Business

Adweek publisher gets the ax

Adweek Publisher Erica Bartman is out in the first major shake-up at the magazine since investment firm Guggenheim Partners took over ownership last month of its parent.

The parent of Billboard, Adweek and The Hollywood Reporter is now known as Guggenheim Digital Media following the buyout of minority owner Pluribus Capital Partners, an investment firm headed by Jimmy Finkelstein, Matthew Doull and George Green.

The restructuring media firm is trying to put a digital stamp on its titles.

In the shake-up, also let go were Adweek veteran and Associate Publisher Alison Fahey; Vice President of Circulation Madeline Krakowsky and senior VP Rory McCafferty.

In last month’s buyout, Ross Levinsohn, a former interim CEO at Yahoo! was named the new CEO, replacing Dottie Mattison who held the job for only six months.

In other changes today:

*  Jim Cooper moves up to editorial director of Adweek from editor-in-chief.

* Bill Werde editorial director of Billboard and Janice Min, editorial director of THR continue in their respective posts but were given more digital responsibilities.

* Suzan Gursoy will become acting publisher at Adweek.

The new company appears to be more decentralized.

“It is important across our titles that our editors and publishers feel ownership of the brands,” said Levinsohn in a memo to employees today in which he hinted that more changes are ahead.