Margaret Randazzo says she is leaving the Modesto Bee to take a new position as controller of a solar energy company as of January. Can you blame her?Margaret R. Randazzo, president and publisher of The Modesto Bee, announced Tuesday that she is leaving to join a solar energy company in San Jose.
Randazzo, who has headed The Bee since June 2006 and also has been responsible for the Merced Sun-Star, will be controller at Akeena Solar as of January.
A successor could be named as soon as next month, said Frank Whittaker, a vice president of operations at The McClatchy Co. in Sacramento. Candidates inside and outside the company will be considered, he said.
Randazzo, 40, came to The Bee as the newspaper industry was entering a sharp decline because of the weakening economy and increased Internet competition. Since that time, the paper has reduced its staff, shifted its printing to The Sacramento Bee, boosted its online presence at modbee.com and taken other steps to weather the downturn.
"I'll always be rooting for The Bee and the newspaper industry," Randazzo said after meeting with employees Tuesday morning. "I'm so proud of what we accomplished."
Randazzo said she was not looking to leave The Bee, but heard about the new job from an Akeena executive who had worked with her at Knight-Ridder Inc., a San Jose-based newspaper chain bought by McClatchy in 2006.
The Modesto Bee has had 4 rounds of layoffs this year. In April, 11 employees at the Modesto Bee accepted buyouts. On Bloody Monday, the Bee announced it was cutting 15 jobs. In September, another 35 positions were eliminated. Also in September, the paper announced it was cutting 33 full-time and 127 part-time employees in conjunction with moving printing operations to Sacramento. Hat tip: comments
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Update: Akeena Solar is now in a partnership with Westinghouse.
Previous:
- Report: Modesto Bee looking to cut employee pensions
- Deeper cost-cutting at the Modesto Bee... reduction of hours coming in January?
- McClatchy tosses Modesto pressmen overboard
- Modesto Bee lays off 35 (September)
- Modesto Bee to eliminate 33 full-time and 127 part-time employees
- Modesto Bee lays off 15 (June)
- Modesto Bee offers buyouts to 100 (April)
6 comments:
Best wishes Margaret from a former pressman. I know a lot of people blamed you for what happened, but I think it all came down from corporate, you just got caught up in it. (let me know if there are any job openings)
Will Hank Vanderveen be the next whiz kid at the Mo. Bee? I think he was shooting for that spot.
Margaret R. Randazzo, president and publisher of The Modesto Bee. What sort of salary does a president/publisher position pay I wonder? Journalists complain about the low salaries and long hours. Being ‘in the business’ must not be reward enough after all.
No doubt Margaret sees alternative energy companies as the wave of the future They will probably be paid millions for whatever, under the new ‘Green’ takeover. I hear the subsidized ethanol companies are being dumped already. Next- I hear snake oil is in high demand.
What kind of fool would want to replace her at the ModBee?
What a disaster. Margaret was one of the up-and-coming young people in this company, favored by the family with one of their cherished Bee papers. But after they moved the printing to Sacto and ended up with all of the problems they now have, she got blamed for Modesto's problems. I don't blame her for leaving. There will be other high-level departures real soon, too.
She will be missed. A very nice balance of competency and personality. Certainly what this company needs for the future.
Margaret is a very nice lady who treated me with everyday common courtesy, professionalism and respect. She was always complimentary of my effort, which I appreciated. I wish her the best.
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