Scripps Key Interactive Exec Coats Leaves Newspaper Biz

Rusty Coats

On Monday, E.W. Scripps Newspapers is losing its vice president of content and marketing, Rusty Coats. "This decision is both professional and personal," Coats said in an internal memo issued Thursday, and later released to Online Media Daily. Coats assumed the position in mid-2008.

"I would like to explore the broader interactive world," said Coats, who has spent 20 years in the newspaper business. "There is a lot of innovation happening in the interactive space -- some in newspapers, some outside. I want to see what's outside without viewing it through a familiar lens."

On a personal level, Coats admitted he had put "work ahead of my wife and family for much too long." Added Coats: "I had a little too much in common with George Clooney's character in 'Up in the Air' -- counting my miles and not my blessings."

"I'm supportive of both of those desires," Mark Contreras, SVP of E.W. Scripps Co., said in follow-up memo regarding Coat's dual reasoning. "We'll begin a search for his replacement very soon."

Coats is credited with helping to establish the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium. He actually began his work with the Consortium in a previous position as managing director of product and audience development at Media General, Inc.

In an effort to strengthen its ad sales, E.W. Scripps revamped management at its 13 newspapers last summer. In turn, it created two national posts to steer sales and content. Bruce Hartmann, the vice president and publisher of the News Sentinel, was named vice president of Scripps' print and interactive sales, while Coats became vice president of content and marketing. Frank Wolfe, meanwhile, was upped to vice president of operations for the newspaper unit, responsible for production and circulation operations.

Coats was also responsible to spearheading Scripps 3.0, which represented a broader effort to reshape the publisher's operations.

Last month, the company revealed new reorganization details. Specifically, over 100 employees were expected to be affected by plans to centralize and standardize production, accounting, editing and information technology.

The Yahoo Newspaper Consortium was founded in late-2006 in an effort to bring newspapers together for ad sales and content distribution.

1 comment about "Scripps Key Interactive Exec Coats Leaves Newspaper Biz".
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  1. Jonathan Mirow from BroadbandVideo, Inc., March 8, 2010 at 12:29 p.m.

    He's just getting out before they come looking for a scapegoat.

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