Former Money Magazine publisher Brett Wilson, has been hired by USA Today to run the Gannett (NYSE: GCI) unit’s ad sales. Wilson replaces Jeff Webber as SVP, ad sales. Webber will still hold on to his post as publisher of USAToday.com and will maintain responsibility for the website’s ad sales.

Like the rest of the newspaper industry, Gannett faces the prospect of managing enormous declines on the print side. And with online ad spend slowing as well, having Webber focus solely on growing the USAT site’s fortunes could have some benefit.  Gannett cannot afford to have its flagship slide. In Q1, ad revenue on the publishing side slipped to $1.1 billion, down from $1.2 billion the year before, as classified revs dropped 16 percent. On the web side, USAT has made some purchases recently in the sports area, but that will not likely show a substantial impact on revenues for some time, if at all. Release (via Romenesko)

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