Sacramento Bee editor quits in dispute over future

The Sacramento Bee’s top editor resigned Thursday in a dispute over the long-term direction of the newspaper.

Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez, 53, led the newspaper for nine years and was one of the highest-ranking Latino newspaper executives in the country.

In a statement, Bee Publisher and President Janis Heaphy said the two had agreed to part ways and that their disagreement was not about the paper’s staffing.

“Rick and I differ over my vision for the long-term future direction of the Bee,” Heaphy said. “We have both agreed not to publicly discuss these differences, though they are not based on differences over resources or our continuing aspirations for excellent journalism.”

In a separate news release distributed by the Bee, Rodriguez said he was proud of the reputation that McClatchy’s flagship newspaper had built during his tenure.

Rodriguez joined McClatchy in 1979. He worked as a political reporter and editorial writer before being named managing editor of the Bee in 1993. He was promoted to executive editor in 1998.

The Salinas, Calif., native is a past president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

His departure came as shares of the Bee’s parent, McClatchy Co., fell to a 52-week low to close at $17.35 on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services placed McClatchy’s debt ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, meaning that it might cut the company’s debt rating further into junk territory.

The Sacramento company is the third-largest newspaper publisher in the country, by circulation, after Gannett Co. and Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to the Sacramento Bee, other newspapers in California owned by McClatchy include the Fresno Bee, the Modesto Bee and the Tribune of San Luis Obispo.

In December, the Bee closed its bureaus in Los Angeles and San Francisco and offered buyout packages to a handful of editorial employees.

Managing Editor Joyce Terhaar will oversee the newspaper’s editorial operations while Heaphy prepares to name a successor to Rodriguez.