Atlanta to cut 80 newsroom jobs

Why are other people making money online and the AJC isn't? What are they doing wrong? Just not selling enough ads?

 

Online isn't too profitable anywhere at the present time....and in places where they do boast decent online revenue, the bookkeeping is a bit sketchy. Most places don't count the labor expended by the newsroom staff to produce the digital content.

 

Exactly.

 

The media companies who ARE making good profits with their online content, what are they doing differently from newspapers trying to do the same?

 

Not sure if my company is making money online, but it's saving money by having a Web editor (formerly a desk chief) who does stuff during the day, then having the copy/design desk (hi, DyePack!) update the Web site at the end of the night.

Oh dear, I probably gave some publisher a terrible, awful idea... Heap it all on the desk, they won't complain.

 

I've worked in Atlanta for nearly 21 years (thanks Van).
The buyouts surprised very few people. Same goes for the reorganization. It's pretty radical but at least we're trying something new. It's pretty stressful here waiting to see who leaves and what will happen next.

As dysfunctional as a paper can be, most of us care deeply about it or we wouldn't be in this business. If your friend was dying, wouldn't you support an exploratory surgery or experimental treatment -- risking that over a slow, excruciating demise? Who knows, it might work.

 

Any word yet on changes in sports?

Will there be something really innovative? And can the AJC get away from a traditional sports-department structure? It seems hard to do so and still get the coverage you need. But on the other hand..............

 

If this plan works, other papers will quickly follow suit. However, the bottom line is that the AJC, which once proudly billed itself as covering dixie like the dew, isn't going to be what it once was. The bold move to online was expected and will cost jobs. Perhaps more importantly it will cost the AJC's standing the journalism community.
There will be a form of the paper surviving but anyone who has seen the product for the past 30 years or more can see how the coverage and quality has gone down the drain. One big reason is because there isn't any competition for the AJC. When there were two papers in Atlanta, the journalism was 10 times better.

 

Well, if my friend had a headache, I wouldn't cut off his head.

Experimental treatments at least have a track record of potential based on other living organisms they were first tested upon.