Newsday eliminates Powell, Howard

The irony of all this is the kind of writing Pearlman was hired to do originally, the take-out pieces, may be the only thing that ultimately saves the print product, even if it goes down to less than seven days a week. I work at a major Gannett property and I"ve been telling colleagues for almost three years that we soon will be a three- or four-day a week operation in print and still going full blast 24/7 online.

In order for print to survive, it needs to offer the kind of depth, enterprise, analysis that Pearlman talks about to set it apart from what readers can get for free online and NOT also stick it online. With that, then you start using your online product to refer/tease your enterprise/takeout print product as well as vice versa----print refer/tease to online----that has been pushed so much the last three years.

I believe if yuo do that with the reduced freq's of the print product, to include expanded h.s. coverage in the print product----and offer a similar strategy in news, business and lifestyle----you will be left with a print product that will generate more rack and subscription revenue, give a bump back to some of the lost classified sales, obviously save a ton of newsprint and do a muich better job of ham-and-egging it with the online product. Yes, you would lose some jobs in infrastructure such as printing, operations, etc. but could still hold on to almost all of your editorial (Info Center ) and advertising positions.

Just a thought.

 

Shaun and Johnette are terrific writers..It sucks if they were not given a chance to take a paycut..Maybe if Dolan did not blow so much bad money at the Garden they would not have to do this....
The saddest thing is that this shit is happening all over the country in all fields...From the auto industry to newspapers..from television to retail...Do you notice how many stores are going out of business....
Life is not too good for many of us....If you believe in anything spiritual,you better start praying...if not...sit down at the local watering hole(if its still ini biz) and slam a few shots...and then take a cab home...hug and kiss your spouse and kids..(if applicable)

 

I never thought the day would come when newspapers would get rid of good journalists -- people at the top of their field. And how can you get rid of columnists? Often that is the only thing I read when I move from paper to paper on the Internet. What do people think? What are they doing to move their community?
That is what's important. I know both of these people and always thought I was in the presence of greatness when I saw them. These are people you respected and I thought these were the last writers you would throw off the boat when it went up in flames.
But if they can get the Ziggy we all can. I sort of sit here and fear the worst every time a meeting is called. I always know when my day comes it will be without warning.
These are sad times. What has happened to us? Our business was the elite of the elite and now I see papers in marketing plans with sources, laying folks off and no longer caring about quality in the newspaper.
I wish the best to JP and Shaun.
Here is hoping both land on their feet some place else.

 

This is going to sound harsh. I don't mean it that way. But the idea Joe Williams expressed that maybe columnists should be laid off to protect more, but lower-paying positions means nothing to me in my new identity as a newspaper customer.
A newspaper is not the WPA. It's role in the economy is not to create jobs. It is a product I consume. When two of the people I most enjoy reading are let go to save the newspaper money, I consider saving my own money by not buying the paper anymore.
People in Long Island are not any stupider than people anywhere else. Surely all the sports fans who read Newsday know the Dolans turn what they touch to shit. Now here's proof the same is true for the paper.
Circulation and advertising will continue to fall. And eventually Newsday will become what Dolan wants-a shopper. And the jobs there will be gone anyway.
Anyone left at Newsday has my deepest sympathy. They are doomed.

 

Mostly, Michael, I was saying it's easier on the beancounters themselves to lay off three people and get $500K off the books than it is to dump six people to achieve the same savings. We're talking, after all, about suits who don't differentiate between scribblers. At best, they figure that the same monetary savings by dumping three still leaves three people to continue producing copy -- copy being all those words that sit atop and around the much-desired, revenue-generating ads!

Also, regarding readers, you know that good columnists often make nearly as many enemies as allies. So there's a segment of a paper's audience that is glad to no longer see a columnist's mug. And while you might consume the paper for two or three particular columnists' opinion and art, others buy it for the football reporting. Others buy it for the movie listings. Others buy it because they care about city hall. Others, for Washington news. Any of them can make a case that what they like to read in their paper is the most important thing. Most of us here understand the value of good, meaty columns, but they're not all-important relative to other content's unimportant. And at what price?

This is a high-profile bloodletting and the latest incident of tone-deafness from the glass offices. But it's not the first and it's not the last. It is, I'll suggest, a clear message to all of us not unlike the lasting JFK lesson: If someone wants to nail you badly enough, it doesn't matter who you are, they can get you.

 

Joe, I agree with your perception of the audience. Every person reads the paper in a different order. That's why ALL cuts lose readers. Cancel the bridge column, and somebody gets mad.
But chopping off the highest-profile part of the sports section, the people who yesterday you promoted (if only through their placement in the section) as the number one reason you should read that section, is a statement any reader can understand. Newsday doesn't give a rat's ass about its sports section anymore. It will give the reader as little as it thinks it can get away with.
So fuck 'em. I'd stop buying it. That statement is also telling the reader that the paper doesn't think said reader is very bright.

PS: Columnists are, from time to time, SUPPOSED to piss people off. It shouldn't be one's only pitch, like Marriotti, but it's a pitch you should be able to throw for a strike when needed.

 

I have worked at more than one shop where they explicitly didn't want anyone pissing off anyone (writers--->readers). They revealed themselves in dozens of other ways as really rotten places to commit journalism.

I agree that the Chicago paper that touted Mariotti for 17 years and then, noticing an increasing lightness in its wallet, abruptly dropped him and touted his departure as the NEW reason to buy is even worse than the Chicago paper that soon will add his divisive, selfish ass to its pages.

 

I kind of regret my post, but I really figured somebody who knows the whole Newsday situation would chime in by now. The person who gave me the information certainly knows his stuff, so not sure what the deal is. But as to specifics, I think I'm going to have to continue to just leave it alone. I don't want to be wrong. In any case, best to all concerned.

 

I just want to reiterate that it's my understanding those who had the "sports columnist" position could be offered other positions at Newsday in the sports department, at a much lower pay scale. So they might very well stay on and take a pay cut.

 

Today's NY Post says the same thing, according to an unnamed source. But it only mentions Ken Davidoff, the third columnist who got the boot, as being likely to stay on at lower pay. Doesn't say anything about whether Johnette and Shaun were offered that opportunity, or if they're likely to take it if they were.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12062008/business/newsday_lays_off_100_staffers__hikes_pri_142878.htm

 

Big fan of Howard here. I always thought Newsday was a little beneath her anyway. I'd love to see ESPN pick her up.

 

Jesus, they laid off Davidoff?

That's just fucking brilliant, laying off the baseball columnist in NY. Lord in heaven.