The Press Herald

Curt Hazlett resigns and morale takes another hit

By Sam Smith

Monday’s announcement by Portland Press Herald Managing Editor Curt Hazlett that he would be leaving the paper on December 8 dealt yet another blow to morale at Maine’s largest daily. Reporters at the paper say morale is already low due to poor management and bad relations between the paper’s owner and the employee’s union [see “Unfit to Print” at www.portlandphoenix.com]. The resignation announcement caught many staffers by surprise, and they say it hit especially hard not just because Hazlett — who had been at the Press Herald for nine years, three of those as managing editor — is well respected, but because his departure is the latest in what appears to be an exodus from the paper.

In the past year or so the Press Herald has seen a dozen editors and reporters leave, including former features editor Steve Greenlee, former Washington correspondent Steve Campbell, former city editor Alan Mittelstaedt, former state editor Beth Kaiman, and reporters Steve Vegh, Andrew Garber, Clarke Canfield, and Dean Lunt. This kind of turnover might not be unusual if it weren’t for the fact that in the newspaper business the Press Herald is considered a destination paper, the sort of job journalists take when they’re ready to settle down and finish out their careers.

In a memo to the Press Herald staff, Hazlett said he is ready for a change: “Three years in a job like this is a very long time.” He stated that his departure “is unrelated to any other events in the newsroom.” But he also made reference to a consultant who is currently taking stock of the paper: “As you know, the newsroom is undergoing a self-examination led by Bob Wall, a Seattle management coach. Taking part in that very useful process has helped me focus more clearly on feelings . . . that I wanted to try something different.”

The feeling among staffers asked about Hazlett’s announcement was consistent: “I hate to see him leave,” says reporter David Hench. “It’s a hard hit.”

“He’s got really good journalism chops and everybody knew it,” says Amy Sutherland, a reporter at the features desk. “Not only will his departure be hard on morale but the suspicion that it was a result of this review of the management structure is hard on morale too. He’s the last person people expected to leave right now.”

“It’s no secret that the Press Herald lacks leadership in the newsroom,” adds former staffer Steve Campbell. “A lot of reporters and editors have bailed out over the last year, and morale is low. And Curt’s departure certainly won’t help things. I think most of us who care about the Press Herald hoped that Curt would manage the newsroom one day, and get the paper back on track.”

Executive Editor Jeannine Guttman announced on Monday that Eric Conrad, assistant managing editor for sports, would fill in as acting managing editor. She also announced on Monday that she has given Tom Ferriter, an editor at the paper, a new assignment as training coordinator for the 119-member news staff.

“I see this new role as a strong way for us to . . . put more focus, urgency and direction on professional development issues,” said Guttman in a memo to the staff. “That will translate into a stronger and more aggressive newspaper for our readers.”

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Seattle Times Company, which owns the Press Herald, and the Newspaper Guild, the union that represents the vast majority of the paper’s non-management employees, are still stalled. According to Ray Routhier, a reporter at the features desk and a member of the union’s “solidarity committee,” an informational picket will be held outside the Press Herald building at noon on Friday, the three-year anniversary of the last raise union members received. The picket will be similar to one the union held earlier this year and is meant to educate the public about the faltering negotiations and to show solidarity with employees of The Seattle Times (also owned by the Seattle Times Company) who are currently on strike.