As reported yesterday, the head of CBC.ca, Sue Gardner, is leaving the Corporation. I’m saddened by this. Though I never worked with Sue, under her leadership the CBC web site became the #1 news web site in Canada. It’s hard to argue with results.

I asked her why she was leaving. This is what she told me:

“It’s actually pretty simple, and non-surprising. I’ve essentially done what I wanted to do here. The site’s number one, it’s won a gazillion awards, and I’ve managed to do the things that I felt were really important — like, launching a really top-notch arts and entertainment section, redesigning the editorial sections last year, beefing up our technology coverage, and so forth.

“I’m not saying there aren’t plenty of things that remain to be done at CBC.CA, and in digital programming at CBC in general - of course there are, and the CBC has lots of talented and dedicated people who will do them well. But for me personally, I had achieved what I wanted. So I decided it was time to do something else.”

Sue said her plan is to take the summer off and in the fall she’ll start thinking about what’s next. “You know as well as I do,” she said. “The possibilities are endless.”

Best wishes, Sue.

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	CBC.ca web site, Executives