Jim VandeHei
Tensions among top brass at Politico have led several bigwig names to announce their departures, leaving the political publication in a state of unrest just as the highly charged presidential pick seasons are swinging into high gear.
Departing are Jim VandeHei, the chief executive and Politico co-founder and Mike Allen, who heads up the popular “Playbook” publication, and several others.
VandeHei confirmed the looming departures in a memo: “So now you know the news: I am leaving Politico after the election. The timing is poetic: it will mark my 10th anniversary, almost too the day. I came in just as the Barack Obama phenomenon exploded in 2006 and plan to depart just after his successor is picked and his presidency concludes.”
VandeHei listed two reasons for his departure.
“First, I caught the entrepreneurial bug a decade ago when we started this place and can’t seem to shake it,” he wrote. “I plan to start a new venture when I depart.”
And second?
“I can leave now knowing a template for growth has been set, a first-class leadership team assembled and prepared for this transition, and Politico is powerful and durable enough to outlast us all,” he wrote.
He also vowed “the change will not be abrupt.”
But he then named several others who were leaving.
“Mike Allen, [COO] Kim Kingsley, Roy Schwartz and Danielle Jones, all of whom will be seeking their own new adventures this year, personify high-achievement and humility,” he said. “They inspire and sharpen me.”
Schwartz is the chief revenue officer and Jones, an executive vice president.
VandeHei spoke kindly of his staff, telling them to “never let that fire in your belly fade,” and credited them for “work[ing] their hearts out,” he wrote.
Politico, as CNN Money reported, “was plagued by what several insiders described as a crisis of vision and a leadership void” the past few years.
At one point, “dozens of staffers left the company to join other news organizations” in protest of certain editorial decisions, CNN said.
“VandeHei clashed with Politico publisher Robert Albritton over budget issues and expansion efforts,” CNN Money reported. “And founding leaders, including [editor-in-chief and co-founder John] Harris, largely receded to the background as they became more involved in Politico’s expansion in Europe.”
Albritton said in a note to staffers the insider movement made “perfect sense” and that the company was poised for a “most exciting” and “enjoyable” venture, CNN Money reported.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/politico-shakeup-as-big-names-step-aside/
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