From The Publisher in Palm Beach

I've always questioned how effective most advertising is, online and in print. I still pick up a paper here and there, and I used to read the paper every day. I never consumed the advertising. I flipped through the sections and skimmed/read the stories, but ignored all the ads.

 

You spent a lifetime in the business. Our reading habits and those who use the product are two different beasts.

 

Hammer, excellent analogy to our situation as an industry. Not too many successful businesses cut their way to future or long-term profits. Of course, if you had told me 10 years ago that the Sun-Times would be in danger of folding, I would have considered you crazy.

This reminds me of when General Motors began cutting corners with quality on their cars in the late 70s and early 80s. Using cheaper glue, compositing materials, etc. and charging the same price. People don't forget a brand that chooses to go south by design and act like nothing's amiss.

 

You'll find many parallels between Detroit in 1979 and the media industry today. The only thing missing is a foreign competitor coming in with a better way.

 

Interesting reading.

As an employee of the Palm Beach Post, I can tell you that I feel pretty comfortable working there, and don't see my job going away any time soon. There have been no layoffs, there have been no buyout offers (thought it could happen this summer), and honestly, there is some fat that can, and should, be cut.

But there are also lots of full-page ads as well as pages and pages of classified ads. And the Web is making some coin, too, and will turn a bigger profit as we've seen Web hits go from 200,000 a day a year ago to now averaging 1.3-1.5 million a day (over 2 million when we have major breaking local news, which isn't in short supply here).

Sure, the Post isn't making as much money as it used to (mostly because of the economy here ... and that can turn around quickly as there are small signs that people are buying houses again), but the Post is not in as dire of financial stress as other papers in the industry (I REFUSE TO USE THE WORD 'SHOP' TO REFER TO MY WORKPLACE! I DON'T WORK ON CARS).

The only portion of previous comments I'll address is this ... by 'getting smaller,' currently that means not replacing people who leave (though new hires do trickle in on a monthly basis). And with our new emphasis on Web (check out Pointer site), there will be editing and production jobs for some time to come.

I moved to this area specifically because of the Post, Herald and Sentinel ... lots of opportunity to retire from my biz ... and still feel extremely comfortable with that decision.

Carry on

 

I get what you're both saying, but have to disagree. Yes, we're having a lot of cuts in our industry, but that's going on all across the country. And while the company line is "do more with less" and bullshit like that, the bottom line is the American economy is in the shitter and everyone is scrambling.
Everyone is bracing for things to get worse and it seems like things keep getting worse.

 

death, i wish i would have went away and then came back and posted as you.

 

I know this isn't a happy thread to revive, but I read this blog entry this morning and thought I should post one of the comments and provide the link. Sounds like there's still a lot of talking about what will happen, but it's pretty clear big cuts are on the way:

Here's the comment . . .
"The rumors going around at The Post aren't about whether or not buyouts and layoff will happen. Those things will happen soon.

The rumors are about how many, when and what will the initial buyout deal entail.

We're hearing all kinds of rumors these days.

We've heard that maybe as many as 80 to 100 reporters and staffers in the newsroom might qualify for the first round of buyouts, although no one seems to know what the criteria for buyouts will be.

We've heard that the features desk might be the hardest hit department initially because they seem to have a disproportionate ratio of editors to reporters.

We've heard that the bureaus might be completely closed, downsized or relocated.

We've heard that the reputation of the new publisher is to "trim from the top," meaning that many of the high salaried editor-level positions in the newsroom might be the most immediately vulnerable.

We've heard that because the new publisher was hired from outside of The Post and because he's a relatively young person, that many of the editors who would have been in line for the publisher's job - or who would have been moved up the ladder as others were promoted - might now be targeted for buyout packages or they might be voluntarily looking to retire.

We've heard that the relocation of the Editor from his executive office suite on the fourth floor to a broom closet sized office in the newsroom isn't a sign of things to come.

All rumors.

We do know that reporters and editors in the Post's newsroom will lose their jobs sometime this year. Tom Giuffrida made that fact very clear before he left."


AND THE LINK
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2008/06/rumors_swirling_at_post.php

 

People... TAKE the buyouts.

They will be gone and never seen again after this year.

 

The Post might want to lose 100 positions.

Alas, that does not mean they'll do 100 buyouts.


They might rely on a limited number of early retirements and then layoffs.

 

What happened to the old head honcho there, the guy who'd ask you where you went to kindergarten?