Birmingham's turn

BUMP.

Rumblings out of the Magic City that there's a hastily called 4 p.m. meeting today for all employees. Additional Newhouse-mandated furloughs, perhaps?

Anyone heard anything about this?

 

I got the same memo via PM.

Fuck.

Eight percent is a lot.

The cost of living in Birmingham is not cheap.

 

Suck, suck, suck. And this has actually become one of the better papers out there, merely by the fact that it has cut back newshole and quality much slower than the industry norm.

 

In a related note, heard today that The Anniston Star is cutting all employees' pay by 10 percent.

 

Birmingham News announces employee pay cuts
Posted by Birmingham News June 03, 2009 5:30 PM

The Birmingham News announced to its employees today that it will enact graduated pay cuts of 5 to 8 percent for most employees, beginning June 29.


The News' readership remains strong and stable, Publisher Victor Hanson III told employees, but advertising revenues have declined in the continuing national recession. The newspaper has taken a number of cost-cutting steps to protect its long-term economic health, he said.

"It is imperative that we maintain a robust, independent voice for news and commentary in Birmingham, as well as an effective vehicle for our advertisers," Hanson said.

 

Any word on the Newhouse papers in Mobile and Huntsville also cutting employees' salaries?

 

10 percent. Unbelievable. Taking 10 percent away from someone who's not making a ton to begin with is almost criminal. And let's not forget all the money most of us spent on our education. Very, very sad.

A 5-8 percent cut in pay along with the furloughs is going to be painful for those living in suburban B'ham. Living in the Hoovers, Vestavias and Pelhams of the world can be pricey.

The cuts will also hurt quality. Along with the daily edition, the News prints community sections that go out to the different metro regions along with the Web only content on al.com. I know in the past that interns and some outstanding freelancers have produced a big chunk of the content in those community papers. Someone said interns were gone. What about the freelancers? The News uses a couple of freelancers in sports like they were full-time employs. If the News loses both, the amount of local content produced will drastically drop and the quality won't be as good either.

 

I wonder to myself...

Could life ever be plain again

From the Leeds side streets that you slid down

 

And this paper is currently looking for journalists. Interesting.

 

The Anniston news is a shocker. The Star has always been a well-run paper. It puts out quality content, doesn't give anything away for free — one of the first Alabama papers to start charging for Web content — and is in a good location for revenue. Anniston is a military town with the largest population in east Alabama. Jacksonville State is also in the area.

 

Anniston's not a military town anymore. Fort McClellan closed under BRAC in the mid-90s (though there is still an Army Depot there, where they destroy chemical weapons) and that took a huge chunk out of the local population.