Journal Times Publisher Dick Johnston is leaving the newspaper to take a new job in Bloomington-Normal, Ill.
Johnston came to Racine in December 1998 from Carbondale, Ill., where he was publisher.
He is the brother of Bill Johnston, publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, also owned by Lee Enterprises.
His background, which included an earlier stint at The Journal Times, was in advertising sales.
Johnston will take over The Pantagraph, which Lee acquired in 2005 when it bought Pulitzer Newspapers for $1.4 billion.
In a story on the Pantagraph's website, Johnston said he was "excited" by the move.
“Racine has been such a large part of my life that I’ll find it very hard to say goodbye,” Johnston told the Pantagraph, “but at the same time I’m tremendously excited about the opportunity to move to Bloomington and join the staff at the Pantagraph.”
The Pantagraph's daily circulation is 46,639 with a Sunday circulation of 50,486. The Journal Times' daily circulation is 28,287 and Sunday is 30,471.
Rick Parrish, The Journal Times' advertising director, is the interim publisher of the JT.
Johnston's departure comes less than a year after Journal Times Editor Randolph Brandt left the paper and was replaced by Steve Lovejoy.
Rats!
ReplyDeleteGoodbye, Dick. Hope the J-T now focuses on being the daily newspaper of Racine County and not the number of advertising column inches that it did under your tenure. I think you may have gotten outta town just in time because with the number of wire stories, and absence of local investigative reporting, the J-T isn't even worthy of wrapping fish with!
ReplyDeleteDon't it always seem to go
ReplyDeletethat you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
So sad, #5 Historic Fire Station destroyed by Dick Johnston and one year later the JT is not doing well and Mr Johnston is leaving Racine.