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Layoffs
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How To Take A Layoff With A Smile
Yesterday's rumor of Hearst folding Quick & Simple magazine was quickly confirmed by several emails that poured in to our world news headquarters. (You know your magazine has problems when "rapidly rising paper prices" can do you in for good). But at least one staffer had such a P-M-A (Positive Mental Attitude, yall) that we feel compelled to share her note with you. Think of it as a shining example of how to feel good about a bad situation. With wine: More »
newspapers
More Times Layoff Names
The Post's Page Six continues to dribble out names of reporters laid off by the Times, and continues to imply, but not say, the layoffs are fresh — which means they likely aren't, but are instead victims of the only newsroom layoffs in Times history, which concluded May 7. Today, Page Six names one person who took the buyout, metro reporter Anthony Ramirez, plus one person forced out — cops reporter Thomas Lueck. "Lueck was on his way to work when they phoned him to say his services were no longer needed," said the Post's tipster. The Post thinks this is "heartless." Right, not at all in the gallant vein of how the Post treated its own cops reporter. [Post]
newspapers
More Layoffs At The Times?
Less than one month ago, Times Editor Bill Keller told staff the newspaper had completed the buyout and termination of about 100 reporters and editors and that "so far nothing... suggests we will be going through this again anytime soon." But the Post today named three writers exiting the Times, and implied the departures were involuntary. Medical-devices reporter Barnaby Feder was, according to an anonymous Post source, given four days to pack up his stuff; baseball writer Murray Chass is not returning from sick leave and arts writer Lawrence Van Gelder is retiring after 41 years. The tabloid's Page Six said a "bloody ax continues to swing" at the Times, but Feder is the only of the three clearly alleged to have been forced out, and it's possible he was cut prior to Keller's May memo and somehow had his exit delayed, or that he was ejected more recently for non-economic reasons. One termination, and two possibly voluntary departures for illness and retirement do not make for layoffs, Page Six. Weak sauce. Anyone have a better handle on what's going on at the Times? [Post]
ominous
Print World Just Got Flatter
This seems like a turning point of some sort. A tipster says the McCatchy-owned Kansas City Star just laid off the entire ad services department. And outsourced the jobs to India! Even more fun: before everyone's last day this summer, their Indian replacements will be flown in so the outgoing ad team can train them. McClatchy's already done this at some of their other holdings, including the Miami Herald, the Sacremento Bee, and the Raleigh News & Observer. Everyone please continue panicking. (Of course, journos didn't care so much when all the printing plant jobs disappeared, but still. The ad people work in the same building.)
Times Forced Out 15, Faces Grievance
The Post's Keith Kelly has been keeping close watch on the Times' recently-completed cull of 100 editorial staffers. He puts the number pushed out involuntarily at 15. Meanwhile the Newspaper Guild has filed a grievance over the way the cuts were carried out, and offered to negotiate better severance for older laid-off newsroom employees.
breaking
The Times' Stealth Layoffs
The New York Times—reeling with the rest of the newspaper industry as advertising dollars and readers shift to the web—has completed its first ever newsroom layoffs. Editor Bill Keller told staff this morning that the newspaper had completed the cull of about 100 reporters and editors it began earlier this year. More »
breaking
Once Again, Life Rewards Assholes
Bear Stearns might lay off 10,000 employees as it's subsumed by JP Morgan. But it's the Wall Street kind of layoff, where you get nine months pay and one-third of last year's bonus. Why the hell are we bloggers again? [Dealbreaker]
buyouts
Times' Historic Mass Firing, A Sneak Preview
The Times is short of its goal of 100 staff buyouts, so 30 newsroom staff will likely be laid off in the next month. This would be "the company's first-ever mass firing of journalists in its 156-year history," according to Keith Kelly at the Post. But there's a chance that number could be reduced, since the Newspaper Guild has yet to obtain an official count — Kelly's number is based on his own inside sources. In any case, it looks like the cuts may very well fall on the feisty Metro desk, which has turbocharged the paper's internet presence and is probably the last place the paper should be cutting: More »
help wanted
Laid Off? Move to Singapore!
The following email was sent by the deputy editor of The Straits Times, an English language newspaper in the only growing market for print papers left: Asia. Singapore, specifically. The editor would like to know if maybe anyone who is going to get laid off from the New York Times would like to go work in a country whose "press freedom ranks below Nigeria and just ahead of Russia." They are in dire need of copy-editors, apparently! The last couple were maybe caned? Email below, via Thomas Crampton. More »
media
Layoffs at 'Adweek,' 'E&P,' Everywhere Else
Nielsen Business Media—which publishes Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, Editor & Publisher and the Hollywood Reporter—is laying off "between 40-50 staffers," including people from the editorial departments of all of those publications. :( We've known Adweek's in trouble. They've cut back to 36 issues a year, lost staffers they haven't bothered to replace, and suffered under the regime of cruel editress Alison Fahey. Any more info on who's been hit? Let us know. [Folio, Agency Spy]
newsweek
Portraits of the Bought-Out
The Newsweek buyouts have happened and they're more extensive than originally predicted. Let us remember that a buyout is a far better fate than layoff. These fallen writers are in a better place now. A place with The Golden Girls and The Price Is Right. After the jump, a bit more about those who have left Newsweek for a retired journalist heaven. More »
print is dead
Village Voice Continues to Collapse
The owners of wilting alt weekly The Village Voice continue to condemn their staff to the torture of a thousand cuts. Last week, the Voice's overlords at cost-cutting conglomerate The New Times laid off dance critic Deborah Jowitt after she'd served forty years at the paper. Now, an insider tells us that writer Chris Thompson—who relocated his family from San Francisco to take the job—has been let go. The problem, our tipster says, is that Voice editor-in-chief Tony Ortega has most of his hiring decisions dictated to him by his New Times bosses "and then he sulks because he doesn't really like them, and then decides they aren't 'working out.'" More Voice woes after the jump. More »
print is dead
'LAT' to Replace Axed Reporters with J-School Brats?
Tribune CEO Sam Zell's plan to cut 400 to 500 jobs from his newspaper fiefdom—including 150 positions at the Los Angeles Times alone—could be good news for some eager younglings. Rumors are mounting that LAT publisher David Hiller is hot to replace all those costly veteran reporters with J-School kids just hungry and indebted enough to work for scraps. If you've heard anything, kindly hit the tips button. [najp.org]
fuck you
In His Own Words, Sam Zell Is Kind Of An Asshole
Sam Zell is the charismatic CEO of the Tribune Company. Charismatic in a way only journalists would appreciate, which means he's always cursing about something. It's amazing how a quick "fuck you" has kept his staff charmed. But after yesterday's Newsday cuts, Sam Zell's "Fuck Yous" are more than straight talk—he's really going to fuck his employees.More »
washington post
It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses A Job
Rebecca Aronauer, a former writer on gossip blog Jossip, is guesting on Gawker for the next month. She'll be covering print media, though Rebecca would much rather muse on Brooklyn neighborhoods. And they say newspapers can't adapt to web culture. Why, the Washington Post even converted the smokers' room, which has been unused for years, into a game room. With foosball, air hockey and Wii, Washington Post writers are sure not to feel demoralized about sinking ad sales and the larger downturn in the publishing industry. And if the game room fails to inspire the staff, they can always turn it into a drinking room. Or just skip the ruse and turn the whole office into a bar. [Washington City Paper]
journalismism
Fewer Editors, Moar Success
With all the layoffs that just about every major newspaper has gone through over the past few years, reporting staffs have already been chopped to the bone. Or all the way through the bone and out the other side, in some cases. So when the next round of layoffs inevitably comes, where do the cuts come from? A provocative, insightful, and obvious idea: How about firing some more of those freaking editors? Or at least making them do a little more work. More »
media
