68 Philadelphia Inquirer newsroom layoffs

I hope you're not forgetting the Belo Massacre of 2004 and this past fall's buyouts.

 

Look here's the sad part. Many of those on the list, are minority journalists. The Inky purged 22 percent and now the tone at the paper has changed dramatically. The union insisted on senority when it made its new deal with the company. I can't argue with that, but there were several "key personnel" that were exempt. Many of them weren't minority.
Also, when you look at SAS, you can't help to think that greed is in the picture. Does he bring anything to the table, not really. Never really has. He's been a project since his arrival. His copy needs work and that's not a big secret.
There was a time when people cared about what he wrote. That's not the case any longer. Frank said it best. With the internet, no one cares about what a columnist's opinion is. People can formulate their own beliefs.
TK and the Elf are pretty much in the same boat as SAS. No one wants to hear that they think Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the game or that Gilbert Arenas shoots too much or that Yao Ming has an opportunity to make the NBA a truly global endeavor.
There are more cutbacks in store at PNI. Stay tuned. It's going to be ugly.

 

Sad. Sad.

 

This is the last line of the PNI blog:
A young writer was wondering how she'd manage. The amazing thing, I told her, is that I'd never run into anyone who'd left the newspaper who didn't look younger and healthier the next time I saw them.

Sadly, that is a very true statement.

 

They lost 7 copy editors. 4 remain.

Sports cuts:
Aldridge, David (writer)
Bathurst, Jeffrey (slot)
Brooks, Angel K. (copy editor)
Cohen, David M. (copy editor)
Constantino, Mario T. (copy editor)
Gorodetzer, Jay A. (sports photo editor)
Hall, John (copy editor)
McGovern, Robert (layout guy)
Morris, Teshia (copy editor)
Parent, Robert (schools editor, writer)
Pedersen, Keri (copy editor)
Schnatz, Peter L. (schools, auto racing)
Seiders, Mary Jane (agate)
Steinberg, Donald (boxing, business, sunday sports ed.)
Trethan, Phaedra (copy editor)

 

How can you lose seven copy editors in the sports department? Even big papers only have about 10 true sports copy editors.

 

Jesus, that looks to be the entire sports desk?

Who the fuck is putting out the paper?

 

I look at that list and those numbers, and try to put myself in their shoes, and it almost makes me physically ill.

We know how hard it is to put out a daily paper. Since there have been layoffs before, I doubt that this was a bloated department. Imagine what those people are thinking today.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Best hopes for everybody remaining there.

 

We were discussing this exact thing last night. We looked around our newsroom and wonder, "How many more people can they let go?"

Someone said, "Management will find someone, if it wants to save money."

Scary.

 

I'm honestly having visions of the remaining people mopping the floor after their shift.

Luck to all those who remain, and those who are hunting for jobs...

 

Indeed, that is a staggering disembowelment of the Inky sports department. I live in the area, so I'll be curious to see how the section looks in the coming weeks.

 

Even worse, RW.
I live 55 miles from Philly and the daily section is usually full of house ads. And don't get me started about the "Sunday" paper that's printed on Friday.