CEO Corner: Q&A with Freedom’s Interim CEO Burl Osborne

July 13, 2009 - Freedom Interim CEO Burl Osborne took a moment to discuss his career, including what he loves about the news business, his management style, and the future of Freedom and the information business:

How would you describe your role as Interim CEO at Freedom?
It means I’m interim… it is a temporary position. I came into it with the understanding that when the restructuring is complete and the new Freedom emerges, the then-existing board and ownership will decide on who should be the next CEO.

What was your first exposure to the media business?
I started my career at a small newspaper in Kentucky, the Ashland Independent, as a sophomore in college. I had a wonderful English teacher who suggested I talk to the Publisher of that paper. I interviewed at Associated Press a year or so later, but they didn’t want me then. They told me I needed to learn how to write for the “radio wire.” So I learned how to write for multiple formats. I worked for a TV station shortly thereafter, and joined the AP and worked in several other markets including Washington and New York. I joined Belo Corp. and The Dallas Morning News in 1980, and eventually returned to the Associated Press as a Board member for 14 years, and served as Chairman from 2002 to 2007.

Your career started as a journalist. What do you like the most about the media business?
Nothing is ever as much fun as being a reporter. You’re on your own. You have access to curious, interesting, straight-arrow, and wonderfully good and evil people. It’s a fascinating way to interact with people in all facets of society. Later, it was about preservation of a terrific news operation. I elected when the opportunity came to go down that track. While much of what I’ve done throughout my career has been rewarding and satisfying, I really discovered the passion for the business as a reporter.

How did you become a board member for Freedom?
There were areas of commonality between Belo and Freedom as family companies. I ran across executives at Freedom on many occasions, professionally and through other circles. When the recap was being done, Freedom was looking for independent directors for that part of the board. I was asked to join the board, and here I am.

Describe your management style.
I can tell you what I try to do. I can tell you transparency is best. Candor is better than maneuvering. I think most people would prefer bad news unvarnished. I try to be honest in assessing people. Try not to dismiss ideas for fear of implementing bad ones. Try to manage an acceptable amount of risk. I try to do what I say I’ll do. I try to make promises very sparingly, and not make them unless they can be delivered. I’m told I have high expectations. I am told that I’m too demanding, and reluctantly I agree. I try to minimize the tendency to be a perfectionist, and try to be fair. I’m not forgiving of indirection or misleading tactics. I love to win, and hate to fail.

What's been the biggest challenge you've faced during your career? How did you overcome it?
I don’t see it as a series of challenges. I see my life as a series of opportunities. There have been bumps in the road, but even the financial situation we find ourselves in creates enormous opportunities for the company and the associates who are part of it. And the associates here have been extraordinarily loyal during a very difficult time. Yes, today we’ve got to find a way to generate enough cash flow to improve this quarter or next quarter. But when we look through the fog of all that’s in front of us right now …… you know what? In the near future, when we come out of the transition we’re in, we will certainly be a leaner, more efficient business. We’ll be a stronger business, and have a better sense of our readers, our advertising partners and the community. We’ll understand how we can serve customers in the future with a laser-like focus, instead of the broad ax approach we took in the past. And the prospect of what we will be outweighs any and all difficulty and angst that we’re experiencing now. Anybody who is in this business is lucky to be a part of it.

How do you see the media business evolving in five to ten years?
I honestly don’t know. I don’t know precisely what it will look like. But if we don’t lose sight of our principles, we’ll be fine. I can’t tell you if we’ll be using a desktop, phone, camera or gadget that is not invented yet. But if it’s thorough, accurate and credible, people will want to read it, hear it or view it. The information business will certainly be different than how we know it today. How each medium will deliver information continues to evolve and remains to be seen. What will not change is the need for rock-solid information that helps people in a democratic society to make informed decisions as citizens.

How would you expect customers to view us moving forward?
They’ll continue to look to us as an honest arbiter of what’s going on in the community, and as an institution that is loyal to the community – and one to which the community has been loyal in return. I hope they see us as a company that has honest reporting, analysis and opinions. They’ll expect us to seize technology to have better, different and multiple ways to access information – a newspaper, television, desktop, laptop, Blackberry, iPhone, or any other way they need to get information. That we’ll be reliable, fast and first – and most importantly correct. It’s not a matter of if we can or should we do that. We must do that.

If you had a chance to gather all Freedom associates in one room and tell them one thing, what would it be?
The loyalty that you have exhibited to this company and what it represents during a tough time is really almost beyond belief. I wish readers and other customers could see that as close up as I have. I see how important the future of our company is to you, and it’s important to the people you serve. My opinion is that Freedom will be a stronger, better, more effective and useful company to customers if we operate as a team working together to accomplish goals. Ben Franklin had it right: “If we don’t hang together, we most certainly will hang separately.”