'San Diego U-T' Announces Top Internet Executive's Ouster

By: Joe Strupp The San Diego Union-Tribune formally announced it has removed its top Internet manager, Chris Jennewein, but gave few specific reasons for the shake-up, which was rumored to have occurred earlier this week.

In a statement released Friday, the paper said: "as the Union-Tribune continues its transformation from a newspaper company to a multimedia company, it is announcing changes to its organizational structure in order to improve its efficiency and control costs.

"Among the changes, is the consolidation of strategy, product development and Internet sites under the leadership of Mark Davis, currently vice president of strategy," the statement continued. "This change results in having to say goodbye to Chris Jennewein, vice president of Internet sites."

Gene Bell, president & CEO, added: ?We thank Chris for all he has done and his contributions over the years. His work has built a strong foundation for our Internet business and our evolution into a multimedia company ? an evolution that will continue, as we adapt to our readers? changing media habits and preferences.?

The statement did not indicate if Jennewein had been fired or had left on his own. He was unavailable for comment Friday morning.

Speculation this week, first reported by San Diego Reader, had Jennewein and Editor Karin Winner at odds over how the print and Internet sides of the paper co-existed. Winner has not returned calls seeking comment.

Jennewein was a key player in the Web site's SignOn Radio project, which began with a music component in 2006 and added a news and talk station just last fall. The Reader described it as "the disastrous online radio experiment that is now winding down."

He also was at the helm when the Union-Tribune Web site received accolades in October for pulling out all the stops to cover the local wildfires. He made the decision then to pull ads from the site's home page for two days, along with increasing informational offerings related to the fires.

The fire coverage resulted in a record 10 million page views during one of the busiest days of the tragedy.

The Union-Tribune announcement also stated that the paper would "consolidate the business channels and marketing divisions under the leadership of Bill Nagel, who has been named senior vice president of business channels. Introduced earlier this year, business channels are product categories, incorporating Internet and print sales and include: lifestyles and entertainment, SD Marketplace, and communities."

In addition, Scott Whitley has been named vice president and chief revenue officer, reporting to Bell and responsible for "major media sales, direct marketing, advertising operations, sales training, budgeting and cross-channel sales management."

?We look forward to continuing to produce a top-quality newspaper and offer multimedia products that meet the diverse needs of our readers and advertisers,? Bell said in the statement.