Posted on 12/01/2005 2:32:05 PM PST by LdSentinal
NEW YORK Chicago Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski explained the newspaper's decision to eliminate 28 editorial positions and other cost-cutting measures today in an e-mail to staff first posted at Jim Romenesko's media blog.
As previously reported, the Tribune is closing the New City News Service, "an operation that grew out of a storied Chicago journalism tradition," eliminating the multi-media operation as it currently exists, and taking WomanNews from a stand-alone section to a weekly chapter of Tempo. Additionally, some of the paper's periodic Features special sections will be eliminated, staffing and coverage in the paper's Business features section will be scaled back, two photo positions associated with some of that content will be eliminated, and certain research and support staff functions will be eliminated.
"A net of 28 positions related to this work is being eliminated by the end of the year," Lipinksi wrote. "Our colleagues leaving the company will be offered separation pay, benefits and outplacement services. Some may wish to apply for other staff positions as they occur."
The Tribune flagship is the latest paper in the chain to detail how it would respond to a company wide belt-tightening initiative. Other cuts are noted here.
Lipinski's memo noted that the paper would continue to invest in strategic areas, namely the paper's Web site. "At the same time that we are making difficult choices about things we will no longer do, it is important to plan aggressively for additions and innovations that help us gain new audiences and better serve our current readers," she wrote. "We are creating a 24-hour desk to give our breaking news operation the muscle and velocity it needs to dominate the Chicago news market. ... We will share more details about it in the coming days, but in general it will add a core group of 13 journalists dedicated to providing quick reporting to chicagotribune.com and our other Tribune Company partners in print, on-line and on the air. This group, together with our existing Internet staff, will harness the great resources of the Chicago Tribune's newsroom to produce a steady stream of news and information for our website, making us the undisputed leader for coverage of our metropolitan area and beyond."
Lipinski's full memo follows:
From: Lipinski, Ann Marie Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 2:56 PM Subject: To the staff
December 1, 2005
Dear Colleagues,
This is not the note to my newsroom friends and colleagues I would have chosen to write at this time of year, or any other. But I want you to hear from me that today we are eliminating 28 editorial department positions.
You are well aware that in recent years and months virtually every major paper in the nation has undergone layoffs, some of them repeatedly. At the Chicago Tribune, we have been fortunate to largely avoid those newsroom cuts, mostly because of your extraordinary hard work and judicious management of resources. But the familiar gale winds that buffet the American economy in general and our industry in particular are at our door. I am sorry I could not stave them off.
I know this has been an anxious time in the newsroom as you waited for certain word of the scope of the cutbacks. These decisions were not easy, and you have my word that other senior editors and I have worked hard to limit the impact on our readers and your ability to serve them. Where possible, we sought to eliminate positions that were already vacant or being vacated by colleagues choosing to retire.
With this note I want to let you know in general which positions will be eliminated and what areas of the paper will be impacted. In addition, I would like to share some plans we have to use this moment not merely to economize but to reorganize a part of the newsroom to nourish new forms of journalism and cement the Tribune's position as Chicago's premier source for news and information.
We will close the New City News Service, an operation that grew out of a storied Chicago journalism tradition; eliminate the multi-media operation as it currently exists; take WomanNews from a stand-alone section to a weekly chapter of Tempo; eliminate some of our periodic Features special sections; scale back staffing and coverage in our Business features sections; eliminate two photo positions associated with some of that content; and reduce some research and support staff functions. A net of 28 positions related to this work is being eliminated by the end of the year.
Our colleagues leaving the company will be offered separation pay, benefits and outplacement services. Some may wish to apply for other staff positions as they occur. Please know that the work of each person is valued and respected and it is with considerable sadness that we say goodbye. In addition, some of you whose jobs we have chosen not to eliminate have come forward to inquire about possible separation packages. Over the coming weeks, we will be considering your requests on a case-by-case basis and we will give you answers as soon as we can.
We also are working on changing some of our existing sections to maximize readership in areas where it is growing and scaling back in areas where it is not. This is, of course, something we do on an ongoing basis, but I mention it now to underscore that, as we finalize some content changes in the coming weeks, they will not require further staff reductions.
At the same time that we are making difficult choices about things we will no longer do, it is important to plan aggressively for additions and innovations that help us gain new audiences and better serve our current readers. That was the model for creating the tremendously successful "At Play," a section that was built in part by redirecting staff and resources and has excelled on every front. So while we are closing the New City News Service and our existing multi-media operation, we are creating a 24-hour desk to give our breaking news operation the muscle and velocity it needs to dominate the Chicago news market.
New City News as currently configured is of value to a variety of local news providers and competitors, many of which use the information as the backbone of their local news reports. The Chicago Tribune's new continuous news desk will further distinguish us from our competitors as the first and best source for breaking news. We will share more details about it in the coming days, but in general it will add a core group of 13 journalists dedicated to providing quick reporting to chicagotribune.com and our other Tribune Company partners in print, on-line and on the air. This group, together with our existing Internet staff, will harness the great resources of the Chicago Tribune's newsroom to produce a steady stream of news and information for our website, making us the undisputed leader for coverage of our metropolitan area and beyond. We hope and expect that many of the people whose current positions are being eliminated will consider themselves excellent candidates for these new jobs.
It is popular in our profession to characterize this as an uncertain time, or worse. Yet during these last months this newsroom has distinguished itself in glorious ways, including your ground-breaking investigation of mortgage fraud, first-in-class coverage of the Supreme Court's transformation, riveting profiles, courageous war reporting, historic coverage of an epic hurricane, inventive arts and culture criticism, robust blogging, a wonderful Wonders of Chicago project, and spectacular story-telling about a dream White Sox season that lured hundreds of thousands of new readers to your work and produced a top-selling book. More recently, the Sunday before last, your breathtaking portrait of a judge and her loss compelled nearly 10,000 additional readers to pick up your newspaper and many thousands more to search for it on the web. You have done all this while inventing new sections, transforming existing ones and fueling record growth of readership for our on-line content.
"Declining circulation" has become so familiar a phrase that one forgets when the noun was not preceded by the adjective. But the measurement is of limited value. The extension of your efforts beyond Blue to on-line, on-air, books, Red and a network of company newspapers have resulted in many, many more consumers of your work than your predecessors enjoyed. It is our job to fuel that growth in even more ways, tethered to the credibility and quality that is the hallmark of your journalism.
Some years ago, after I first became managing editor, I learned the sky was falling. Classified advertising-the foundation of much of the business model-was collapsing and there were many who said that papers, this one included, would never recover from the evaporation of that revenue. Guess what? They were wrong, about the Tribune at least, which brick by brick built a new foundation through grit and innovation and the industry of many of you now reading this memo. Invention and reinvention are in our DNA. There is much more before us and no newsroom more capable of charting the course.
I know you will be respectful and understanding of our colleagues in the coming weeks as some difficult changes are taking place. Please let me or any of the senior editors know if you have any questions or concerns that we could address. I thank you for your understanding and professionalism.
Ann Marie
"More bad news about the MSM? That sure made my day."
Bush's fault that so many MSMers are getting laid off across the country.
Darn it. I keep forgetting it's Bush's fault. I gotta make a note of that.
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