SEVEN MONTHS IN AND SEE YA LATER
Globe CEO resigns amid Henry shake-up
The abrupt departure of Boston Globe CEO Doug Franklin after just seven months on the job — over strategic differences — underscores the financial pressures owner John Henry is under as he looks to rein in costs after the paper’s move from Dorchester to downtown.
In a goodbye memo to staff yesterday, Franklin said he and Henry “share similar passion and vision for the Globe” but “have our differences how to strategically achieve our financial sustainability.”
The sudden resignation came after an apparent clash over the Globe’s future, particularly how much to invest in its digital subscription platform. Franklin was quoted on his hiring saying “quality storytelling and great journalism tied to the subscription model has promise.”
But Henry appears more geared toward slashing costs, dropping special sections and pushing buyouts, which he has done each of the past three years.
Former Globe CEO Mike Sheehan, who handed the baton to Franklin in January, said Henry and Franklin “both share the same objective, which is sustainability.”
“Obviously there’s disagreement on what it’s going to take to get there,” Sheehan told the Herald. “And rank has its privileges.”
In a separate missive yesterday, Henry said he and wife Linda will take on more responsibility at the Globe “as we push for financial sustainability in an environment that is extraordinarily challenging for news organizations dedicated to communities where facts and context matter.”
Henry, the Red Sox owner who acquired the broadsheet four years ago, eliminated dozens of jobs in 2015 and oversaw a disastrous change in the paper’s delivery system last year to save money, which resulted in a slew of missed deliveries. He’s also shuttered Crux, a standalone website devoted to Catholic news, and scaled back Capital, a weekly section on local and national politics.
Another round of layoffs was expected after the move downtown last month, with concern among Globe staff that Franklin was brought on to do the dirty work. As publisher of the Palm Beach Post in 2008, Franklin, who retired as a CFO for Cox Enterprises, made headlines by axing 300 jobs despite relatively healthy circulation numbers.
A retiree who was living in Florida when the Globe tapped him, Franklin billed himself on LinkedIn as a “Strategic Change Leader” who has had success “identifying trends and developing products and strategies that grow organizations both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
But he was thought to be pushing for more investment in the Globe’s digital subscription business, which has seen noticeable growth in the past year, at a time when Henry was still seeking ways to pare down costs with different ideas of where strategic investments should be focused.
John Henry did not respond to a request for comment. Franklin could not be reached. And a Globe spokeswoman referred to the paper’s own coverage of Franklin’s departure.
The Globe article mentioned ongoing problems at the paper’s new printing facility in Taunton — “a vexing and expensive headache” that predated Franklin’s arrival.
The paper also announced that former Politico and WGBH CFO Vinay Mehra, whom the Globe hired in May, will become the president and CFO of Boston Globe Media. Plans to appoint a new CEO were not announced.