STEIGER TO STEP DOWN AT PROPUBLICA
Paul Steiger, 69, is stepping down Jan. 1 as editor-in-chief and CEO of ProPublica, the non-profit investigative reporting outfit.
He earned total compensation of $590,119 in 2010, according to the group’s tax filing.
ProPublica managing editor Stephen Engelberg will take the e-i-c title and general manager Richard Tofel will step into the president position. The pair will share the chief executive title. Engelberg earned $376,276 and Tofel made $347,666 in 2010.
The 54-year-old Engelberg worked 18 years at the New York Times and was managing editor of The Oregonian before joining ProPublica. Tofel, 55, is a former assistant publisher at the Wall Street Journal.
Steiger, who was managing editor of the WSJ, will transition to the executive chairman post at ProPublica, concentrating on fundraising and strategy.
ProPublica recorded $10,224,662 in 2010 total revenue. That was up from $6,367,046 from the earlier year.
It began 2010 with $1,763,323 in net assets and wrapped up the year at the $2,847,703 mark.
NYTC DUMPS RED SOX
The New York Times Co. has sold its last remaining stake in Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox, to multiple buyers, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company received $63M from multiple buyers and will record a $38M second-quarter gain.
FSG properties also include Liverpool Football Club, which plays in England’s Premier League; 80 percent stake in New England Sports Network regional cable network, and Roush Fenway Racing Nascar team.
HALL RETURNS TO PHILLY HELM
Bob Hall, who was publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News when they were part of Knight-Ridder, has returned to the helm
He takes over for Greg Osberg a month after the papers were purchased by a group of local investors.
Osberg will serve as a consultant on advertising sales and digital strategies on a short-term basis.
Hall, 67, is “known and respected throughout the industry as a first-class professional,” said a statement from Lewis Katz, a member of the new ownership team.
The papers have had four owners during the past six years.
LA TIMES SHUTTERS SUNDAY MAG
The Los Angeles Times Media Group is pulling the plug on its Sunday magazine, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine, as president and COO Kathy Thomson cited “a very challenging environment.”
The magazine, which switched from weekly to monthly publication in 2008, will print a final issue on June 3.
“The entire magazine industry has been faced with a very challenging environment," Thomson wrote in a memo which ran in the Times today. “We are not immune to the challenges.”
Thomson said the Times is developing a quarterly centered on fashion, style and luxury. Those are key markets supporting Sunday magazines at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
NPR’S REBER MOVES TO CIR
Susanne Reber, deputy managing editor of NPR’s first investigations team, is moving to the Center for Investigative Reporting as a senior coordinating editor in June.
She focuses on multiplatform projects and investigations for the 35-year-old Berklely, Calif.-based journalism institution, which merged with the non-profit Bay Citizen this month. Her scope includes heading national and international investigative and enterprise
reporting projects, and building CIR’s team of health and environment reporters.
At NPR, Reber led investigations as well as collaborations with CIR, ProPublica, PBS programs and other entities.
She previously built and led an investigative reporting program at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. from 2003-09.
CIR editorial director Mark Katches called Reber a “powerhouse in the investigative reporting community.”
CIR has 45 staffers.
HBO DEVELOPS NEWS SHOW WITH VICE
HBO has partnered with VICE magazine for a weekly news magazine to be hosted by VICE founder Shane Smith.
Bill Maher, the comedian and HBO “Real Time” host, is an executive producer and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria is a consultant.
Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming, said VICE has emerged as a “premier new media brand through a savvy combination of irreverence, smarts and fearlessness.
He said the network is :excited to offer a forum for their groundbreaking style of news coverage and look forward to a show that’s like nothing else on TV.”
The program will be titled “VICE.”