By: Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer (AP) The
San Francisco Chronicle has replaced Publisher John Oppedahl, the latest indicator of unrest in northern California's shaky media market.
Chronicle owner Hearst Corp. on Monday announced that Steven Falk, the newspaper's chief operating officer, was taking the post.
It was not immediately clear whether Oppedahl had resigned or was fired. Neither Oppedahl nor Falk immediately returned calls seeking comment Monday.
Hearst also promoted Gary Randazzo, formerly the paper's associate publisher, to executive vice president and general manager and expanded the duties of Phil Bronstein, the
Chronicle's top editor.
Bearing the new title of executive vice president, Bronstein inherited oversight of the editorial page from Oppedahl. Bronstein will continue to run the paper's newsroom.
The change came 10 days after Hearst's former newspaper, the
San Francisco Examiner, laid off most of its staff and started printing a smaller, free weekday edition.
Hearst sold the
Examiner in November 2000, but has continued to subsidize the paper's new owners, Florence Fang and her sons.
Hearst agreed to pay $66.7 million of the
Examiner's bills during a three-year period to win the government's approval of its $660 million purchase of the
Chronicle in November 2000.
As part of the deal, Hearst promised to blend the
Examiner staff into the
Chronicle's newsroom. Besides saddling the
Chronicle with more expenses, the newsroom merger threw together a cast of former rivals who competed for years.
Hearst hired Oppedahl, formerly publisher of the
Arizona Republic in Phoenix, to oversee the transition.
A slump in northern California's advertising market shortly after the sale pressured the
Chronicle and all of its major rivals to trim staff to reduce expenses.
Bronstein wouldn't say Monday whether the paper is losing money.
With a daily circulation of 512,000, the
Chronicle has a news staff of about 480 workers, Bronstein said. That's down from about 520 reporters, editors, and photographers shortly after Hearst merged the
Examiner and
Chronicle newsrooms.
Falk told staff Monday that no further newsroom personnel cuts are anticipated, according to Bronstein.
Hearst's other newspapers include the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the
San Antonio (Texas)
Express-News, and the
Houston Chronicle.
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