D Magazine, People Newspapers lay off 19% of staff

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/111808dnbusdmagpeople.1c15b57aa.html

D Magazine and People Newspapers, which are majority owned by Wick Allison, laid off 19 percent of their combined staff Friday and Monday, the latest casualties of declining advertising revenue in the media world.

The magazine group laid off 14 people, and the community newspaper chain cut 15 of their 155 employees, said D Magazine executive editor Tim Rogers. Most cuts were on the business and sales side, and none of D Magazine's editors or bloggers were cut, he said.

The remaining staff has taken a pay cut, Mr. Rogers said. In addition, People Newspapers has shut down three of its six newspapers — Lake Highlands People, Lakewood People, and West Plano People. “The ones that remain are profitable,” he said.

“The thing I’ve been real impressed with is how everyone has handled this,” said Mr. Rogers, who joined D Magazine in 2002.

“Our readership is not down,” he said. “Retail sales are down. Those are the people who buy ads, and when they’re not making money, they cut back.”

Mr. Rogers would not say how much D Magazine’s revenue was down.

D Magazine’s readership was 492,500 last year, but its circulation as of June 30 was 61,548. People Newspapers' remaining newspapers have circulations of — 12,000 for PrestonHollowPeople, 8,600 for ParkCities People and 4,000 for OakCliffPeople.

The group’s eight blogs were shut down over the weekend and most of Monday because their “comments” sections began generating information that not all of the company’s staff had heard yet, Mr. Rogers said.

By Monday afternoon, some of those blogs carried an explanation written by Mr. Rogers, which began: “Monday was a tough day at D Magazine. Our company began a round of layoffs and salary reductions that is just now reaching its conclusion.”

Mr. Allison and his University of Texas buddy Jim Atkinson founded D Magazine in 1974. It was sold to American Express in 1990 only to be bought back by a group of investors led by Mr. Allison in 1996.

 

OakCliffPeople? Is that as pretentious as it sounds?

 

It's not a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

 

In the grand scheme of things, yes.

In Dallas terms, not really.

 

got it.

 

My grandparents were Oak Cliff people. They put spaces between the words during those archaic times.

 

I guess PleasantGrovePeople and RedBirdPeople didn't work out either.

 

WhiteSettlementPeople wasn't even worth a try?

 

That's a beautifully produced and rather insightful magazine, as is Texas Monthly.
Hate to see cuts there, but fully understand them.