More cutting -- Detroit Free Press

Yup. Got to pay for those "Purpose Walls" and the "Purposoligist" consultant.

 

Yep, just keep cutting until there's nothing left.

 

And the buyout offers have started. I'm sure the layoffs won't be far behind.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/182418/detroit-free-press-news-offer-buyouts-to-71-staffers/#.UA3mNPU5wYQ.facebook

 

The Motor City -- both of the Detroit papers -- has produced some awfully fine journalism over the years. Wouldn't you agree?

I feel for my friends in Detroit. I don't know Paul Anger, but I do know that he's up against it. I know someone from a former shop who does know Anger and said that he is a fine man, but that's beside the point.

Gotta say, though, if I were 56 and had worked for the company for 20 years and had a chance for ONE YEAR OF FREE INCOME, I'd jump all over it.

You churn that year, strengthening your marriage and your bonds with your children. If unmarried or with no kids, you reach out to family and friends. You live the life you haven't led for the last 30 to 35 years!

And, minutes after taking that buyout, you plug away and compile contacts for your next job. Or you go back to school for technology or something that can easily be applied.

You're by no means dead at 56 (or 58 or 60). RUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Harrison K. Parker

 

I was in Detroit about a year ago. I picked up the Freep on a Sunday and was really impressed. It was fantastic. It was one of the best Sunday papers I had seen in awhile.

 

I saw a lot of traffic coming from here so I thought I'd post a correction to the address to the story:
http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2012/06/12/scoops422-2/
We changed the layout, etc. and certain URLs were lost in the shuffle.
-abby

 

I agree wholeheartedly about taking the free year. Everyone there should be looking at the possibility that they're working for free for the next (however many months they're covered), because within that time frame it's entirely likely that they will be laid off anyway with no severance.

However, it is not just conjecture that people 50 and up have a terrible time finding new work. That's a scary proposition, to be 58 and looking for work with the perception that all your skills are strictly old-world. It's hard enough for someone who's 45.

 

I don't know about the free year. I have seen more than a few talented people -- and we are talking the first buyouts I saw firsthand 20 years ago, and some much more recently -- who couldn't find anything for much longer than that.

As for Anger, I worked for him when he was a sports editor. I worked with a lot of people who went on to great things in newspaper management, but before they developed anything approaching Paul's skills as a manager. He worked very hard at finding the people he wanted, sometimes corresponding with them for a few years before making an offer, as was the case with me. He permitted the least amount of office politics that I've seen in a newsroom in 36 years of working in them. He could leave you alone to do your job or he could teach you something. He was great at seeking input and implementing it. And he got the most out of people and other resources.

In good times, you can walk away from all that, as I did. In times like these, I would have to ask myself who I would trust more to help keep the place alive.

 

If you haven't personally looked for work in your mid-50s, you don't know what you're talking about. You don't have a lot of time to remake a career, which essentially is what you're going to have to do to make meaningful money.

 

Fortunately I have not had to look for a job in my 50's but I would think long and hard about my health and my future insurance options before making the decision to jump.

 

Man, you sure have that right!

FEW want someone 50+ when they can get someone 30+ for less money.
We can say 'that's their loss' all we want, but as a person that has been there at 42 and again 46, it is NO picnic.
And now here I am at 54 and I expect it again any day now, but I have no other options at this time.