This Just In

Beats moving

Press Herald editor heading south

By JEFF INGLIS | April 19, 2006

In a tiny item buried in the Portland Press Herald’s “Business Briefcase” column Wednesday, April 12, and not posted to the front page of the paper’s Web site until the Associated Press moved its version of the story online in the early afternoon, was the announcement that Eric Conrad, the paper’s managing editor for the past five years, is leaving May 1 to become the editor of the News-Times in Danbury, Connecticut, where he starts May 22.

“The last year or two in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking I wanted to be a top editor,” Conrad says. He has been trying to find a “good paper” in a “good company” that would offer him a top post and the opportunity to live in a community where it would be good for him to raise his two daughters, one of whom is finishing second grade this year, and the other of whom will start kindergarten in the fall. He wanted the new job to be in New England as well, which “limits your options,” Conrad says.

In part as a result of that limitation, Conrad is moving to a paper about half the size of his existing employer. The newsroom at the Press Herald (daily circulation: 70,000) employs about 100 people; the Maine Sunday Telegram’s circulation is 110,000. Conrad’s new paper has about 50 people in its newsroom and serves 30,000 daily readers and 35,000 on Sunday.

“For me, I think that’s a good thing,” Conrad says, explaining he is a “hands-on” editor. He has moved to a smaller paper before, leaving the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel in Florida to come to Maine as the Press Herald’s city editor in 1995. He has also served as assistant managing editor for news and assistant managing editor for sports.

The News-Times is owned by Ottaway Newspapers, which calls itself “the community newspaper subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co.,” which owns the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and the Far Eastern Economic Review, among others.

Ottaway’s holdings in New England are the York Weekly and the York County Coast Star in Maine; in New Hampshire: the Portsmouth Herald, the Hampton Union, the News-Letter in Exeter, and the Rockingham News in Plaistow; in Massachusetts: the Cape Cod Times, the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror, the Barnstable Patriot, and the Standard-Times in New Bedford; and in Connecticut: the Spectrum in New Milford, and the News-Times. The chain’s flagship is the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York, with a Sunday circulation of nearly 89,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s report of the third quarter of 2005.

Press Herald Editor-in-Chief Jeannine Guttman could not be reached for comment directly, but her assistant, Jennifer Lizotte, forwarded a company-wide memo Guttman issued April 11, lauding Conrad’s “no-nonsense style, strong leadership and . . . aggressive approach to news.” Guttman’s memo also says Guttman will begin a search for a replacement “as soon as possible.”

Portland Newspaper Guild Vice-President Tom Bell, who helps lead the union representing reporters at the paper, says the union has no response to Conrad’s departure, but among staff “there’s some anxiety about who will replace” Conrad, who was known for being “smart, capable, and intelligent.”

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More Information

The company-wide memo from Jeannine Guttman

Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:03 PM
To: Company {Full}
Subject:

Folks,

Our managing editor, Eric Conrad, has accepted the top editor position at the Danbury News Times in Danbury, Connecticut.

Eric has been at our newspaper in a variety of editing capacities for 10 years, the last five of which he served as the managing editor.

In that role, he supervised the day-to-day news operations and worked with me on long-range planning and strategic initiatives. I’ve been honored to call Eric a colleague, a partner, a friend.

We will miss him in the newsroom, where he was known for a no-nonsense style, strong leadership and an aggressive approach to news.

This new job represents a wonderful career opportunity for Eric, however. It is a step up for him and the realization of a goal that he has been working toward for a number of years.

Please join me in wishing him the very best in his new post. Godspeed, Connie.

Likewise, Eric’s open position represents a great opportunity for a strong journalist and manager, and our newspaper is well-known in the industry for its superior journalism, independent ownership and high-quality standards.

We will begin a search for his replacement as soon as possible. It is my goal to find a new managing editor who can build on our achievements and continue to move us forward.

Eric’s last day with our newspaper will be May 1st. We will be planning a sendoff tribute in the newsroom; more details to come.

In Eric’s absence, the editors will report to me directly. I spoke with the newsroom management group today, via conference call, and asked that each member pitch in and help during this transition period. We have an exceptionally strong management team in the newsroom and this transition will give various editors additional opportunities for training and career development.

I regret that I could not be there, in person, when the announcement was made today. I’m am on vacation, at a family reunion, in California. But I will be back in the office on Tuesday and will be happy to meet with anyone at that time.

jg/

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