Showing posts with label Mary Junck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Junck. Show all posts

Monday, September 27, 2010

What's a director worth?

Last week, Lee Enterprises added an 11th member to its board of directors, Brent Magid. Only two board members also work for Lee full-time:
  • Mary Junck, Lee's president and chief executive officer is chairman of the board
  • Gregory P. Schermer is one of Lee's 12 vice presidents
In 2009, the average compensation for the other nine directors was $69,167.78. In 2009, Lee laid off more than 500 employees. (Lee has made several layoffs in 2010, although I do not have numbers for several papers.)

Basic information on each director:

RICHARD R. COLE
Full-time job: Journalism professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
Director since: 2006
2009 director compensation: $67,470
2008 director compensation: $71,065
2007 director compensation: $100,385

NANCY S. DONOVAN
Full-time job: Founding partner of private equity firms Circle Financial Group LLC and Oakmont Partners LLC
Director since: 2003
2009 director compensation: $70,470
2008 director compensation: $79,065
2007 director compensation: $108,385

LEONARD J. ELMORE
Full-time job: Attorney
Director since: 2008
2009 director compensation: $66,470
2008 director compensation: $46,065

MARY E. JUNCK
Full-time job: President and chief executive officer of Lee Enterprises
Director since: 1999
2009 compensation: $1,323,098
2008 compensation: $2.5 million
2007 compensation: $3.7 million

WILLIAM E. MAYER
Full-time job: Founding parter of private equity firm Park Avenue Equity Partners L.P.; director of a management investment company and another that develops and markets software and hardware for people with speech and learning disabilities
Director since: 1998
2009 director compensation (Lee only): $95,470
2008 director compensation (Lee only): $97,065
2007 director compensation (Lee only): $124,385

HERBERT W. MOLONEY
Full-time job: President and chief operating officer of Western Colorprint Inc.
Director since: 2001
2009 director compensation: $79,220
2008 director compensation: $86,815
2007 director compensation: $114,885

ANDREW E. NEWMAN
Full-time job: Private investor
Director since: 1991
2009 director compensation: $93,470
2008 director compensation: $99,065
2007 director compensation: $126,385

GORDON D. PRICHETT
Full-time job: Founder of private investment group Cairnwood Cooperative in Boston, and math professor at Babson College in Babson Park, Mass.
Director since: 1998
2009 director compensation: $71,470
2008 director compensation: $79,065
2007 director compensation: $107,385

GREGORY P. SCHERMER
Full-time job: Vice president of interactive media at Lee Enterprises
Director since: 1999
2009 compensation: Not found
2008 compensation: Not found
2007 compensation: $576,029

MARK B. VITTERT
Full-time job: Private investor
Director since: 1986
2009 director compensation: $78,470
2008 director compensation: $88,065
2007 director compensation: $114,385

Salary information from Forbes.com

Friday, September 24, 2010

Lee Enterprises adds board member

Brent Magid has been elected to Lee Enterprises' board of directors. Magid is the president and chief executive officer of a consulting firm, Frank N. Magid Associates Inc.

"We welcome Brent's extensive media experience and digital expertise," Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck said in a press release; she did not offer details on what that experience has been.

According to its website, the company works with newspapers and other publications "to help them evolve their businesses in ways that lead to growing revenues." It's "newspaper of the future" project uses "a highly customized process to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward print and online media consumption, which then informs strategies to recapture important consumer and advertiser positions that have been assumed by other media."

Lee's board of directors now has 11 members.

Editor & Publisher's story

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Lee's losses continue in third quarter

Lee Enterprises posted its third quarter earnings on July 20. Revenue fell 3.6 percent, which CEO Mary Junck called "positive momentum."

The report shows $10 million in earnings, but Junck failed to mention that figure is greatly boosted by cuts made to employee benefits at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, layoffs at several other papers and nearly across the board unpaid furloughs.

Lee's fiscal year ends in September, the same time the no-layoff guarantee at the Post-Dispatch ends. The company must pay back its debts from the 2005 Pulitzer acquisition in 2012.

Editor's note: An unexpected and important family obligation has kept me away from this blog for some time; my apologies. I make no promises, but hope to get back on a regular blogging schedule. Thanks to all for the e-mails, tips, links and comments. Tips are always welcome: lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

On heels of layoff announcement, CEO Junck says 'thanks'

A week after Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel employees learned finance jobs would be outsourced to an Illinois paper, Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck sent this e-mail to Hanford employees:

May 24, 2010

Dear Lee Employee:

As we enter the final months of Lee’s 2010 fiscal year and prepare for 2011, I’d like to give you an update on the direction of our company. I believe it is exactly right.

Revenue trends have improved steadily in recent months, and the clouds are beginning to lift. Still, revenue continues to lag below last year, and challenges remain. Meanwhile, we have taken many wise steps to streamline operations while building on our position as, by far, the premier provider of local news, information and advertising in our markets.

As the economy slowly recovers, our advertising customers are becoming more willing to restore their marketing programs. We are presenting them with an increasing array of capabilities for delivering their messages to print and digital audiences.

With the help of publishers, editors, advertising executives, members of management teams and others across Lee, we have created a strong plan for resuming growth. If we execute as well as I know we can, 2011 looks like a turnaround year.

Our aggressive plan is built on four key themes – optimism about the economy and our future, a huge emphasis on increasing our market share, rapid growth of digital/wireless opportunities, and an urgency to move even faster to meet emerging needs of audiences and advertisers.

Initiatives include new print and digital products, aggressive new sales programs, intensified sales training, adding sales people where revenue opportunities exist, and improved technology in our newsrooms to help us continue expanding our print, online, niche and mobile audiences.

You’ll learn more about the initiatives in meetings with your publisher over the next few weeks.

In previous updates, I have assured you that Lee will begin improving benefits and compensation opportunities as soon as economic conditions allow. While we are not yet at that point, I am hopeful that, with continued cooperation from the economy and our ever-harder push to resume revenue growth, the process can begin to some degree later this year.

Thank you for all you do for Lee. I continue to be grateful for your perseverance in what has been an extraordinary time of challenge.

With very best wishes and deep appreciation,

Mary Junck

While this one was addressed to Hanford, it reads like an e-mail all Lee employees have found or will soon find in their inboxes.

(Via e-mail; send tips and e-mails to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

CEO Junck joins 2 newspaper boards

Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck was appointed to the board of directors of the Newspaper Association of America,, and has been re-elected to the board of the Associated Press.

NAA is a lobbying group based outside of Washington, D.C. CEO John Sturm appeared on the "Colbert Report" in March:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Better Know a Lobby - Newspaper Lobby
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFox News

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ahead of union vote, a look at Lee executives salaries

On Saturday, St. Louis Newspaper Guild members at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch will vote on Lee's "final offer" five-year contract. That offer includes a 6 percent pay cut through September 2015, a one-week unpaid furlough in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and a possible "snap-back" salary increase in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Which gives us an opportunity to look at the salary of Lee's leaders. According to the company's proxy statement released in January:

Name2009 salary2009 compensation2008 salary2008 compensation
CEO Mary E. Junck$833,654$882,454$850,000$1,089,506
CFO Carl G. Schmidt$472,731$612,831$482,000$681,492
VP Greg R. Veon$354,058$381,337$361,000$487,315
VP Kevin D. Mowbray$328,558$353,328$335,000$452,383
VP Vytenis P. Kuraitis$262,846$283,413$268,000$370,266

Salaries for each executive decreased by 1.92 percent -- or approximately a one-week unpaid furlough. Total compensation includes bonuses, stock awards and retirement account contributions; fewer of those were awarded. From 2007 to 2008, each executive's salary increased by more than 3 percent.

If Junck followed the salary guidelines and furloughs the union will vote on:
6 percent pay cutFurloughSnap-backAnnual salary
2010$799,000$16,346.15$782,653.85
2011$799,000$16,346.15$782,653.85
2012$799,000$16,346.15$782,653.85
2013$799,000$19,975$818,975
2014$799,000$40,948.75$839,948.75
2015$799,000$62,996.16$861,996.16
Furlough represents one-week's salary, calculated by dividing the annual salary by 52 weeks. The "snap-back" is added if the company increases its annual revenue by at least 2 percent, which I am assuming in this example, and will result in a salary increase of 2.5 percent in the last three years of the contract.

If Mowbray, who in addition to being a vice president of publishing is also the publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, followed the same salary reduction and furlough schedule:
6 percent pay cutFurloughSnap-back Annual salary
2010$314,900$6,442.31$308,457.69
2011$314,900$6,442.31$308,457.69
2012$314,900$6,442.31$308,457.69
2013$314,900$7,872.50$322,772.50
2014$314,900$16,138.62$331,038.62
2015$314,900$24,827.90$339,727.90

From 2008 to 2015, Junck's and Mowbray's salaries would have increased by 1.41 percent (assuming, of course, that there were no bonuses or other additional compensation).

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Junck up for re-election on AP board of directors

The Associated Press has mailed proxy ballots to its members. Members can vote yes or no on a preferred slate of board of director candidates, which includes:
  • Michael Golden, New York Times
  • R. Jack Fishman, Lakeway Publishers
  • Mary Junck, Lee Enterprises
  • Steven Newhouse, Advance Publications
  • Charles Pittman, Schurz Communications
  • Katharine Weymouth, Washington Post
I'm not sure what happens if the majority of votes are against this group, which, given the set-up, is unlikely.

The AP board has 18 directors, elected in staggered groups of six each year. Directors are elected to three-year terms are can serve up to nine years. Junck is a current board member

Friday, February 19, 2010

College paper queries decline of the Post-Dispatch

A St. Louis college newspaper is taking Lee to task. In an editorial titled The Post-Dispatch's decline spells trouble for all St. Louisians, the Webster University paper takes a look at the "Post-Dispatch's destruction."
A solid newspaper keeps the wolves at bay. It keeps the corrupt in check and prevents the little guy from constant fleecing. If the Post-Dispatch isn't around to speak truth to power, who will?
The editorial is similar to the St. Louis Newspaper Guild's open letter to Mary Junck.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Earnings down 'only' 9.2 percent

Lee's revenue continues to slide: January total revenue fell 9.2 percent from the previous year. At the annual stockholder meeting, CFO Carl Schmidt said he expects the "improvement" to continue in February and March.

In the second quarter, which ends in March, Lee expects operating costs to fall by 9 percent. No details on cost-cutting measures, but compensation costs have fallen 19.6 percent from 2008 to 2009. The opening slide in the stockholder slideshow said "We continue to generate substantial cash flow in a difficult economy."

CEO Mary Junck told stockholders that Lee's papers and websites reach up to three-fourths of adults over a week in their markets.

"In a time of rapidly evolving digital interactivity, our newspapers and online sites remain in front, by far, surpassing all print, broadcast and online competitors as the primary source for local news, information and advertising in our communities," she said. "Without us, most local news would never come to light."

Schmidt also said the company paid down $198 million of debt in 2009.

Read Lee's statement on its earnings report, and see the 31-page slideshow (PDF).

Sunday, February 14, 2010

St. Louis guild writes open letter to Junck

The latest newsletter from the St. Louis Newspaper Guild included an open letter to Lee CEO Mary Junck and St. Louis Post-Dispatch publisher Kevin Mowbray. The guild recently said negotiations on a new contract for Post-Dispatch employees has "turned more acrimonious." The letter recaps a bit of Lee/Post-Dispatch history, but never seems to deliver on the build-up. Here it is, in full:
OPEN LETTER TO:
Mary Junck, CEO of Lee Enterprises
Kevin Mowbray, publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
And the officers and directors of Lee Enterprises

What it all comes down to is this: You’re just not that into us, and you never were.

From almost Day 1, we couldn’t really understand why Lee Enterprises felt compelled to buy Pulitzer. After all, Lee is a small town corporation; St. Louis, by Midwest standards, is a big city. The biggest of Lee’s newspapers barely reach 100,000 circulation; the Post-Dispatch has daily circulation twice that – and four times that on Sunday. Lee’s newspapers thrive by covering local news in small cities and towns; the Post-Dispatch made its mark covering the world, with a fully staffed Washington bureau.

Most of all, we couldn’t understand why Lee Enterprises, a mostly union-free operation accustomed to dictating terms to its newspapers, would take on insane debt to purchase a unionized paper in a pro-union city whose people react badly to being told what to do by carpetbaggers.

You must have felt that Pulitzer in general, and the Post-Dispatch in particular, would be a media jewel in your corporate crown. We thought that the Post-Dispatch might be a model by which Lee could expand the journalistic reach of its other newspapers. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that your goal was to turn the Post-Dispatch into just another Lee newspaper.

So, starting long before the economy tanked, we watched as scores of our colleagues were bought out and laid off. This may have helped the bottom line but also erased hundreds of years of institutional wisdom and memory on which great newspapers depend. We watched as you gutted the Washington bureau, national desk and wire desk. We watched as you killed the Everyday section and relegated feature writing to the margins, eliminating a brand that St. Louisans had turned to for more than 100 years.

And we sat by while you treated the Post-Dispatch and its employees and retirees with a breathtaking lack of respect. This began as soon as you took the keys to the building, with the inanely hostile act of prohibiting union members from using the Lee Lodge. And it has continued right through contract negotiations and the immoral and, in our view, illegal stripping of paid health insurance from the retired men and women who built this newspaper and worked for decades toward that benefit.
As you have remade the Post-Dispatch in the image of Davenport or Munster, you have told us that we make too much money, as if St. Louis and Davenport, or Munster, were equivalent in any meaningful way.

You have said that even if Lee were “swimming in money,” our retirees wouldn’t get any of it.

And you continue to insist that we take a 23 percent pay cut among other Draconian economic proposals, while rejecting each and every proposal we have given you for saving money or making money.

So here we are. And we’re still wondering: Why did Lee Enterprises buy Pulitzer if its goal was to destroy it?

And here are two more things that you may not have known about the Newspaper Guild five years ago and that you apparently still haven’t learned: You can’t scare us to death, and we will not roll over.
Read the rest of the newsletter on the guild's website.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Annual stockholder meeting set for Feb. 17

Lee's annual stockholder meeting will be 9 a.m. CST Feb. 17 at corporate headquarters in Davenport, Iowa. On the agenda:
  • Elect directors Mary Junck, Andrew E. Newman and Gordon D. Prichett for three-year terms. Junck has been a director since 1999; Newman has been a director since 1991; Prichett has been a director since 1998. (Short bios on each director can be found here.)
  • Ratify KPMG LLP as the company's accountant.
  • Consider proposals to amend and restate a stock plan for non-employee directors and a long-term incentive plan.
Stockholders can vote now online at eproxy.com/lee.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Junck shares her top 10 list for 2009

The end of the year is always a time for look-back and best-of stories and lists. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Mary Junck said a "few rays of sunshine have begun peeking through the clouds," and offered her list of Lee's top 10 accomplishments in 2009. That list:
1. Exceptional fortitude, perseverance and teamwork have shined throughout the company, reinforcing our ability to emerge strong when the recession ends.

2. Debt refinancing and reduction – We executed a comprehensive refinancing of $1.3 billion of bank and private placement debt in arguably the worst financing environment since the Great Depression. Our principal payments in 2009 totaled $164 million.

3. Cost savings – We reduced cash costs by $150 million, or 18.3%, with savings across all enterprises and in virtually all cost categories, which helped us return to profitability in the last quarter of fiscal 2009.

4. Streamlined operations – We re-engineered traditional ways of doing business, including selective outsourcing and insourcing of printing, production and distribution; creation of regional call centers, and regionalization of human resources.

5. Increased market share – Through an intense focus on innovative sales programs, we took an estimated $35 million of advertising revenue from competitors.

6. Improved online infrastructure – We created and deployed a powerful content management system that has provided dynamic new online tools and enabled a significant new capability, the delivery of behaviorally targeted advertising (BT).

7. Massive BT launch – Our mid-summer kickoff of behavioral targeted advertising generated more than $4 million of new online advertising commitments in the last two months of fiscal 2009 and set the stage for aggressive sales campaigns in 2010.

8. New page width – Through intense collaboration, our editors redesigned our pages to a reduced width of 11 inches, gaining approval from readers and advertisers. Through that and other actions, we reduced newsprint usage 31%.

9. Strong audiences – We maintained or grew strong print and online audiences, reaching more than three-fourths of adults in many markets, by emphasizing vital, compelling and unmatched local journalism.

10. Industry leader in revenue – With an intense sales culture and unending stream of initiatives, we again led the industry in advertising revenue performance by nearly 5 percentage points.

Read the rest of the letter here.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

6 Lee execs cash in shares

On Nov. 16, six Lee execs sold 24,415 shares of Lee stock for $94,730.20 (or $3.88 per share).

NameTitleShares soldWalked away with
Mary Junckchairman, president, ceo15,123$58,677.24
Greg Veonvice president - publishing2,856$11,081.28
Kevin Mowbrayvice president - publishing1,980$7,682.40
Greg Schermervice president - interactive media1,652$6,409.76
Mike Gulledgevice president - publishing1,431$5,552.28
Vito Kuraitisvice president - human resources1,373$5,327.24


See the SEC filings.

Friday, November 13, 2009

4th quarter earnings out; expect more cuts

Lee reported a profit in its fourth quarter of about 4 cents per share, or $1.8 million. Operating cash flow grew 10.5 percent and operating expenses were cut 25.5 percent. Furloughs and layoffs cut compensation by 23.5 percent, and the number of full-time employees by 15.1 percent.

Lee will cut costs even more: 15 percent to 16 percent in the current quarter, and 6 percent to 7 percent overall in fiscal year 2010, according to the earnings report.

"While we can't predict the timing of the economic recovery, we believe our streamlining of costs, aggressive sales programs and unmatched delivery of local news, information and advertising have positioned Lee to emerge strong," CEO Mary Junck said in a statement. “In 2009, we increased local market share by taking millions of advertising dollars from competitors, and in 2010 we expect to gain further share through our rollout of online behavioral targeting advertising and other intensive sales programs.”

Junck said September and October were the best months for advertising revenue in fiscal year 2009, but there has been a 19.7 percent drop in retail ad revenue, a 24.7 percent drop in online ad revenue and a 31.8 percent drop in classified advertising. Circulation revenue fell 6.3 percent.

Lee did reduce its debt ... to $1.1 billion.

See the full fourth quarter report.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Lee stock soaring

Lee stock is soaring the past few days -- it closed at $3.47 on Tuesday and at times on Monday and Tuesday was above $4. Back in August, CEO Mary Junck bought 20,000 shares for about $2.22. That means she's made $25,000 since then.

A year ago, Lee's stock was in this same range, then fell in November. Lee will release its fourth-quarter earnings on Nov. 12; we'll see how that affects stock prices.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Junck recalls 'all we've accomplished' in FY09

On Wednesday, CEO Mary Junck sent an e-mail to publishers and directors that includes her list of 10 accomplishment from the last fiscal year.

The e-mail follows, but let's start with that top 10 list. (The capitalization and punctuation is hers.)
1. EXCEPTIONAL FORTITUDE, perseverance and teamwork have shined throughout the company, reinforcing our ability to emerge strong when the recession ends.
2. DEBT REFINANCING – We executed a complete refinancing of $1.3 billion of bank and Pulitzer Notes debt in the worst financing environment since the Great Depression.
3. HUGE COST SAVINGS – We reduced cash costs by roughly $145 million, or 18%, with savings across all enterprises and in virtually all cost categories.
4. STREAMLINED OPERATIONS – We re-engineered traditional ways of doing business, including outsourcing and insourcing of printing, production and distribution; creation of regional call centers; and regionalization of human resources.
5. INCREASED MARKET SHARE – Through an intense focus on High-Velocity Steal Share programs including Brand Expand, we generated approximately $35 million of stolen share advertising revenue.
6. CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – We created and deployed a powerful content management system that has provided dynamic new online tools and a platform for a significant new advertising capability, Behavioral Targeting.
7. MASSIVE BT LAUNCH – Our mid-summer kickoff of Behavioral Targeting has generated more than $4 million of new online advertising sales in the last two months of FY2009, and set the stage for a goal of $20 million in FY2010.
8. NEW PAGE WIDTH – We redesigned our pages to a reduced width of 11 inches, cutting newsprint expense 8.3%, and gaining approval from readers and advertisers.
9. AUDIENCE GROWTH – We grew or maintained our print and online audiences by emphasizing vital, compelling and unmatched local journalism.
10. INDUSTRY LEADER IN REVENUE – With an intense sales culture and unending stream of initiatives, we again led the industry in advertising revenue by nearly 5 percentage points.

Junck's e-mail is big on behavioral targeting, or BT. That e-mail in its entirety:
From: Mary Junck
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:54 PM
To: #Publishers_Corporate Directors_and_CEO Team
Cc: Kelly Peterson
Subject: Top Accomplishments in 2009 and BT update

While none of us would want to do FY2009 over again, we should take well-earned satisfaction in all we accomplished.

As the attached Top 10 list shows, there’s quite a lot to cheer us.

Thanks to you and so many others across Lee, our hard and innovative work this past year has set the stage for success in 2010 and beyond. Please feel free to share this list as you tally up your own.

You’ll note that #7 on the list is our massive BT launch in Tier 1 at the end of July. This week, Tier 2 launched in enthusiastic rallies Monday in Billings and today in Davenport, and it’s safe to predict that BT is a lock for next year’s Top 10. We’re already nearing our sales goal of $5 million by October 31 and well on our way to reaching $20 million in 2010.

This terrific success shows Lee at its best. It reflects our outstanding sales culture, an excellent sales template, very strong execution and a high level of online sales training throughout Lee. It demonstrates that we are ready for full integration of online sales.

To advance the course we’re on, Greg Schermer, Paul Farrell and I have determined that the corporate sales resources should be fully integrated, as well. The corporate online sales team is joining Paul and his Sales & Marketing group. Mike Buchler and Michelle Carr moved over this week, and we are working out remaining details of the transition.

Greg and I have also concluded that to build our digital future fully, we need to focus even more on the development of new digital products and solutions for our readers and advertisers. High-priority projects for Greg and his team include paid content and mobile, along with overall digital strategy, product development and support, and industry alliances.

Greg, Paul and I think these are very good organizational moves, and we think you’ll agree.

With appreciation and very best wishes,

Mary Junck

Take a look at my previous "look back at FY09" post -- it centered more on the layoffs, the furloughs, the poor stock performance.

What is your prediction for fiscal year 2010? Vote now in the poll to the right.

(Via e-mail)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Junck joins Davenport development board

Lee CEO Mary Junck has joined the board of directors of a Davenport, Iowa, development group. Quad-Cities First oversees economic development sales and marketing for the bi-state area. Junck and 16 others will serve two- to four-year terms on the board.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Lee back on the big board

Lee's share prices have stayed above $1 long enough to meet listing requirements on the New York Stock Exchange. CEO Mary Junck has often said that Wall Street is undervaluing Lee, and repeated that claim Tuesday.
"As we have noted previously, we believe the long-term prospects for our company remain strong and will become increasingly apparent to investors as the recession begins to recede. Our newspapers and online sites continue to reach the vast majority of adults in our markets, far more than any competitor, and we continue to stand out as the leading provider of local news, information and advertising in our markets."

Lee stockholders voted on and approved a reverse stock split in March when the stock was hovering around the 30-cent mark. The reverse stock split was never put into effect.

Stock closed Tuesday at $1.83.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Who's buying Lee stock? Mary Junck

91 percent of you say now is not the time to buy Lee stock. CEO Mary Junck wasn't paying attention -- she bought 20,000 shares this week for about $2.22. Stock closed at $2.40 today, so that's already a $3,600 profit. Junck now owns 346,457 shares.

I extended the deadline on the "would you buy Lee stock" poll in the right column -- vote now.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Lee campaign to reverse 'irrational negativity' about newspapers

You've seen the "First. Best. Today. Tomorrow." logo, right? It's been around for awhile. There's a version on this year's "prayer card."

One of the things I ignored in CEO Mary Junck's letter to stockholders was her mention of the "First. Best. Today. Tomorrow." campaign. Junck said there is a "continuing, irrational negativity about the future of newspapers," and Lee is fighting back with the "First. Best. Today. Tomorrow." Junck said the company-wide campaign will be locally tailored.

There are actually stories out there about this: