Las Vegas RJ spins roulette wheel, lands on buyouts

50-100 total ...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/oct/28/citing-downturn-r-j-offers-workers-buyouts/

 

I'm amazed this paper didn't fold years ago.

 

You're amazed the R-J didn't fold? Or that the Sun didn't fold? The R-J has had the upper hand in the JOA for a long time. The Sun only comes out as an eight-page single section within the R-J now -- and with really no live sports news whatsoever, even on weekends.

 

The Sun.

 

The Sun is a family-owned with MAJOR real estate money behind it, and its second-generation publisher loves to write his column every Sunday, so it's not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, they've been hiring like crazy and banking on building the online product -- which, by traditional fishwrap standards, isn't half bad. As for sports in the traditional product ... well ... they're down to one half-page six days a week, filled by the two remaining writers -- a columnist and a gambling/poker writer. It's sad.

As for the R-J, the real story here is that they've been running a bare-bones operation for years, which I thought might've prevented the buyouts (and soon-to-come layoffs, I'm sure.) The Vegas economy is getting slapped around these days on all fronts ... tourism is way down and the foreclosure mess is worse there than anywhere else in America. Friends have lost more than $100k of value in $300k homes they bought three years ago.

I know a lot of folks on that sports staff, so good luck ... I actually hope some take the dash cash and get out before it gets worse.

 

The RJ is a great product given the Vegas area and what's going on in the economy. I'd hope these cutbacks, like those at other papers have, wouldn't cheapen the product. That's probably wishful thinking on my part.

 

The Las Vegas Sun has a great website now and I believe they have multiple sportswriters that are online-only.

As for the Sun, they did a special online section a few months ago on the history of Las Vegas. It was fantastic.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/

They have spent a ton of coin putting together an online team. It looks great, but does it make money?

 

The Stephens mothership is shedding workers?

Hawaii must not be pulling its weight.

 

The LV Sun's the only paper I've seen that's reacting to the changes in the industry in a sane, positive way. They seem to understand that flailing after spot news is no longer where a newspaper can be most effective, so they're focusing on deeper coverage that supplies actual context. If every paper was copying that approach rather than scrambling like headless chickens, we'd all be happier people.

 

I sort of agree. The difference is, the Sun is an insert in the R-J and is exempt from the day-to-day newspaper necessities thanks to the terms of the JOA.

It doesn't have the same market as most newspapers. Not even close. To their credit, they're taking advantage of that. But it's a little more complicated than just imitating the Sun.

Not only that, but the Sun has a gigantic bank account to play with. And, for once, the owner is letting them play, profit margins be damned.

 

And here's the thing: As much as we all hate basic county commission meeting stories and police blotter type crap, we have to have that stuff to give the deeper stuff credibility. The readers have to know, I think, that you have a solid grasp on everything that's going on, right down to the nitty-gritty details. If we can't do that sort of stuff, then what the hell qualifies us to do the more in-depth stuff?