RANKIN PROMOTED TO TOP GIG AT STAR
The Arizona Daily Star went in-house for John Humenik’s replacement and named Chase Rankin president and publisher. Rankin had been the paper’s vice president of sales, advertising and marketing.
“Chase’s elevation to a greater level of responsibility is a well-earned promotion,” Humenik said in a prepared statement. “He’s done a terrific job bringing innovative solutions to our advertisers, as well as being engaged with our community and staff. His passion for growing our business coupled with his almost limitless energy and strategic leadership will keep the Daily Star strong for years to come.”
Rankin spent three years as the Star’s advertising VP. The newspaper credits him for playing a major role in landing owner Lee Enterprises’ Enterprise of the Year award in 2013. He also won a Lee Presidents Award in 2006 for his work on the websites for St. Louis’ Suburban Journals.
Improving the functionality and ease of use of the Star’s website would be a nice priority for him.
Rankin grew up in a newspaper family. His parents published weekly newspapers and continue to own and operate numerous specialty trade magazines.
In the Daily Star article announcing the promotion, Rankin said, “I am honored and excited by this opportunity to lead the Daily Star. We have a proven record of success helping our readers connect with the community and advertisers reaching their desired markets. We look forward to furthering our mission of serving Tucson with even more engagement, innovations and value.”
Curiously, there’s not a single mention about quality journalism.
JOURNAL CHANGES MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
The Journal Broadcast Group, which owns KGUN Channel 9 and KWBA Channel 58 in addition to four local radio stations, has made adjustments to its companywide managerial approach.
In short, the Milwaukee-based company is splitting oversight responsibilities between television and radio in all the markets where it has ownership in both platforms. In the past, a single GM oversaw both endeavors, but the new structure will focus on separate television and radio divisions.
“We believe that current and future growth will demand a more singular, focused approach to managing Television and Radio in order for each to advance its strategic objectives and reach its full operational potential,” according to a memo obtained by the Weekly announcing the changes.
Locally, it means Jim Arnold is running the television operation. Arnold was GM for both ventures prior to the restructuring.
“With concentrated efforts from two separate, but cooperative management teams, I can devote my focus toward continued growth on the TV side while working alongside Journal Radio so that we do not diminish our competitive advantage in being Tucson’s only truly cross-platform media company,” Arnold said via email.
Shaun Holly is handling interim GM responsibilities on the radio side.
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2014.
Why are people always “excited”? Trite.
The remain “excited” until the next staff clearance. They then can return to being out of a job, thus, less “excited”. Life in Tucson on a daily basis.
I wonder if the Star is still deleting comments. They pulled about a dozen or more on the story about the Caesar Chavez holiday. There was nothing wrong about them, they did not violate any terms of service or good taste.
Par for the course for Tucson.
1. The fact that Lee Enterprises has been around since the 1800s and yet has NO journalistic tradition associated with the name (unlike say, Pulitzer or Hearst) should tell you all you need to know about the company.
2. I had a similar thought regarding the new Star publisher’s lack of connection to actual journalism.
BUT
3. It seems kind of hypocritical to call out another newspaper for its lack of quality journalism in a column that is basically regurgitating what already ran several days ago in that other newspaper (an on-again, off-again competing paper, at that), even going so far as to cite the other paper’s story as your source. It’s akin to pointing out someone else’s typos in a paragraph riddled with them. Just sayin’.
RE: Journal Management change. Good move. (I hope they don’t cut the man’s PAY) Radio and TV are related, but very different media. One cannot really do his best work for both at the same time. One or the other will suffer.
And make no mistake. A manager who works at being a manager does a hard days work every day. There are folks in town who don’t think so. They cut off their noses to spite their faces.
They are either excited or stimulated, sometimes highly motivated, but it is all boring to read about.