Sacramento Bee publisher leaves, editor assumes new role amid coronavirus tightening

The Sacramento Bee parted ways with its president and publisher as part of a series of moves by The McClatchy Co. on Thursday to reduce expenses and maintain journalism operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Gary Wortel, who had served in the role since April 2017, will leave the company effective immediately, one of four executives across McClatchy whose jobs are being eliminated to save money.

Editor Lauren Gustus, who also supports the company as director of community funding, will become president of The Sacramento Bee in addition to her existing roles.

“I am eager to connect more deeply with readers and stakeholders across the region,” Gustus said Thursday. “Our path to sustainability will be forged when we are in an authentic relationship with our communities and when we together make a commitment to share critical news and information with those who need it.”

Gustus joined The Bee newsroom in February 2018 as the regional editor for McClatchy’s news operations in the West. She was previously editor of McClatchy’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas.

As editor, Gustus oversees 10 newsrooms in the West. She has launched initiatives for community outreach and partnerships to support journalistic efforts, and led investigative reporting efforts. The Bee recently took first place in investigative reporting for its yearlong series, “OverCorrection: Crisis in California Jails,” in partnership with ProPublica.

Wortel said he’s proud of The Bee’s dedication to reporting news that’s critical to Sacramento’s future.

“Local community journalism has never been more important than during the coronavirus crisis,” Wortel said after Thursday’s announcement. “I’ll miss working with a great team of journalists but everyone should know that The Sacramento Bee is in great hands under Lauren’s leadership.”

Kristin Roberts, McClatchy’s vice president of news, said Thursday no journalists in the company will be affected by the expense reductions.

“This is a credit to our relentless focus on journalism that drives readership, helping to create a better balance between revenue from advertising and audience,” Roberts said.

The Sacramento Bee continues to add journalists, and recently hired two reporters to cover Asian American and Latino community issues in a continuing partnership with Report for America. The reporting positions are partially funded by community stakeholders committed to providing news and information in the region.

Craig Forman — the chief executive of Sacramento-based McClatchy, the nation’s second-largest news company — also announced Thursday he would take a 50 percent cut to his total annual compensation, and the five members of his executive team would be reducing their overall compensation by approximately 15 percent.

“We must acknowledge that no one can accurately predict an end to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” Forman said in a companywide message to employees. “While customer revenues and our news operations in many ways are outperforming in key metrics, our advertising business is suffering despite an all-out effort from our team to beat the nationwide trends.”

McClatchy’s 30 newsrooms across 14 states — including The Bee, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald and The Charlotte Observer — are reeling from the effects of the global pandemic, Forman said. One McClatchy employee has died due to complications from COVID-19, and two others within the company are battling the virus’ effects.

McClatchy also filed for bankruptcy in mid-February. The Chapter 11 filing will allow McClatchy to restructure its debts and, it hopes, shed much of its pension obligations. On Thursday, in conjunction with the announcement, the company asked the federal bankruptcy court in New York to reduce its legal fees and trim scheduled payments to creditors.

“As trying as the environment is, we know that our mission to provide essential news and information in our communities has never been more important,” Forman said.

No one could not have forecast the speed with which the coronavirus “has infected so many aspects of our lives,” said Forman, who emphasized the Sacramento-based company has set as a priority the retention of jobs and people.

Among other cost-cutting steps announced Thursday, an unspecified number of advertising employees will be placed on unpaid leave of absence through June. The cuts involved about 4 percent of McClatchy’s 2,770-member workforce.

The leave will allow workers to access health insurance and qualify for unemployment benefits that have been supplemented by the federal stimulus, Forman said, and will allow the company to “flex back up to full capacity as the demand for advertising recovers.” In addition, some top company executives will take compensation cuts.

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:28 PM.