The managing editor of the Vermont Community Newspaper Group, which owns five newspapers around the state, no longer has a job.
Jessie Forand’s departure from the beleaguered media company appears to revolve around the employment status of journalist Tommy Gardner.
But whether Forand was fired or left on her own terms — and what exactly happened with Gardner — is disputed.
Forand became managing editor of the five papers last June, after the company laid off one-third of its staff in response to financial strains exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
She previously oversaw the newsrooms of the company’s three weekly papers in Chittenden County. She was promoted after the company laid off its top editor, Tom Kearney, in July. (Disclosure: Kearney now works at VTDigger.)
The news organization consists of the Stowe Reporter, the News & Citizen in Morrisville, The Other Paper in South Burlington, The Citizen of Charlotte and Hinesburg and the Shelburne News.
Company Publisher Greg Popa said Monday that Forand had “left to pursue other opportunities.”
“We wish her the best of luck,” he said.
But Forand contested Popa’s characterization of her departure.
“I was told that I didn’t work there anymore,” she told VTDigger on Monday. “The reason that I was given was untrue, and it did involve the words, ‘Tommy (Gardner) being fired,’ which again is not true.”
According to Forand, Gardner submitted his resignation about two weeks ago. She said she told him shortly after that, on May 12, that he didn’t need to fulfill a typical two weeks’ notice.
She declined to say why, calling it a personnel decision.
“It’s not uncommon for a supervisor to say you don’t need to fulfill your notice,” Forand said. “That happens.”
The following Monday, she said, “I was let go.”
Popa declined to elaborate on Forand’s departure.
When asked about Gardner’s employment status, Popa said, “Tommy is right down the hall — right where he belongs.” The publisher declined to go into specifics on the situation involving Gardner.
Gardner did not respond to two phone calls Monday seeking comment.
His industry honors include the 2016 Mavis Doyle Award from the Vermont Press Association, awarded each year to a reporter for “aggressiveness, determination, compassion, commitment to journalism, dedication to social justice, and unwavering belief that journalism should be the watchdog of the government and the voice of the people.”
In addition to cutting editorial positions, Vermont Community Newspaper Group last year shuttered the Waterbury Record, a weekly newspaper it had launched in 2007.
Popa told Seven Days last summer that the situation was “heartbreaking.”
“We’ve invested a lot of money into content, and that’s always sort of been our mantra here: that you can’t cut your way to excellence. So it’s really hard on us to do this,” he said at the time.
The news group was one of several Vermont media organizations to cut staff during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, including VTDigger.
