Aaron Kushner replaced as O.C. Register publisher
The Orange County Register shook up its leadership and named a new publisher Monday, following a string of financial setbacks at the paper and its parent company.
The Register announced that it replaced publisher Aaron Kushner with Richard Mirman, a former casino executive. Kushner, whose 2100 Trust purchased Register parent Freedom Communications in 2012, stays on as Freedom’s CEO. Mirman becomes the Register’s interim chief executive and publisher.
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FOR THE RECORD
An earlier version of this post identified Richard Mirman as the new Register chief executive and interim publisher. Both positions are on an interim basis.
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In an interview with the Register, Mirman said his first mission is to put company finances into shape and boost subscribers.
“My goal is to get the business on a trajectory of growth,” the former Harrah’s Entertainment executive told the paper Monday.
According to the Register, Mirman from 1998 to 2007 served in several executive marketing roles at Harrah’s, now named Caesars Entertainment Corp.
The leadership change comes as Freedom has stumbled recently in its Southern California expansion. In June, the company folded its newly launched Long Beach Register into its even newer Los Angeles cousin and imposed company-wide furloughs. Dozens of O.C. Register staffers also took buyouts.
Last month, Freedom cut 29 newsroom positions and closed its 5-month-old Los Angeles Register.
More recently, the Register sought to appease irate subscribers after delivery problems left them paperless for days. The missed deliveries occurred after the Register switched from Los Angeles Times distributors to a new carrier Oct. 4.
According to The Times, the Register has “been consistently late in paying money it owes” for more than a year and a half, with the bill now topping $3.5 million. The Times said it continued to distribute the Register, but informed the company last month that it was in default on the contract and had 30 days to pay.
“Given that the Los Angeles Times refused to guarantee uninterrupted delivery of our paper, we were left with no choice but to transition to a new delivery service,” Kushner told The Times in an email last week.
Kushner, a former greeting card executive with no previous media experience, has accused Freedom’s former owners of fraudulently misstating its finances, leading him to significantly overpay for the company.
The allegations came in response to a lawsuit filed by the previous owners, who contended that the fraud claims are false and are being used as a pretext to avoid paying them more than $17 million held back from the original sale.
That case is still pending in Delaware Chancery Court.
Kushner’s rapid expansion and retrenchment has been closely followed in media circles. His aggressive bet on print, which included the purchase of the Riverside Press-Enterprise, comes as print ad revenue declines nationwide and newspapers increasingly focus on their digital products.
According to a news release, Kushner will now focus on “Freedom’s broader expansion, and the development of new business opportunities and partnerships.” Mirman, a Freedom investor, will handle “Freedom’s planned expansion in California within the Register.”
“We have accomplished a great deal in our first two years owning the Orange County Register, and I am confident Rich [Mirman] will help lead the Register to the next level of growth and profitability,” Kushner said in a statement.
Twitter: @khouriandrew
