Buyouts and layoffs in Minneapolis

This thread has so many good posts in it, it's hard to pick one to respond to (except for the Sid stuff).
I've heard more and more that newspapers going all online is coming soon, which is no revelation. It's so obvious that is what is coming within a year or so. Individuals who(m) I once assumed had a brain are repeating the new mantra that the public will be the copy editor. They will post the corrections and in the process feel very superior and that will add more clicks. Obviously that is stupid on so many accounts.
I think one problem is many newspaper chains have turned to non traditional newspaper people in this ridiculous era of abandoning the print product and these people don't understand the need for copy editors. These new era thinktankers believe the reporters shouldn't make mistakes in the first place and if they do, so what? The reader comments will fix them and the reporter will be forced to read them and post the corrections and humbly apologize to the public.
I am very glad I'm not starting out in the business.
I LOVE COPY EDITORS AND DESIGN PEOPLE

And when we do go all online, so many people will be fired. Newspaper editors can say what they want. Many traditional beats on newside will be gone. The public won't have time to be clicking on many of the stories (budgets, town meetings, water issues) that are in newspapers today. It will be mostly fluff and TMZ type stuff in my opinion.

 

The scary thing about this, Frederick, is I've seen several web sites (including some based where I live) that claim to be "public watchdogs" and report the goings-on at city council, school board meetings.

Problem is, they don't play it straight. Often, they're run by either former city officials with an axe to grind or angry old-timers who used to spout off during the public comment portion of meetings. Now, they just crank away on a web site.

Call me crazy/naive/a loser, but I still think people need a straight-up retelling of what's happening in local government.

 

We've got two of those here in town. Both are run by cranks that spin what happens in city and county government and pass it off as "fact." They hammer at people in government they don't like, and then cover up for the people they do like. Or they just publish innuendo — one published an e-mail from someone claiming the newly-elected mayor of a nearby town had lung cancer, which turned out not to be true.

Eventually these kind of sites become irrelevant. They just become homes for the town's racists and crackpots to spout off.

 

Most newspapers that lay off a bunch of copy editors quickly realize they went too far. Typically, they wind up hiring a couple of new copy editors --- maybe at lower salaries, maybe some they simply like better ----- a few months later.

 

Millea's stuff has always been solid...

 

Agreed. Sorry to see him move on. Hope the MSHSL venture goes well.

 

Any newspaper that trumpets its "watchdog" role with big graphics reminds me of the used car salesman who calls himself "Honest Joe."

If it's your role then you shouldn't have to tell anyone what you do or how great you are. Do the job, do it well and STFU.

Hate to see another solid reporter leave but the Minnesota HS league sounds like it will be better with his addition.

 

The Minneapolis newspaper only granted buyouts to people it deemed were expendable or not vital to continued operations.

Letting your primary preps czar walk -- and take his coverage to a competing Web site for high school sports enthusiasts in MN -- shoots down all those hyper-local claims, don't you think?

 

How much money did his dog videos bring in?