By: Lucia Moses Executive Cites Long Hours, Personal Reasons In Decision
Jack Roberts, who quit as managing director of the 6-month-old
Philadelphia transit paper Metro, said while the grueling schedule
of starting a new paper wore on him, he still believes a paper distributed
free to commuters is a great idea.
Roberts is leaving July 15 to teach and do research at a university, which
he wouldn't identify.
'I think it's the way a lot of papers are going to have to work in the
future,' Roberts said, noting that traditional newspapers have been losing
circulation.
Roberts, who worked at The Philadelphia Daily News and
Philadelphia Business Journal before joining Metro, said
his schedule was the primary reason for leaving: he was working six to
seven days a week at the startup.
'I decided I wanted to have a life of my own,' he said.
Dave Munch, who has been a consultant for Metro, will replace
Roberts on an interim basis. Floyd Weintraub, vice president for Modern
Times Group's North America newspaper operations, said Roberts was
doing a good job and he left of his own volition.
Philadelphia Metro is the first U.S. venture by the Swedish media
giant Modern Times Group, which publishes sister tabloids in Europe and
the Americas claiming a total daily readership of 3.9 million.
Modern Times Group continued its North American expansion with the
launch of Toronto's Metro edition on July 1.
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Lucia Moses (lmoses@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor for
Editor & Publisher magazine.
(c) Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher
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