Diamondback Finances Questioned

Michael R. Fribush, 52 a UM alumnus who has run the business side of the paper for 29 years, has run up a $4 million surplus at the daily as well as gaining for himself a lucrative, incentive laden, four-year pay-package.

Adrianne Flynn, a faculty member at the university’s school of journalism, resigned from the board of directors of Maryland Media, the non-profit corporation that owns The Diamondback, after questioning the Fribush pay package that the board passed in April.

By one estimate, she said the pay package would have boosted Fribush’s annual salary over the next four years to more than $300,000. Tax returns show Fribush made almost $180,000 in the fiscal year ending in 2000.

Reporters at the daily can earn up to $30 an article, and editors get a monthly stipend ranging from $500 to more than $1,200, depending on rank. Despite the surplus, in recent years the free newspaper has cut its distribution to save printing costs, from more than 20,000 to 17,000.

A concern of Flynn and others was that the contract approved in April included a series of incentive provisions boosting the general manager’s pay based on the size of Maryland Media’s surplus. The $4 million surplus is about four-times the annual budget of the daily.

Maryland Media’s board voted on a revised contract for Fribush in August setting his base pay at about $145,000. The new salary is in line with what managers earn at nonprofit and for-profit businesses similar to Maryland Media, according to Lee Levine, the board’s attorney.

- based on a report in The Sun