Posted on 01/11/2007 3:31:57 PM PST by freedomdefender
Big cuts are coming to the Boston Globe, according to memos from publisher Steve Ainsley and editor Martin Baron. (See story here.)
According to the memo, the New York Times New England Media Group will see a cut of about 125 employees. The New England Media Group includes the Globe and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
About 19 editorial jobs will be slashed at the Globe.
Here are both memos:
January 11, 2007
To the staff:
As I trust all of you will understand, this is a difficult memo to write.
You know as well as anyone that we are in the middle of one of the most challenging periods in our history. Even though we have the potential to reach larger audiences through the combination of print, online and emerging platforms such as mobile, we still face tough advertising and circulation markets.
One of the first steps we will be taking is to significantly reduce costs to bring them into line with our revenue expectations. Today, I want to address two parts of our cost-reduction plan.
The New England Media Group is implementing a staff reduction program with a target of 125 positions.
One component of this program will consist of voluntary buyouts that will be offered to eligible Exempt and Newspaper Guild employees at The Boston Globe and Worcester Telegram and Gazette who have 10 more years of service. However, certain functions will be excluded. Boston.com will not be affected. Eligible employees should receive a detailed explanation of this voluntary offer in the mail at their home during the week of January 29th. This part of the program should be completed by the end of the first quarter.
The second component of the program is an outsourcing initiative. Like many large companies nationwide, including media companies, we plan to outsource several important functions to outside companies whose technological scale and extensive resources allow them to perform such tasks much more efficiently.
We are beginning this effort in the finance and advertising operational support departments across all NEMG properties. We anticipate that a significant portion of the finance department transition will be complete by May. There is not yet a timetable for the changes in advertising operations.
Employees affected by the outsourcing initiative will receive severance packages similar to those offered under the voluntary buyout. We will provide additional services to all employees to help ease the transition.
There will be additional steps we need to take as we continually look for ways to succeed in our new environment. In the near future I will address plans for audience and advertiser growth, as well as other plans for improving operational efficiency.
We all know how difficult it is to have good people leave the organization and to work in this uncertain environment. I want to thank all of you for your dedication and hard work and ask for your continued support and determination.
– Steve
To the staff:
I’d like to apologize for being out of town and unable to speak with you personally about today’s announcement regarding the reduction in staff. I had expected to be in the newsroom when the announcement was made.
However, I will get together with you early next week when I return and provide as much additional information as I can.
Here is how Editorial will be affected: We are aiming for a reduction of 19 staff positions in Editorial, including 17 on the news side and two on the opinion pages. Some current openings also will be frozen. In addition, we anticipate achieving cost savings through newshole and other expense reductions, which I will detail as soon as possible in coming weeks.
Achieving these reductions will not be easy, but we will work hard to make the process as smooth as possible. As we have done in the past, we will re-examine all of our work, looking for ways to streamline and reorganize. And as with past buyouts, we will have to make hard choices, even discontinuing some work.
Losing valued colleagues is especially painful, and all of you know the struggle of adjusting to a smaller work force. These reductions also come at a time when we must fully transform our newsroom into a multimedia news and information organization. That in itself makes demands on our time and resources. Our jobs will be different. But it is a challenge we must meet if we are to thrive in the future.
With your help, we can get through this period in a sensible way. Our ability to navigate the difficulties of our industry and our company depends on all of us working together, and seizing new opportunities will call for even more cooperation, collaboration, and fresh ideas. I know this is a staff that can be counted on to do what we must.
We will talk more next week when I return.
Marty
FYI
Yeah, sure, just a coincidence that you're not there to face the people about to be laid off.
Love it! Hahahahahahahaha
No big loss, they will survive, they have that new minimum wage increase!
ping for media bias!
But I guess that's too easy.
Globe details layoff plans
The Boston Globe says it will offer voluntary buyout packages to employees of the Boston Globe and its sister newspaper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The goal is to cut 125 positions from the two papers, including 19 jobs in the Globe newsroom and editorial pages, the Globe said on its Website, Boston.com, on Thursday.
Boston.com will not be affected by the buyouts. The news marks the second round of buyouts since the fall of 2005 for the Globe. Employees eligible will receive an explanation of the voluntary offer in the mail during the week of Jan. 29.
The news comes as daily papers across the country grapple with plunging circulation and advertising revenues, issues that the have plagued the Globe in recent years. The parent New York Times Co. says the Hub broadsheet is not for sale, but private investors have nevertheless expressed interested in buying. Among them, reportedly, ex-GE CEO Jack Welch and advertising executive Jack Connors.
Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley said in a memo to staff on Thursday that the cuts are the result of "one of the most challenging periods in our history."
"Even though we have the potential to reach the larger audiences though the combination of print, online and emerging platforms, such as mobile, we still face tough advertising and circulation markets."
"There was a land of Publishers and Editors called the Newspaper Business... Here in this pretty world Journalism took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Reporters and their Enablers, of Anonymous Sources and of Stringers... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization Gone With the Wind..."
With apologies to Margaret Mitchell...
Is that Barnacle clown still there?? Hate to see Matthews lose a drinking buddy over this.
We will talk more next week when I return.
Marty
Probably a little difficult to read, too, for those let go.
Bankruptcy in the best economy in history is not a good sign. Notice how the Stone Age Press is all for Diversity except when it comes to Conservative reporters.
Pray for W and Our Troops
LOL!
I just couldn't help Goozling something with "hole" in it: http://www.newshole.net/.
"with your help"???? How can they "help" if you fire them? They did what they were told: wrote the slanted stories you wanted written, told the lies you wanted told. And THIS is how you repay them????
The only thing worse than a coward is a TRAITOROUS, BACK-STABBING coward!
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