Massive Reorg at Media General

NEW YORK Maybe a sweeping reorganization can help Media General get its groove back. On Monday, the newspaper and TV owner announced it would reorganize its local assets into five geographic regions, discarding the traditional organization that grouped businesses by its three media segments, publishing, broadcast and interactive media. In addition to the five geographic regions, Virginia/Tennessee, Florida, mid-South, North Carolina and Ohio/Rhode Island, Media General will have a sixth business segment, interactive advertising services, which will encompass Blockdot, DealTaker.com and NetInformer.The new organization, affecting 24 daily newspapers, 19 TV stations and more than 250 weekly papers, will go into effect in early July."The consumer in the marketplace is indifferent as to how he gets his information," said Marshall Morton, president and CEO, in a video presentation on the company's Web site. "We found the approach we're using today never took advantage of the fact that we have three product strengths."The new structure would follow the model of its Florida properties where, for example, The Tampa Tribune, NBC affiliate WFLA-TV and the Web site TBO.com already share a newsroom and operations."In Florida, we've been able to achieve our goal of getting closer to the consumer," said Morton. Media General has taken a number of steps to cut its debt and offset the ailing traditional media business. It has frozen wages, laid off employees, suspended 401(k) retirement plans, instituted employee furloughs and sold five TV stations. Earlier this month, it shut down its Washington, D.C., bureau and accompanying Web site and let go six journalists."The media world is very, very different from even two years ago," Morton said. "The revenue streams don't support the kind of expense levels we used to maintain. To head up the five geographic divisions, the company tapped executives within its ranks to serve as president and market leader. James Zimmerman, president of the broadcast division, will serve as president and market leader of the Virginia/Tennessee properties. Florida is headed by John Schueler, the current president of Florida Communications Group. The mid-South region, including Media General properties in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, will be headed by John Cottingham, senior vp of broadcast stations. North Carolina will be headed by James Conschafter, currently senior vp of broadcast stations. Richard Rogala, vp and general manager of WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, will head up the Ohio/Rhode Island region. As part of the new structure, James Woodward, vp of corporate human resources, will take on the newly created position of group vp, growth and performance, reporting to Morton. C. Kirk Read was named president of digital media, reporting to Woodward. Also reporting to Woodward will be Dale Lachniet, president of newspaper production and distribution, and Ardell Hill, president of broadcast services. Succeeding Woodward as vp of corporate human resources is Robert MacPherson, president of Community Newspapers. H. Graham Woodlief, Jr., president of the publishing division, plans to retire, effective July 1.

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Massive Reorg at Media General

Katy Bachman

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