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Bad timing by the Globe

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by bob, May 9, 2008.

  1. bob

    bob Member

    How's this for bad timing? Both Peter May and Jackie MacMullan, who were longtime Celtics beat writers and who have a world of knowledge about the team and the NBA, accepted the Globe buyouts and both have been jettisoned right in the middle of the playoffs. May covered Game 1 of the Cleveland series and was gone by Game 2.
    Meanwhile, Gordon Edes has apparently taken his turned-down-buyout fight to an appeals process.
    I know the industry is dealing with downsizing, but, jeesh, couldn't they have waited a month?
     
  2. Baltimoreguy

    Baltimoreguy Member

    I'm no financial wizard, but am guessing these buyouts needed to happen in time to help cook the books for quarterly earnings reports. Just shows you the incredible short-sightedness that affects corporations in all industries, with the need to appease Wall Street every three months resulting in management decisions that cause long-term devastation to the product.
     
  3. I used to love reading the Globe, because on any sport it had some of the best writers in the country, if not the best.

    Sad to say, those days are nearly gone.

    What's that old saying, "Be careful what you ask for, you might get it." Guess you could file the buyouts under that heading.

    The likeliest employees to take buyouts are those close to retirement or those who know they can get another (read, better) position.

    Karma's a bitch.
     
  4. EE94

    EE94 Guest

    I think you're on the right track.
    Buyouts etc are expensive outlays and believe it or not, not taken lightly.

    The decision-makers could give two shits about the timing of a Celtics playoff. It's a short-term hit to not have the regular beat guy.

    Let's not pretend it doesn't happen in other industries, where a guy who might be working on a deal for months (or years) is dumped because in the long-term, it makes better financial sense
     
  5. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    I can't help but think they're denying Edes just because they found out he had another gig lined up. Sacha Pfieffer, a business writer who has a Pulitzer on her resume and went to Boston's NPR outlet, also was denied.
     
  6. VJ

    VJ Member

    That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. They offer buyouts to employees, hoping they'll take them, then refuse once they discover they don't plan on starving to death after losing their jobs.
     
  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The New York Times is the world's best newspaper. Not perfect, but better than the others.
    The New York Times Co., owner of the Globe, is the same bunch of bloodsucking scumbuckets that run all other U.S papers. No different morally whatsoever.
    I worked for Murdoch. At least he's honest about being a pirate.
     
  8. jimmydangles

    jimmydangles Member

    I don't blame either side. I don't blame Edes for wanting to get his, and I see how the Globe wouldn't want him using the buyout as a Yahoo! signing bonus.
     
  9. VJ

    VJ Member

    But what do they expect the buyout takers to do? Retire? If that's the case, then don't offer it to the entire newsroom or those talented enough to quickly find work elsewhere. Edes shouldn't be punished because management was stupid enough to offer him a buyout when he could find a new job with no trouble at all. If he had a verbal or written agreement to take the Yahoo job before he formally accepted the buyout, then I could see where this was an issue. That's probably what happened.
     
  10. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    Hey, Terrier! I covered BU football once upon a time.

    Ed Carpenter was one of my favorite SIDs.
     
  11. STLIrish

    STLIrish Active Member

    They know exactly what they're getting.
    And they don't give a shit.
    Not that Peter May and Jackie McMullen leave smack during the first meaningful Celtics playoff run in 15 years. Not that they lose their best writer on a sport the city is obsessed with. Not that the best reason to read their Business section (Steve Bailey) scooted for Bloomberg. And not that a Pulitzer-winner left for WBUR.
    It's cheaper for the Globe to not pay that kind of talent, cheaper enough to absorb the marginal loss in readership and damage to the brand, at least in the short term, which is all buyout-thinking is.
    And, as often as not, the dead wood stays put because it knows it can't do better somewhere else.
     
  12. Walter_Sobchak

    Walter_Sobchak Active Member

    BU Football: Undefeated since 1997 [/threadjack]

    Back on topic, while it's pretty terrible what the NYT Co. is doing to Edes, is anybody the least bit surprised?
     
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