was the case when a GateHouse affiliate purchased the Cape Cod Times and The Standard-Times last fall," said Kennedy. "I'm disappointed that Belo did not sell the Journal to a local group, just as I was disappointed that the Telegram & Gazette was sold to a chain."

Looking Forward

With the sale of the ProJo to GateHouse, Chesto suggested what to watch as far as its new parent company is concerned.

"New Media/GateHouse recently said it has identified $150M to $300M worth of acquisitions in its pipeline. Realistically, we’ll see more deals this year, but the amount of credit and cash they have points to the lower end of that range," said Chesto. "Depending on The Providence Journal’s price, that could leave room for $50M to $100M of additional deals this year. I would be surprised if executives at New Media/GateHouse haven’t considered the Sun Chronicle in Attleboro as an acquisition target as well."

Kennedy. meanwhile added his prognostications about other papers that could be in transition in the near future.

"I think the next big shoe to drop will be the Digital First Media papers, which include the Lowell Sun, the Fitchburg Enterprise & Sentinel, the Berkshire Eagle and, a little farther away but much bigger, the New Haven Register," said Kennedy. "It's pretty widely anticipated that Alden Capital, the main investor in DFM, is looking to get out, and it seems clear that GateHouse and Halifax will be major players."

As for the local implications of a ProJo sale, RWU's Scully was less than optimistic.

"We've been watching the Providence Journal die a long painful death. This new owner is going to do very little to improve the ProJo's media profile," said Scully.

Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s Changing Media Landscape

Radio, print, television and digital - the faces in Rhode Islands's media has changed drastically over the past months... Let's take a look at some of the biggest moves:

Bob Kerr

The long time Providence Journal columnist Bob Kerr was sent packing by the new ownership group.

The unceremonious dismissal ended the tenure of the Projo's only true news columnist.

Kerr was talented and often controversial.

Howard Sutton

The long-time publisher was Belo's man in Providence. Howard Sutton was the man that implemented the changes that Dallas wanted to try and make the company more efficient and more profitable.

The results were dismal. Maybe no newspaper in the country lost a higher precentage of ad revenue than the Projo over the past decade.

He was the face of the paper in the community.

Andrew Gobiel

Andrew Gobeil has been named campaign manager for Republican candidate for Attorney General Dawson Hodgson.

Gobeil began his media career covering politics as a teenager for a Cape Cod radio station. He has served as one of the youngest NPR affiliate news directors in the country, Washington editor and national correspondent for a television station group, and managing editor and host of a statewide public affairs program.

Gobeil was the morning co-anchor at Providence’s ABC-TV affiliate and co-host of a morning news program on WPRO radio. He is currently working on a non-fiction book about the journalism business.

Rick Daniels

Rick Daniels has joined GoLocal24 as Chief Operating Officer.

Daniels is the former President of the Boston Globe. He also served as CEO of Gatehouse Media for New England and led a consortium of investors who attempted to purchase the Boston Globe from the New York Times Company in 2013.

Daniels then went on to play a key role at Empirical Media Advisors based in New York, focused mainly on Tribune Publishing, where Emprical’s co-founder and CEO, Jack Griffin, recently took the role of CEO.

Fred Campagna

Fred Campagna has joined FOX25 in Boston.

Before Campagna began working at FOX25, he served as the Chief On-Air Meteorologist at ABC6 for fourteen years.

After leaving ABC6 in July 2012, Campagna launched his own digital weather platform, Right Weather.

Karen Meyers

WLNE-TV has fired anchor Karen Meyers. She had been with the station since 2011.

Meyers had anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news with John DeLuca. Sources say station management opted not to renew her contract and decided to go in another direction.

Before Meyers joined ABC6, she was a reporter/anchor with New England Cable News and was a reporter in Washington, DC.

Felice Freyer

According to RIPR reporter Ian Donnis, Providence Journal's Health Reporter is leaving. Felice Freyer has been the sole reporter covering Rhode Island's largest businss sector.

Freyer leaves for the Boston Globe.

Her departure follows Phil Marcelo who recently left the Projo for AP in Boston.

Editor's note: An earlier version incorrectly had RIPR reporter Scott MacKay as breaking the story.

Flo Jonic

Veteran radio reporter Flo Jonic recently was fired by RINPR after she filed complaints against the station for gender-based pay discrimination.

Jonic is a 30 year veteran of New England news radio.

In her charge filed in February, Jonic wrote, "I believe that I have been discriminated against based on my sex by my employer," and referred to the difference in her pay and that of RIPR reporter Ian Donnis.

"Currently, [reporter] Ian Donnis earns at least $75,000 a year, while I make $51,000 per year. We perform the same duties, and I have 32 more years experience than he does," wrote Jonic in her complaint.

Phil Marcelo

After a seven year stint reporting for the Providence Journal's state house bureau, Phil Marcelo left the paper to take a reporting gig with the Boston office of the Associated Press.

Hailing from Long Island, New York, Marcelo came to ProJo in 2006, and covered everything from regional news, to Providence City Hall and the Statehouse. Marcelo's departure was first reported by WRNI's Ian Donnis.

Julie Tremmel

Formerly a nightly news reporter for WJAR, Tremmel was fired from the "Team You Trust" after two clips, one of her performing on-air handstands, and the other offering tips on what to do during a bear attack, went viral.

The video became an internet sensation, but long-time Channel 10 newsman Jim Taricani called Tremmel’s antics “a smudge on our station's reputation.”

Jim Taricani

A long-time staple of Channel 10’s news team, Taricani announced plans to retire after over three decades with the station.

Taricani has won 5 regional Emmy awards, an Edward R. Murrow award for investigative journalism and a Prestigious Yankee Quill Award from the New England Newspaper Association.

He was convicted to six months in prison in 2004 for refusing to reveal a source, and is the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame.

John DePetro

WPRO talk show host has come under fire for comments he made on air regarding women. Leading union organizations have called for DePetro to be fired.

Most recently, he has been on announced suspension.

DePetro apologized for his comments.

Helen Glover

Former star of the reality show Survivor, turned talk radio show host is out. Helen Glover departs and is replaced by radio Veteran Ron St. Pierre, who only months earlier was let go by 630 WPRO. St. Pierre is a radio Hall-of-Famer and former top sports anchor on WPRI-12.

Mike Stanton

Mike Stanton, the remaining reporter from the Providence Journal's once storied investigative team, is leaving Fountain Street for a teaching job at the University of Connecticut.

Stanton, who was part of the team that won the Providence Journal's last Pulitzer and is the author of the "Prince of Providence," the Buddy Cianci expose, departs leaving the Projo without an investigative reporter.

Dean Starkman

GoLocal named Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Dean Starkman as a contributor and editor-at-large.

"Dean Starkman has a tremendous track record in financial, media, and investigative reporting. His work at the Wall Street Journal as a reporter and as an editor and writer at Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), coupled with ground-breaking investigations of public corruption for The Providence Journal, is unsurpassed in the region," said Josh Fenton, Co-Founder and CEO at GoLocal24, the parent company to GoLocalWorcester.com.

Karen Bordeleau

Karen Bordeleau takes over for Tom Heslin as Executive Editor for the Providence Journal.

Before joining the newspaper in 1996, she worked at the Kent County Times and the Woonsocket Call.

She is a graduate of Northeastern University and a Rhode Island native.

Bob Whitcomb

Bob Whitcomb has been the editor of the editorial page of the Providence Journal since 1992 and Vice President since 1997.

His book, "Cape Wind" unveiled the business and political story behind Jim Gordon's effort to build a wind farm off of Cape Cod.

Prior to being a powerful voice at the Providence Journal, Whitcomb served as Financial Editor at International Herald Tribune.

He is slated to leave later this year according to RI NPR.

Tom Heslin

Managing Editor of the Providence Journal, Tom Heslin, is retiring.

Heslin who has been a journalistic leader of the Journal since the 1990's, led the paper's team the one their last Pulitzer Prize in the early 1990's and had to implement a series of staff cuts during the past decade.

Widely respected by journalists, Heslin has recently suffered from health issues.

Tara Granahan

The former co-host to the morning drive show is now Buddy Cianci's sidekick and co-host on the 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm drive time show on WPRO AM.

Granahan has had a host of assignments at WPRO and is the only woman on air at WPROAM.

Connie Grosch

She was the star photographer for the Providence Journal for better than a decade.

Her State House/Political photos made her one of the most influential members of the Providence Journal staff.

In late 2012, the Providence Journal let her go as part of the latest cost cutting ordered by the home office in Dallas.

In January, she was named press secretary to U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-1). She just announced she was leaving the Congressman's staff to return to photography.

Gene Valicenti

The co-host of Channel 10's 6:00 pm news is now doing double as the host for WPRO's 6:00 am to 10:00 am morning show.

Previously, Valicenti lost his 11:00 pm slot on WJAR.

Jennifer Jordan

One of the top Providence Journal reporters is leaving not only Fountain Street, but also journalism.

She was one of the guild members with the least longevity - more than 10 years.

She leaves for Boston-based Opportunity Nation - a not-for-profit.

Ron St. Pierre

The new guy at WHJJ - he takes over the morning show from the departed Helen Glover.

For decades, Ron St. Pierre has been a key player in the media industry in both local television and radio.

St. Pierre handled sports at WPRI TV, hosted morning drive at WPRO AM, and most recently, was Buddy Cianci's co-host in the afternoon.

(Photo: Alan Levine, Flickr)

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