Three senior executives steering Postmedia Network Canada’s digital strategy and products are out following a restructuring.
Malcolm Kirk, executive vice-president, digital, Ed Brouwer, chief information officer and Scott Anderson, senior vice-president digital content strategy and managing director of Canada.com, are no longer with the company.
Paul Godfrey, president and CEO, told Marketing, “You begin to review things on a fairly regular basis, and in today’s day and age, nothing is static. We’re all under review at all points in time.”
Commenting on the restructuring, Jeffrey Dvorkin, a lecturer and director of University of Toronto Scarborough’s journalism program, said Postmedia is “obviously trying to anticipate how the audience is going to evolve, where it will be not just next week, but six months, two years, five years from now. And the technology is driving this to such an incredible extent.”
Dvorkin, who has run two international news organizations, CBC Radio News and NPR News, said he felt his own anxiety levels raise while reading Tuesday’s Postmedia release. “The pressures on media organizations to return real value to shareholders is now driving what is often seen as a panic mode that many media organizations are in. I don’t envy Paul Godfrey,” he said.
“I think what [Postmedia is] trying to do [with the press release] is to say ‘Okay, we’ve tried one strategy, that hasn’t worked, now we’re going to try something else’ and that something else will be revealed within weeks,” says Dvorkin. “Media organizations often feel that they don’t have the luxury of time to figure out where they need to be, so, as somebody once described it, they’re changing the oil in the car while they’re driving on a freeway and that’s what this appears to be.”
However, when asked if the restructuring may indicate problems with the rollout of Postmedia’s “digital first” strategy, Godfrey said, “No, not at all.
“The strategy of digital first continues to be of prime importance. I think every so often you take a look at the way you do things and you make some changes to create more efficiencies in the organization, that’s all. My crystal ball about digital first remains crystal clear.”
Postmedia director of communications Phyllise Gelfand said the business technology division will now report directly to Lorna McLeod, senior VP of shared services. In addition to McLeod’s existing responsibilities, she will also be taking on responsibility for the Winnipeg business technology group, reporting to Doug Lamb, EVP and chief financial officer.
Lamb’s own responsibilities have also grown. The restructuring announcement Tuesday stated his role has expanded to include Postmedia’s business technology group.
As part of the restructuring, digital content and Postmedia editorial services now become part of Lou Clancy’s portfolio, said Gelfand. Clancy holds the title of vice-president of editorial and editor-in-chief, Postmedia News.
Postmedia’s digital group will continue to report through Wayne Parrish, whose role was expanded to chief transformation and revenue officer in July 2011. His role includes all revenue-generating areas of Postmedia’s business operations, which include digital operations, sales and business ventures.
Godfrey said in a release that the continued focus for this fiscal year is on transformation and revenue development. To maximize returns on the company’s digital investments, he added that it will be “ensuring that our product and sales teams work more closely than ever.”
