The Core Problem With Compensation: Gannett's CEO Gets A Raise

Gannett (GCI) is part of the crumbling newspaper industry. It has not gotten its online properties to nearly match the revenue of its traditional print operations, so the firm is still shrinking and has no real answer to it troubles. Gannett’s stock is off 80% over the last five years, which is much greater that the shares of either The New York Times Company (NYT) or The Washington Post (WPO). Gannett’s revenue is likely to drop again in 2010.

But, Gannett CEO Craig Dubow made $4.7 million last year according to the Gannett proxy. That is up from $3.1 million in 2008. Senior executives at the paper company get the customary access to private cars and the firm’s jet.

Gannett has fired thousands of people over the last two years and asked others to take weeks without pay. The company has not come up with a single meaningful strategic plan to overcome the slide in its fortunes. Operations like Huffington Post , Politico, and The Daily Beast have flanked Gannett. It never had the intelligence to launch its own large internet-only products. Perhaps it feared that would cannibalize its print properties, but they are dying anyway.

Dubow got a pay raise last years in exchange for letting go many of his own people and failing to solve his firm’s most core problems.

Douglas A. McIntyre