The departure is not the result of any inappropriate action or violation of policy by Bascobert, or by any deterioration in the business, the company said.

Michael Reed, chairman, and chief executive officer of the overall public entity, Gannett Co., has assumed Bascobert’s responsibilities.

“The Board and I would like to thank Paul for his contributions during such an important period for our Company,” Reed said. “Paul made a significant impact, helping to integrate the two companies, navigate through this current pandemic, and lay the groundwork for our revenue transformation.”

The $1.1 billion merger of USA TODAY publisher Gannett Co. and GateHouse Media, agreed to last August and closed in November, made it the nation’s largest U.S. media company by print circulation and one of the largest by the digital audience.

The scale of the combined company, which owns more than 260 daily publications, was intended to help Gannett weather precipitous declines in print advertising and circulation while positioning it to better compete for digital advertising against Alphabet’s Google and Facebook. Gannett was proceeding with plans to cut $300 million in annual costs, connected to the merger when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Media mega-merger: GateHouse Media owner to acquire USA TODAY owner Gannett

Bascobert, 56, joined Gannett prior to the merger as president and CEO in August. A former executive with Dow Jones, Bloomberg and XO Group Inc., he was named CEO of the operating company, Gannett Media Corp. in November. Reed became chairman and CEO of Gannett Co., the publicly traded holding company that owns Gannett Media.

With much of the country barred from leaving their homes except for essential services, many businesses that rely on consumer spending and advertise their services in newspapers were suffering. The company suspended its dividend, instituted staff furloughs and other cost-cutting measures to offset the falloff in advertising revenue. Gannett executives took a 25% pay reduction and Bascobert said on March 30 he would not take a salary until the furloughs and pay cuts ended.

Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst with Newsonomics, says the departure did not come as a surprise.

Bascobert, hired by Gannett just months before the merger, faced the difficult task of knitting together two large media companies with distinct businesses and cultures.

Within months, Bascobert had the added pressure of making tough operational decisions during a deadly pandemic and without a base of support within Gannett or Gatehouse, Doctor says.

“I did not hear people disliked him, but they found that he was essentially a fish out of the water,” Doctor says.

Bascobert is eligible for a payout package of $7.5 million.

“Reed’s history at Gatehouse, combined with his financial acumen, makes the redundancy elimination a given,” Chuck DelGrande, managing director in Alantra’s global technology group and a former Tribune executive, told USA TODAY in an email. “My sense is this was a ‘when not if’ announcement.

“I expect continued pressure on the bottom line to result in further streamlining. Paul Bascobert’s strategy of ‘going local’ wasn’t misguided in my opinion, but COVID-19 ad cuts meant no time to implement to determine if that at least stem the losses.”

In its first quarter, Gannett posted a net loss of $80.2 million, including $78 million due to depreciation and amortization and $34 million in cash charges tied to the company’s recent merger. Excluding one-time items, Gannett posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $99.1 million.

Before the pandemic hit, Gannett was “actually pacing ahead of expectations for both revenue and EBITDA,” Reed said on a conference call with investors and analysts the day the company announced earnings May 7.

Bascobert’s departure comes as an industry under huge financial pressures scrutinizes major costs, including executive salaries, Doctor says.

Reed, who is assuming the reins, is respected in the industry as a dealmaker, but has less operational experience, Doctor says.

“He hasn’t been an operator. He knows the business inside and out after 30-plus years,” Doctor says. “So there’s leadership questions. There are questions about how is he going to execute.”