Gannett, owner of USA Today and the nation’s largest newspaper chain, has instructed its headhunting firm to look for candidates outside the newspaper industry as it searches for a new CEO.
The incumbent, Robert Dickey, 61, announced last month that he will step down in mid-May.
Egon Zehnder is handling the search and is said to be looking for digital or e-commerce execs who could serve as change agents.
On Monday, it was announced that Sharon Rowlands — who was the president of USA Today Network Marketing Solutions — was resigning to take a job as CEO of Web.com. She had been tipped by some as a potential internal candidate, even as Gannett looked outside the company for a CEO for the first time.
Kevin Gentzel, formerly the company’s chief revenue officer, was tapped to succeed her as president of USA Today Network Marketing Solutions. At the same time, Gannett said that chief product officer Kris Barton was going to assume “an expanded role,” reporting to lame duck Dickey. So scratch Barton as a possible internal successor.
The only other internal candidate is Maribel Perez Wadsworth, publisher of USA Today and president of USA Today Network. She’s a journalist by background and had served as the company’s chief transformation officer.
A source close to the company explained that the board feels it has enough newspaper bench strength, which generates half of the company’s revenue. But the thinking is the new CEO should be a change agent for the company to stay competitive.