The Pecker In The Woodshed

Canadians would probably be surprised to learn that David Pecker is on the board of Postmedia. The owner of The National Enquirer -- which pumped up Donald Trump's campaign and buried stories which could have sunk that campaign -- has profited from the arrangement. Alan Freeman writes:

While not negotiating hush-money deals with porn stars, Pecker has found the time to be an assiduous member of the Postmedia board, attending nine board meetings in 2017 and being paid C$117,500 for his trouble. He also advised the board on executive compensation, for which I’m sure Godfrey remains eternally grateful.

And, while Postmedia is shutting down newspapers, its executives -- particularly Paul Godfrey -- are doing very well:

You have to give it to Godfrey. He’s got plenty of chutzpah. Asked to justify his $1.7-million compensation package in 2017, as the company continued its record of repeated losses and disappearing revenues, he told Toronto Life, “The board knew my track record and my asking price. Plus, there are not many people in Canada who can run a newspaper chain. . . . The job is hard and full of heartache.”

For that heartache, he took a $900,000 bonus, ostensibly for finding Chatham Asset Management, the New Jersey hedge fund as a last-ditch investor in Postmedia. It’s Chatham, which also owns a majority of American Media, that put Pecker on Postmedia’s board.

And Godfrey, clearly aiming to emulate a third-world dictator, has convinced Pecker and other members of the board to keep him on as Postmedia’s CEO until the end of 2020 at a base salary of $1.2 million a year, when Godfrey will be a sprightly 81. While Godfrey will likely still be around, Postmedia may not.

A look at The Enquirer's headlines makes it clear that Pecker is the real purveyor of fake news. So what does his presence say about Postmedia?

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Update: (August 28th) The Canadian Press reports that Pecker has resigned from the board of Postmedia. In this country, Trumpian associations are toxic.

Image: ipolitics.ca