San Gabriel Valley gets hit
Gary Scott reports a bloodbath is in the works at the "new Inland Group" - San Bernadino Sun, Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Ontario Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Redlands Daily Facts - with as many as 30 people out of jobs today and tomorrow.
One commenter wrote: " It was an absolute bloodletting today. At least 30 people among SGV, Ontario, S.B. and Redlands. A complete disaster. What was left of these papers are now just ashes."
This is a terrible week for MediaNews employees here in California and a terrible week for California journalism. Where's the outrage? Media News purchased and is sucking dry every newspaper up and down this state: from the big San Jose Mercury News and Long Beach Press-Telegram - to the smaller East County Times and Whittier Daily News.
It doesn't have to be like this. Others agree. We'll be at a half-day summit sponsored by Common Cause and Free Press on the state of the media in Southern California March 29.
And this just in...
News Tribune plans layoffs
Patrick Garmoe Duluth News Tribune
Published Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Duluth News Tribune plans to cut 15 to 30 people from its 225-person workforce over the next couple of months, Publisher Steve McLister said today.
“It could be less, but it also could be more,” McLister said.
He said the company was forced to consider the move because of a slide in advertising revenue of more than 10 percent since the paper’s fiscal year began Oct. 1.
Employee buyouts and layoffs have become common at newspapers across the country as advertisers spend more money online and as the Internet splinters the traditional newspaper audience. Newspapers also are feeling the effects of a nationwide economic downturn.
“The trend is telling us the majority of this is systemic to the industry,” McLister said, adding that company officials don’t expect revenues to significantly bounce back this fiscal year.
As a result, he said, some combination of buyouts and layoffs will be necessary. The cuts will include both union and nonunion staffers and will hit all departments, McLister said.
Of the paper’s 225 employees, 175 are represented by labor unions. Peter Passi, president of the Lake Superior Newspaper Guild, which represents 134 workers, cautioned the paper’s officials not to rush into cuts they may later regret.
“We understand the need to adjust to a difficult business climate, but we do want the company to be careful in these cuts and to go no deeper than it truly must,” said Passi, a business reporter at the newspaper.
And this...
Departing ‘Indy Star’ M.E.: “It’s Gotten Harder” To Do Good Work
By Joe Strupp
Published: March 07, 2008 10:30 AM ET
NEW YORK Pam Fine, who is leaving her post as managing editor of The Indianapolis Star to teach at the University of Kansas, said she has heard from numerous other editors who say they want to make a similar move.
“I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of notes, which I really appreciate, including some from editors who seem to convey their own interest in possibly leaving their own newsrooms for academic jobs,” she told E&P. “That sentiment is the result of perhaps both a life stage, but also because these are very difficult times to manage.”
Fine, 50, said budget cuts and other industry-wide problems also played a role in her decision. “It is hard and it has gotten harder to do the kind of work here we want to do,” she explained. “The demands have grown and the staff hasn’t.”
Asked if she believed more top editors would take the jump to teaching and non-newsroom jobs, Fine said: “I don’t know. I think people are thinking about their careers and where they’d be happy. Most of my colleagues still want to be in their day to day.”
Fine announced that she would leave the Star in April to become Knight Chair for News, Leadership and Community at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications in Lawrence, Kans.
She admits she could spend more years in a newsroom and still loves the job. But with the economy and the news business facing tough times, the teaching option had more appeal. She said she had begun working on a master’s degree in recent years with an eye toward eventually teaching. When the KU search committee contacted her, the change came sooner than expected.
“I had given thought to teaching, but I wasn’t anticipating it so soon,” said Fine, who spent four years at the Star and had previously served as managing editor of The Star Tribune in Minneapolis. “But I am leaving because I saw a very creative opportunity ahead.”
Still, Fine believes her new post will allow her to remain involved in newspapers and other media. “I don’t feel like I am leaving the biz, I will be in the thick of things,” she said. “That is the way I look at it. I hope I can bridge the two worlds.”
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Links referenced within this article
jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/mailto:
Find this article at:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003721894