Chaos reigns at Newsday, where Editor John Mancini and his top two lieutenants have not been seen since a closed-door meeting on Wednesday – sparking rumors that Cablevision boss Jim Dolan axed them.
Mancini, reached by phone on Friday, declined to comment.
Managing Editors Deborah Henley and Debby Krenek have not returned to their offices since closing Wednesday’s edition.
All three were last seen heading to Publisher Timothy Knight’s office.
“Nobody knows what’s going on,” an insider said. “At first, we just assumed [the meeting] meant more layoffs, because advertising was off by 40 percent last quarter.”
A rumor making the rounds had the Dolans furious over Newsday’s coverage of a sexual-harassment suit filed against Knick center Eddy Curry by his former chauffeur. Cablevision, which owns the Knicks, the Rangers and Madison Square Garden, bought Newsday from the Tribune Company last July for $650 million.
When Mancini, Henley and Krenek failed to show up for work Thursday and Friday – as papers scrambled to cover the US Airways crash in the Hudson River – it ignited speculation that they were summoned to Cablevision offices Thursday and asked to justify their jobs.
Adding to the intrigue, Mancini’s office had been cleared out by Friday morning. And by last night, voicemail was not connecting to any of the top three editors.
Knight did not return calls left on his cellphone. A Newsday spokeswoman yesterday said, “We have nothing to announce.” And a Cablevision spokesman declined comment.