Five employees at CQ Roll Call have been given buyouts at the publication, according to a newsroom memo sent out by Editorial Director Susan Benkelman obtained by FishbowlDC.

The employees are: John Bicknell, editor of CQ Weekly; Robert Healy, senior editor; Melinda Nahmias, deputy editor of CQ Weekly; Lauren Whittington, leadership editor; and Randy Wynn, chief news editor.

We hear that part of the buyout is roughly five months-worth of pay.

“We’re going to set a date for an appropriate, official celebration of these employees’ long and wonderful careers, most likely the third week in May, and we’ll make sure everyone is aware of those plans,” Benkelman wrote in the memo. “In the meantime, please wish them well on this next phase of their lives and careers. We’ll also have some snacks and drinks in the newsroom late tomorrow for these employees’ last day. I’ll bring the wine, and the Kleenex.”

FishbowlDC reported Thursday that several staffers had submitted requests for buyouts and that decisions could come by the end of the day. It looks like that panned out.

See the full memo… Read more

Five Roll Call reporters  received word Wednesday that they now have a new boss. Instead of Editor David Rapp, they’ll now report to a different editor. What’s more: Their work will now be behind a paywall as it appears on CQ.com.

The big switch is part of a plan to realign resources and inject them into the overall digital operation. As sources inside the publication explained to FishbowlDC, the move allows the company to lower Roll Call‘s operating costs while they avoid laying off employees. Hypothetically speaking, insiders explain the shift could help if The Economist Group decides to sell or close Roll Call (athough they have not indicated there is no plan to do either).

Despite the fact that the two newsrooms are now fully integrated, confusion among readers still exists as some Roll Call reporters are still resisting the idea of having CQ invade their Roll Call. But they’ll have to adjust. Stories bylined by these reporters will still appear in the Roll Call print edition. If you’re a CQ.com subscriber, all Roll Call stories appear on CQ.com. In turn,  CQ stories pertaining to policy news of the day appear on RollCall.com and the Roll Call print edition.

CQ Roll Call sources tell us tensions are high as some of the affected reporters were less than enthused by the initial news. Some of those called on to make the switch include White House Correspondent Steven Dennis, who is switching bosses but will continue to maintain his regular beat as a CQ Roll Call reporter, House Leadership reporter Daniel Newhauser and Humberto Sanchez, who covers the Senate. Others affected include Adriel Bettelheim, who will write a new CQ Morning Briefing newsletter that starts Monday, Kate Ackley, and Eliza Carney.

CQ Roll Call brass considers the move to be positive. In a memo dispatched to staff Thursday from Susan Benkelman…

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While some publications around town still have no designated spokesperson, CQ Roll Call is promoting its Manager of Media Relations.

The news outlet announced today that Sujata Mitra has been named Director of Marketing Communications, reporting to Valerie Voci, V.P., of Marketing.

See the abundance of praise for Mitra… Read more

CQ Roll Call Publicist Rebecca Gale is making a big leap this week from the public relations side of the publication to editorial. Specifically she will be a contributing editor for Roll Call. See the internal memo from Editorial Director Susan Benkelman below.

Team –

I’m happy to announce that Rebecca Gale, who’s been working as director of publicity and has handled our media relations, will be working in editorial, beginning immediately. Rebecca will serve as a contributing editor and will be working on Roll Call, helping out on the opinion section and working on other projects as needed. In fact, she’s currently writing a piece for Roll Call as we speak. She’s sitting in a cubicle near Dave Rapp’s office, so stop by and say hi.

Susan

See what Gale had to say about the move… Read more

Tough as it is to top a toilet flushing memo, in way less exciting news over at CQ Roll Call today, they’re announcing staff moves. In the meantime, would this be an appropriate time to request more toilet flushing tips?

The moves involve Anne Hoy, who takes over as executive editor for CQ news and Randy Wynn, who’s getting a new fancy title as chief news editor. Other team moves include Alan Ota and David Harrison to the economics team as well as John Gramlich, who is switching teams (so to speak) but will still cover legal affairs.

See the memo from Editorial Director Susan Benkelman…

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CQ Roll Call Editorial Director Susan Benkelman sent out a really exciting internal memo to staff this afternoon announcing that John Dineen is returning to the newsroom from the business side to head up digital. His new title: VP for Digital Strategy and Delivery.

The memo, sent to us by one of our reporter spies, is LONG and will make your eyes glaze over. The important news is above.

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The CQification of Roll Call is complete. CQ Roll Call, an Economist Group business, announced today that David Rapp has been named Editor of Roll Call. Rapp formerly worked for CQ for 22 years. Most recently he worked at Bloomberg‘s BGOV for the past year and a half. He’ll begin on November 12, just in time for the relaunch of the publication on November 13.

“I am thrilled to have David leading Roll Call,” said Susan Benkelman, Editorial Director of CQ Roll Call. “As we prepare to re-launch Roll Call on November 13^th with expanded coverage, a redesigned printedition, and a free site, David’s track record in leading award-winning publications and in digital publishing makes him an excellent choice to take Roll Call forward. He also knows Capitol Hill as well as anyone in town, so he brings the precise combination of skills and expertise we need for this job.”

The search was purportedly intensive. They considered internal applicants as well as those, such as Rapp, from the outside. We’re hearing murmurings of discontent with the choice, but clearly brass is overjoyed with their pick.

The “new” Roll Call will present readers with “the political news they have come to rely on combined with topical policy analysis and legislative schedules that were hallmarks of CQ Today”.  The new daily print edition will publish Monday through Friday.

Read more on Rapp…

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This just in from CQ Roll Call‘s Susan Benkelman:

 ”In light of Scott’s departure, I’ve asked Randy Wynn to sit in the Roll Call editor’s chair on an interim basis. The Roll Call editor job has been posted, and candidates will be interviewed in the next couple weeks. We’ll close the posting on Oct. 5, and we want to have the editor in place well in advance of the launch of the redesigned paper on Nov. 13.”

Scott Montgomery recently resigned to go to work for NPR. Wynn is presently Deputy Executive Editor for News, CQ Roll Call.

Roll Call Editor Scott Montgomery is leaving for a senior staff position at NPR. This is no doubt a big loss for the Roll Call newsroom where he was thought to be a morale center and curator of young talent. As of late, there have been a slew of layoffs at CQ Roll Call among sales personnel. He is said to be leaving on good terms. The position at NPR is significant and hard for him to pass up. Sources say he was not nudged out or laid off.

Montgomery first came to CQ in 2000 as an editor for CQ Weekly, then moved to CQ‘s parent company, the St. Petersburg Times, before returning to CQ Roll Call in 2009. In the fall of 2010 Scott was named Editor of Roll Call on the heels of Charlie Mitchell, who, to the dismay of the newsroom, was pushed out.

A newsroom employee who formerly worked with Mitchell in Editorial gave him a glowing review, but only agreed to speak about him anonymously: “Scott Montgomery is a fantastic editor. When Charlie Mitchell left, there was chaos, but Scott stepped in keep the newspaper moving forward. He kept Roll Call true to its mission and his improvements were felt in every corner of the newsroom. Roll Callers, old and new, are going to miss him. NPR is getting a first rate editor.”

Susan Benkelman will lead CQ/Roll Call during the interim period until a permanent head is named.

We reached out to CQ Roll Call PR. They had no additional comment.

UPDATE: See the memo…

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