IBT Media, Following Layoffs, Announces New Leadership Stucture

Digital publisher IBT Media on Monday announced a new executive management structure that represents a step back for Etienne Uzac, who co-founded the company in the mid-aughts with Johnathan Davis and has served as chief executive. Dev Pragad, who began IBT Media's U.K. operation in 2009, and has served as CEO of IBT Media EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), will now serve as chief executive for IBT Media North America as well. Mr. Uzac will move to a new role as chairman, handing off day-to-day management responsiblities in North America to Mr. Pragad. (Mr. Uzac's CEO post will remain vacant for now but may be filled in the future, according to a person familiar with the situation.) "I am keenly interested in our international network, and will work closely with Dev and the rest of our leadership team as we develop plans for leveraging our global footprint," Mr. Uzac wrote in a staff memo describing the changes. The decision was Mr. Uzac's, according to the person familar the situation, representing an acknowledgement that Mr. Pragad is better suited to run the business and attempt to replicate in North America the success he is said to have had abroad. Mr. Pragad, who will relocate to New York from London, will also assume the newly created post of CEO at Newsweek magazine, which IBT acquired in 2013. The memo said Jim Impoco will remain editor of the magazine. Dayan Candappa, who joined the company in May after a long career at Reuters, has already been promoted to editorial director. In addition to serving as global editor in chief for International Business Times, the post for which he was hired, he will be the editorial lead for the company's other non-Newsweek properties, including Medical Daily, iDigitalTimes, Fashion Times, and Latin Times. Marc Perton was given editorial oversight for these four brands at the end of June; he will run the day-to-day, and will report to Mr. Candappa. The announcements Monday represent a new path forward for a company that made waves in late June when it laid off about 60 employees across its brands. The staff of International Business Times was hit particularly hard, while Newsweek also lost seven employees. The cuts, according to a statement at the time, were "part of an overall plan to drive efficiencies throughout the company." As part of the editorial restructuring, IBT Media announced that Newsweek "will split off into a separate operational entity," which formalized an already-existing division between the newsmagazine and IBT Media's other editorial brands. "We believe this restructuring will allow us to continue to expand Newsweek, while allowing Dayan and Dev to partner on the development of International Business Times and our other non-Newsweek brands," Mr. Uzac wrote. "It has been 10 years since Johnathan and I founded IBT Media," he continued. "The industry has undergone massive changes in that time, and every day brings new challenges. We believe Dev is the right person to help us address these challenges and move us forward.

IBT Media, Following Layoffs, Announces New Leadership Stucture

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