Peter Bhatia, the top editor of the Detroit (Michigan) Free Press, told staff in December that he will depart the company early in 2023 in the hope of saving jobs from looming companywide layoffs.
Bhatia, 69, who started at the Free Press in September 2017 and is also a regional editor in the USA TODAY Network for nearly 30 properties in Ohio and Michigan, said in a staff meeting that he decided to leave the company so that the newspaper's owner, Gannett, could use the financial savings of his departure to reduce the number of layoffs at the Free Press that are set to occur in January.
Bhatia said his last day at the Free Press — and Gannett — is Jan. 18.
