Nominator: Jann Blackbourn
My nomination for MARKETING MARCOMM Person of the Year is Frank Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times. The 2017 achievement of the newspaper he leads was publication of arguably the greatest investigative series in the history of Seattle journalism.
This was validated when the paper won the prestigious Selden Ring Award from the USC Annenberg School of Communications for its “Quality of Care” series that exposed troubles at the Seattle Swedish-Cherry Hill Hospital. The series resulted in resignations of key personnel and widespread reforms within the leading neuroscience institute.
The four-part series over two years began on Sunday, Feb. 12 with an in-depth look at the treatment of 23-year-old artist Talia Goldenberg, who died following spine surgery at Swedish in 2014, and ended with revelations of how the hospital’s relationship with a real-estate developer complicated efforts to keep control of the medical programs.
The remarkable series led to the resignation of the Swedish CEO, changes in policies regarding overlapping surgeries by the same doctor and the suspension of star neurosurgeon Johnny Delashaw’s medical license, prior to his departure from the hospital.
And perhaps most remarkable of all, Swedish subsequently placed a series of full page ads in The Times to tell the public about its new policies!
This achievement was accompanied by Blethen’s continuing efforts to maintain The Times as one of the few remaining family owned, independent daily newspapers in the nation. While The Times has been forced to drastically reduce staff, it has managed to avoid even more staggering cuts by developing alternative newsroom financing, through sponsoring partnerships and grants.
The Times, under Blethen’s leadership, also has been a pacesetter in developing a complementary online presence, supported largely through subscriptions, rather than traditional advertising.
Also see Blethen’s bio at www.marketingimmortals.com, in the Media section.