How Hunke persuaded Singleton to pull the trigger

[Detroit bosses: Hunke, Singleton]

The CEO of Gannett’s Detroit business, Dave Hunke, reportedly overcame reservations from GCI business partner William Dean Singleton, in order to reach this historic moment: A high-stakes plan to save the city’s money-losing dailies by abandoning most home delivery. Singleton, CEO of MediaNews Group, wanted Hunke to first run the idea past major advertisers, I’ve been told. Those presentations apparently went well; unless Gannett gets cold feet, an announcement is expected Tuesday.

Gannett owns 95% of the Detroit Media Partnership, the joint operating agency that publishes the two papers: Gannett’s Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, which is owned by MediaNews. The Denver company owns the JOA’s other 5%.

Even with that controlling stake, Hunke may have needed Singleton’s formal OK because the plan is such a radical departure from Detroit’s business model. (To be sure, Singleton could also have given in because he’s gotten so distracted by problems in Denver, where he’s locked in another JOA, with an increasingly desperate E.W. Scripps.)

Culprit: Auto industry meltdown

Gannett is one of untold businesseses threatened by the slow-motion collapse of the Big Three automakers, long the engine of Detroit’s economy, according to this Freep video by Alexandra Bahou:

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