Montgomery axes three summer interns before they start

I'm not shocked at all.

 

Bravo, bravo, bravo.

 

Should have guessed this was coming. Talked to the prep guy there back in May. He said the section has cut back 10+ pages a week.

 

If they're like me, this will only serve to make them bitter. During college, I worked part-time at the paper, then got laid off with other student staffers only to be replaced by students there via non-paid internships. (A buddy of mine was solicited for an internship barely a month after and told them to fuck off, so there's a little loyalty.)

But it just goes to show that j-schools sometimes forget to teach about the unfortunate business of the business.

 

They just keep trying the same things over and over again and expect different results. It's such bullshit, too. No way that Montgomery paper, with all the people who have left, the previous newsroom cuts, the shitty perks (like .23-per-mile mileage) and the number of young, cheap reporters, is losing money. Ain't no way.

But they just keep cutting and cutting in the newsroom and wondering why the sales staff can't push a shitty product. At some point, you'd think that someone would realize this approach isn't working. But nope, just more cuts. At that paper, the sports staff has four guys who have been together for four years. That's by far the largest group in any section to be around that long. Some good people have walked out the door in Montgomery -- guys and gals who are doing bang-up jobs elsewhere now.

Until this paper is sold or the upper management is removed, you can bet that good people will continue to head out. And until one of those two things happens, I don't see this situation getting any better.

 

Wow. And to think Gannett is not even the worst newspaper chain around.......

 

If there's a silver lining in this experience in Montgomery it's that the interns got a real-world taste of what's going on in the world of print journalism. Budget cutbacks and layoffs are as much a part of today's journalism culture as are breaking stories and enterprise.

These kids got to experience something important without having to worry about how to pay the kids or trying to make next month's mortgage payment.

And, yes, I say much of this with tongue in cheek, but you get my point.

 

Good Points here. Every day I watch our interns come in here willing to work hard. But it's unfortunate that this business will in all likelihood suck that out of them. I'm happy to be moving on, and getting out.

 

I used to say that Gannett eats its young.
Montgomery potentially speaking, has long been regarded as a sleeping giant in the south. The paper can be be so much better on so many levels.
There are some good people there. Lloyd wouldn't have pulled the rug from the interns if she wasn't forced. It was a tough and ugly decision. I truly feel for her on this one.

 

I was in Montgomery last year and it did seem like a town with a lot of potential, but the downtown shuts down at sundown, a local popular watering hole about a block from the minor league stadium was closed after the game ended about 9:10 p.m.