by
Executive Editor Robert Huschka was forced to resign from the Detroit Free Press because it's struggling with online readership, with revenue and with content under his two-year leadership, Steve Neavling reports in Metro Times.
Robert Huschka calls journalism "my life's passion." (Facebook photos)
Neavling, a Freep reporter from 2006-12, cites four unnamed reporters and an editor. He writes:
When Huschka was named executive editor in August 2015, many journalists in the newsroom were surprised because he didn’t have the professional caliber of his predecessors and for years was quiet and relatively indistinguishable at a newspaper with its share of stars. A desk man who understood layout and digital content but lacked experience as a reporter, the St. Clair Shores resident grew into the job and gained respect as an affable, loyal,and sometimes goofy boss.
Neavling, founder of the Motor City Muckraker news site, adds that Friday's engineered exit "shocked and saddened a newsroom that has lost about two-thirds of its staff since media giant Gannett took over Michigan’s largest newspaper in August 2005."
"With all of the staff cuts he had to make, he was essentially told to row across the Atlantic -- and then they took away his oars," Dan Austin, a former Freep reporter, copy editor and columnist, posts on Neavling's Facebook page.
► Update, Saturday morning:
As that observation shows, some local media pros are unsurprised by an outcome that seemed inevitable.
A journalist at another Detroit publication tells us: "It was no secret that Robert Huschka was essentially on double secret probation since at least the Election Night debacle in which they called Michigan for Hillary Clinton a mere 20 minutes after the polls closed. . . . I heard heard him talking openly about how Gannett wouldn't accept his resignation the day after the election."
Earlier article, Friday afternoon:
A 45-year-old executive editor's sudden departure without explanation, without a successor and without farewell toasts raises questions.
Tributes and virtual toasts for Robert Huschka are shared online after his 100-word farewell in a memo to colleagues and a Facebook status update. "It's time for me to leave the newsroom -- and move on to my next adventure," he writes without indicating he chooses to leave or describing what's next.
This remains on the paper's "Contact Us" page late Friday afternoon, one sign of a seemingly hasty exit.
The paper's 300-word business section article is just as oblique, saying he "resigned Friday after serving in the newsroom’s top role for nearly two years." Its corporate-style language -- "contributed in innumerable ways" and "we wish him well" -- comes from a regional editor with Gannett, the Freep's owner.
The leadership change is so abrupt that Huschka remains atop the paper's staff list at its Contact Us page late Friday afternoon. His Twitter bio starts with a job title that's no longer valid.
With no signs of a voluntary departure or planned transition, eyebrows rise. Among more than 120 posts from colleagues and other well-wishers on Huschka's Facebook page are comments that say:
- "What a shock!"
- "I'm strunned."
- "Have faith, you'll land on your feet."
- "Wow. Congrats?"
- "I'm sad to hear it."
- "Someone will be really lucky to snatch you up."
- "I'm sad for the Freep"
- "What?"
Robert Huschka: "I'm proud of the work we've done here, and for the small part I've played."
The lifelong journalist is married to Amy Huschka, a 17-year Freep veteran who was an assistant editor for social media until layoffs late last year.
He joined the paper in 1999 as a page designer and soon became editor for news and presentation. He rose to assistant managing editor in November 2012 and to a managing director's position two years after that, his LinkedIn biography says.
Former Freep senior editor Jeff Taylor, who left to become top editor at the Indianapolis Star in 2012, came in for a surprise newsroom announcement Friday morning, Bill Shea reports at Crain's Detroit Business.
Taylor, who is also Midwest regional editor for the USA Today Network owned by Gannett Co. Inc., act as interim editor during the search for a successor.
In his memo and Facebook post, Huschka writes:
After 18 tremendous years at the Detroit Free Press, It's time for me to leave the newsroom and move on to my next adventure. I'd like to thank Gannett and my award-winning colleagues at the Free Press for their amazing effort and support during my time leading Michigan's oldest newsroom.
I'm proud of the work we've done here, and for the small part I've played in our motto, "On Guard For 187 Years." I'm excited about my next chapter and committed to telling stories that inform, engage and empower the citizens of Detroit and Michigan.
Huschka describes journalism as "my life's passion," as he put it in a column introducing himself to readers two summers ago after getting the top newsroom job.
The media executive grew up in Bismarck, N.D., and graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1994 with a degree in journalism and political science. He and his wife wed in February 2010 and live in St. Clair Shores with their 3-year-old son, Martin.
