More from Lean Dean

[MileHigh]

L.A. Observed says there are rumors of a new round of cuts in LANG today and that someone in Pasadena already has been laid off.

[JJackson]

Heard that there will be layoffs today at the LANG Daily Bulletin in Ontario.

[MMatt60]

What I can't figure out is this: Why don't LANG and BANG give up the pretense and simply have one newspaper in the north and one in the south? (Well, maybe they ARE giving up that pretense, day by day.) What a mess.

[MileHigh]

Bill Dwyre in today's Times:

Finally, a sad goodbye and fervent wish: L.A. Daily News sportswriters Matt McHale, Billy Witz, Heather Gripp and Matt Kredell all were asked to depart their jobs Friday, as the newspaper business continues to scrape flesh off its bones. They were competitors, some friends, all respected.

May they all land well, feed their families and harbor lifelong bad thoughts about the people who did this to them and their business.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre6mar06,1,7924069.column

[MileHigh]

Heard that there will be layoffs today at the LANG Daily Bulletin in Ontario.

Used to work there, so hopefully it's not going to be too bad. And hopefully it stops here and doesn't continue the eastward migration to San Bernardino.

[joe]

Used to work in San Berdoo. Hope the sports department fares well, and there are (were?) a lot of good folks on the news desk, too. I think I got out just in time.

[rpmmutant]

Last I checked, IVDB and SB Sun were the same place. They share a lot of the same staff. If it hits one, it will hit the other.

[MileHigh]

Certainly from a desk standpoint. Hoping it's not a Long Beach/Torrance situation, but ...

[Cadet]

God, I love Bill Dwyre.

[steveu]

Don't hold back, Bill... tell us how you REALLY feel.

In this case, it's welcome. (winks)

[MileHigh]

At least four have been cut today from LANG properties today.

http://reporter-g.blogspot.com/2008/03/ax-is-swinging-in-san-gabriel-valley-at.html

[DanOregon]

This thing is like a cancer that has metastized and the treatment is doing more damage to the body than the original disease. Newspapers used to have status and authority attached to them. It was any newspaper's greatest asset, but now its like  Buick figuring they need to start competing with KIA.
People are getting the message that they don't NEED newspapers anymore and the industry responds by reinforcing that belief.

[Tom Petty]

This thing is like a cancer that has metastized and the treatment is doing more damage to the body than the original disease. Newspapers used to have status and authority attached to them. It was any newspaper's greatest asset, but now its like  Buick figuring they need to start competing with KIA.
People are getting the message that they don't NEED newspaper's anymore and the industry responds by reinforcing that belief.

nicely worded, dan.

[MMatt60]

Any more departures today in NorCal?

[joe]

First appearance of the joe pipeline says 31 cuts across Daily Bulletin, San Berdoo, San Gabe and Redlands. Word is 11 of them came from the San Berdoo Sun.

Fucking blood in the streets in the Inland Valley and elsewhere across SoCal.

[MileHigh]

Hearing the same thing. Incredibly sad. I still knows lots of people there and know of at least one who didn't make it, someone who I owe a huge debt to in terms of my career.

[MileHigh]

Any more departures today in NorCal?

Tomorrow at San Jose. Folks have been told to sit by their phones. If they don't get a call before 10 a.m., then they can come into work.

[Editude]

Bad times in Redlands, S.B. and Ontario. Each used to be distinctive products (and areas) that served specific audiences.

[Joe Williams]

People are getting the message that they don't NEED newspaper's anymore and the industry responds by reinforcing that belief.

There it is, the moral  of this horsebleep story.

By shedding journalists who know their audience/communities and whose bylines are known by the readers, nimrod bosses and owners are telling their (ugh) "customers" that the product is more dispensable now than it was a month or a year ago. Then they're scratching their heads wondering where the people went.

[Appgrad05]

A former employee at my shop went to the cluster. He's since moved on, but this is very sad news for all involved.

[DanOregon]

At this point, who is better off, those still at those papers or those let go? I know it sucks. I've seen a paper shut its doors and seen papers that appear to be in hospice - I just don't see a way back. Each week it seems, already precious newshole it taken up with an editor's note about changing figurations and features to better serve investors, I mean readers. Reading newspapers today is like watching Unitas play for the Chargers and Mays play for the Mets. It's just plain sad and you'd like to see them go out with some dignity.
The role of the newspaper will be taken up by some smart person who is able to figure out a way to channel specific news to specific readers that are served by specific advertisers, but I really, really doubt it will be by the current leadership running newspapers.

[Gold]

With these cutbacks, it almost seems like they will close the sports section.   What is left to cut?

[MileHigh]

My understanding there are nine people left in sports to put out Ontario/San Bernardino.

[Moderator1]

Some of this is probably a repeat, sorry for the within thread D_B.  Trying to sort it all out and not throw shit in anger at what is going on out there:

31's the magic number. That's across the board -- all got hit. 11 from San Berdoo, 7 from Ontario, 10 from San Gabriel and 3 from Redlands.

No buyouts. Straight cuts -- but they all got severance packages similar to the buyouts offered to the Daily News people last week.

From San Bernardino, recent cuts included  6 in Metro, 3 in Sports -- Paul Oberjuerge, a 32-year vet (including 23 as SE here; now the main sports columnist); a full-time desker and a part-time agate clerk -- plus 2 photogs.

San Bernardino is down to 9 full time -- from 16 three years ago.  Do the math. About half the staff now gone in three years.
Don't know much about Ontario.

Big hit in San Gabe was executive editor, O'Sullivan. Redlands also lost its editor. So it wasn't just the part-timers, like it was last week when the L.A. Daily News got hit.


Lord.  What a fucking business.

[suburbia]

People are getting the message that they don't NEED newspaper's anymore and the industry responds by reinforcing that belief.

There it is, the moral  of this horsebleep story.

By shedding journalists who know their audience/communities and whose bylines are known by the readers, nimrod bosses and owners are telling their (ugh) "customers" that the product is more dispensable now than it was a month or a year ago. Then they're scratching their heads wondering where the people went.

But by then, the Singletons and Jelenics of the world have further fattened their personal bank accounts. Which is all this is really about, anyway.