N&O publisher leaves company under McClatchy cost-cutting measures
Sara Glines, the president and publisher of The News & Observer, will leave the company as part of broader cost-cutting moves by its parent McClatchy.
Glines, who also is regional publisher for McClatchy’s 15 newspapers on the East Coast including The Charlotte Observer and The Herald-Sun in Durham, took over as N&O publisher in September 2016, replacing Orage Quarles III. She is one of four executives across McClatchy whose jobs are being eliminated to save money.
The cuts are in response to the sharp drop in advertising revenue plaguing online and print publishers as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, said Craig Forman, McClatchy’s chief executive officer. While McClatchy’s readership and digital subscriptions have increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, “our advertising business is suffering despite an all-out effort from our team to beat the nationwide trends,” Forman said in a memo last week to company employees.
Glines arrived at The N&O as McClatchy began to consolidate executive functions across its newspapers. She oversaw the purchase of The Herald-Sun in late 2016, became regional publisher for McClatchy papers in the Carolinas and then regional publisher for the East Coast, stretching from Miami to Pennsylvania.
“My time in Raleigh has been an incredible ride,” Glines said in a written statement. “As I step away to begin this new phase of my life, I realize how fortunate I am to have been part of something that is so hard to leave and people who have been so special.”
Robyn Tomlin, currently The N&O’s executive editor and McClatchy’s Southeast regional editor, has been named The N&O’s president. Tomlin described Glines as a “top-notch leader, mentor and a fearless advocate for local journalism and our journalists.”
Tomlin also noted that the coronavirus crisis has helped underscore the importance of local journalism.
“Our audience remains at historic highs, and we’ve received tremendous support from readers across the region and state,” she said in a written statement. “We don’t take any of this for granted.”
Glines was born and raised in Rockford, Ill., where her father was managing editor of the town’s two newspapers. Her first job in journalism, more than 40 years ago, was in the composing room of the Contra Costa Times in California where she helped lay out the next day’s newspaper.
In an interview, Glines said she’s not sure if she’s going to retire. “I feel right now like I am,” she said. “But I’ll rest for a couple of months and see if I still feel that way.”
Local newspapers like those owned by McClatchy have suffered financially for years as advertisers and readers found new outlets on the internet. McClatchy also has been burdened by debt from its purchase of a larger competitor, Knight Ridder, in 2006 and by pension obligations. The company filed for bankruptcy in February, proposing a restructuring that would end 162 years of control by the McClatchy family of California.
Among other cost-cutting steps announced by McClatchy, an unspecified number of advertising employees are being placed on unpaid leave of absence through June.
The leave allows 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 8:14 PM with the headline "N&O publisher leaves company under McClatchy cost-cutting measures."
