Pisani, Editor of 2 Connecticut Dailies, Forced Out?

By: E&P Staff Joseph F. Pisani has abruptly exited as editor of two Connecticut dailies, The Advocate of Stamford and the Greenwich Time, the papers reported Sunday.

The Advocate noted that Pisani had ushered the papers "into the digital age while wearing bow ties and surrounding himself with vintage typewriters. ... A replacement has not been named, and Pisani declined to comment for this story.

"Speculation among the staffs at the newspapers was that Pisani was forced out in the wake of conflicts with management for MediaNews Group Inc., which manages The Advocate and Greenwich Time under a joint venture with the owner Hearst Corp. MediaNews, one of the nation's largest media chains, owns the Connecticut Post, The News-Times of Danbury and six weeklies in Fairfield County.

"Tribune Co.'s sale of the newspapers six months ago immediately resulted in the departure of several editorial department heads, including Greenwich Time Managing Editor Bruce Hunter, Editorial Page Editor Joy Haenlein, Features and Food Editor Valerie Foster and Advocate Sports Editor Bob Kennedy. The editorial staff in the two newsrooms has decreased from nearly '90s to the mid '60s, but [Publisher John] Dunster has said the goal is to get the figure back to about 70."

The article by John Breunig quoted Dunster: "The nucleus of the team Joe built and worked with is still there and will continue. Finding a replacement for him will be important within the company but also for the communities. ... He will be hard to replace."

The Advocate reported, "Journalist Len Levitt, who worked with Pisani on stories about the Martha Moxley murder in Greenwich, said, 'he didn't want to leave. He was trying to figure out a way to fight the cuts and remain at The Advocate.'"

Pisani's final weekly column, which began in 1984, appears today.

More from the article, which is at www.stamfordadvocate.com, follows.

*

As the news filtered through the newsroom Thursday night and Friday, many staff members responded with the words, "he was the best boss I ever had." Without the opportunity to plan a farewell, Advocate staff members filled Pisani's office Friday afternoon and surprised him with a standing ovation when he entered it for the last time. In typical humor, he clasped his hands and replied, "I don't know what it says that the staff can fit in my office."

"I'm certainly not that good of an editor," he continued. "I've been able to pass the work onto you and bask in the glory for a long time."

His peers, as well as sources in the community, spoke of Pisani's professionalism and humor. Arthur Helms, who worked at The Advocate and Greenwich Time for decades, said Pisani was always in synch with the unique readership in lower Fairfield County.

"These are demanding communities. People are well-educated and neo-sophisticated," Helms said. "Joe recognized that you can't fake it to that audience. He was always pushing people to push it up a notch."

Community leaders said they like and respect Pisani, but knew he was not afraid to take an unpopular stance. Known as a devout Catholic who attended daily Mass in Greenwich and later Stamford, Pisani didn't flinch from stirring readers with his newspapers' editorials and news coverage of scandals in the church.

"He came out with hard-hitting editorials but voiced frustration of the community at large and he was honest about it," said Monsignor Stephen DiGiovanni, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Stamford. "People appreciate honesty. In saying what should be said he gave voice to a lot of people who did not have his voice or a forum."

Pisani graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University and began his career teaching English and theology at Greenwich Catholic Middle School. He joined the Greenwich Time staff as a copy editor and writer in 1976, earning promotions to city editor and news editor before becoming acting editor in 1981. That year, he helped in the conversion to a fully computerized newsroom and the planning of the newspaper's first Sunday edition.

After leaving for positions at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida and Newsday, he returned to Greenwich Time as managing editor in 1984 and was promoted to editor of the newspaper in 1996. Later that year, he was elected president of the New England Associated Press News Executives Association. He is credited with bringing a more sophisticated tone to the newspaper.

"He took the paper to the next step; to where it had to be," recalled former Greenwich Time Managing Editor Bruce Hunter, who worked with Pisani for three decades before leaving the newspaper after the sale last fall. "He turned the paper into a high-quality, respected daily newspaper."

Pisani was appointed editor and senior vice president of The Advocate and Greenwich Time in 1998, bringing stability to The Advocate newsroom after a strident period during which newsroom employees unionized. He would soon create a Norwalk edition of The Advocate and open an office in that city. ....

Pisani's newsroom jobs changed over the years, but his temperament and style remained constants, as did his quirky sense of humor. As an assignment editor, he would utter "two a day, two a day," and "don't be afraid to file," to encourage reporter productivity. When deadlines were jeopardized, staff members quit, readers complained or pretty much anything else resulted in a stressful day, he was sure to summon the phrase, "pool of blood."

"At a newspaper there's a little bit of drama every day," Helms said. "I think he thrived on that."

Pisani was a throwback in the industry. Though he guided the newspapers into the era of desktop page design, digital photography and Web sites, he occasionally used one of about a dozen vintage typewriters in his office to write notes to friends, readers and staff members.

His trademark fashion statement is the bow tie, which he said was inspired by the look Humphrey Bogart adapted when he played an editor in "Deadline U.S.A.," a film that concludes with the newspaper's demise despite Bogart's best efforts.

"If you looked up 'editor' in the dictionary you'd see a picture of Joe," said Jay Shaw, who was publisher of the newspapers from 1978 to 1985. "Wearing a bow tie, of course."

Pisani thrived on opportunities to meet readers. During a parade marking Norwalk's 350th anniversary, Pisani donned a bow tie and fedora with a press tag sticking from its brim as he jogged through the streets handing out promotional items.

Like many journalists, Pisani liked to tweak authority. When the Gannett Co. was on the verge of buying the newspapers last year, an executive cautioned Pisani "there will be good days and bad days."

He waited a beat, pointed downward and replied, "which one is this?"

On his way to The Advocate to clean out his office Friday, Pisani continued to practice his craft. At St. John's church on Atlantic Street, he learned possible vandals had toppled a statue of the Virgin Mary overnight.

He was off the job, but for one last time, he summoned his staff to cover the news.

"Let's get a story on that and bring it out," he said.