Mike Clark-Madison Out at Austin Monitor

Mike Clark-Madison's left-side profile graced the Chronicle cover in October of 2000.

That was a very short honeymoon: Mike Clark-Madison, who took the job of publisher of the online, nonprofit city politics website the Austin Monitor in early February, stepped down from the position last week.

In a “Whisper” post dated June 12, the Monitor opaquely announced: “The board of directors of Capital of Texas Media Foundation today announced the departure of the Austin Monitor‘s publisher and president, Mike Clark-Madison. The board of directors and Mr. Clark-Madison mutually agreed that it was in the best interests of all parties for him to leave. In the interim, [Editor] Elizabeth Pagano will serve as the Austin Monitor‘s publisher.”

No one is speaking on the record about the change, although Clark-Madison’s four-month-or-so tenure was complicated by one major obstacle: a few days after he accepted the job, his father, Wayne Madison, passed away. That family tragedy undoubtedly made it difficult to manage Monitor business for a few weeks – time that a small publication on small margins would find it very difficult to afford. Founding publisher Mike Kanin (now publisher of the Texas Observer, although he remains a Monitor board member), described the Monitor’s ongoing financial situation as “completely tenable.”

While Pagano will manage both business and editorial in the interim, the board also announced that the Monitor “will immediately begin an executive search for a new publisher and president.” Former Chronicle reporter, columnist, and editor MCM, who’d spent the last several years as a VP at public relations firm Hahn Public, says there are no hard feelings, and he’ll catch his breath, do some freelancing, and look for a permanent position come the fall.