President of Gannett leaving post

Gannett Media President Maribel Perez Wadsworth will leave the company at the end of the year.

Wadsworth’s departure was announced Wednesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing and was first reported by Poynter.

Staff at Gannett’s USA Today and 230 other local papers were notified later of Wadsworth’s departure in a town hall, according to the outlet.

Henry Faure Walker, the president of Newsquest, Gannett’s United Kingdom-based media business, will take over as interim president of the media company, The Hill confirmed.

Walker will also continue to run Newsquest, according to a Gannett spokesperson.

Wadsworth got her start more than 25 years ago when she began working as a reporter for Gannett’s Rockford Register Star in Illinois, according to the media company’s website.

“Maribel Perez Wadsworth has served Gannett with passion and conviction for 26 years,” Gannett CEO Mike Reed, the company’s first in command, said in a statement. “Her dedication as an indefatigable defender of journalism in our democracy will continue to benefit our industry for years to come and we wish her all the best as she pursues other endeavors.”

Gannett has reported huge financial losses over the last few years, and Wadsworth’s move comes less than a week after more than 200 staffers in newsrooms across the country staged a one-day strike for better wages and benefits.

The strike was organized in response to Gannett laying off 400 workers and eliminating 400 open positions over the summer as part of company austerity measures.

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