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Now Belo gets out the ax

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by OTD, Jul 28, 2008.

  1. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    Voluntary Severance Program Is Completed

    DALLAS, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) said today that the voluntary severance offer (VSO) extended to the Company's newspaper employees in July has been completed. Overall, 413 employees will leave the company under the VSO -- 270 at The Dallas Morning News, 23 at The Providence Journal, and 120 at The Press-Enterprise. The total cost of the VSO is approximately $11.2 million, the majority of which will be expensed in the third quarter.

    In addition, an involuntary reduction in force will be completed by mid-to-late October to achieve the necessary remaining workforce reductions. The expense related to the reduction in force is estimated at $2.4 million and will be recorded in the fourth quarter. The reduction in force is limited to the news, production, customer retention call center, and Al Dia departments at The Dallas Morning News; the news, consumer sales, packaging and production departments (excluding pressroom) at The Press-Enterprise; and, the news, editorial, advertising and promotion departments, subject to contractual obligations, at The Providence Journal.

    The combined workforce reductions are expected to result in a savings of more than $29 million on an annualized basis.

    Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer, said, "These job actions are part of a restructuring of our newspaper operations that accelerates the allocation of resources to promising new print and online products while focusing our workforce on A. H. Belo's local content creation and sales capabilities. We greatly appreciate the dedication and service of all A. H. Belo employees who are leaving the Company under the voluntary severance program. I'm confident that we're taking the right steps to realign our resources to meet consumer and advertiser needs while maintaining the exceptional quality of A. H. Belo's journalistic products."
     
  2. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Belo also laid off Macie Jepson at Channel 8.
     
  3. A Web site covering the DMN buyouts lists 17 people leaving the Belo Death Star. Includes 4 in sports, the most senior being ASE Jeff Miller. The others are designer Jason Dugger and designer/copy editors Joel Moore and Jon Eckberg.

    No word yet on whether layoffs will follow.

    Here's the link:

    http://newsbuyout2008.blogspot.com/2008/09/sad-day-upon-us.html
     
  4. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    17 is just the number of people who were ok with their names being put out on that site.
     
  5. Dugger did a fantastic job for the DMN. Don't know him personally, but have always admired his work.

    Erich Schlegel is a helluva photographer, too. It's a shame what's happened to that newspaper. It was always my dream to work for the DMN. Not so sure about that anymore.
     
  6. jps

    jps Active Member

    layoffs are happening I believe.

    iirc, within a week or so it'll start.

    Schlegel is good, and Leeson was a name I was surprised to see. pretty sure several years ago the guy won the pulitzer for his work in iraq.
     
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