NYT's David Carr rips Tribune execs

I especially found it quite interesting in the article that the Tribune handbook was changed to say that there would be certain inappropriate words spoken from now on, and that it should not be considered harrassment.

Shows how stupid Tribune is. Just because it's in the employee handbook doesn't make it above the law.

 

Actually, I am sure it would be a great benefit to anyone considering a harassment suit.

 

No fireworks. The basic disagreement between the dinosar (me) and the current ex-eds was on the dumbing-down (read: emasculation) of newspapers. I insisted it had happened across the board, starting with USA Today and reaching even to The Washington Post. The Tribune and Sun-Times editors cited examples of "great work" their papers are doing while also saying it was not time to look back fondly on what they see as over-romanticized eras but time to look forward to creating news organizations that give their readers/users a guide that helps them through their busy lives....
To be fair, both Jerry Kern at the Tribune and Don Hayner at the Sun-Times are in no-win positions. They moved into the top jobs when their newspapers had already been sucked into the industry's black hole of layoffs, buyouts, cutbacks, and four-limb amputations. They're as bewildered by what's next as all of us are.

 

Who knew that Tribune Co.'s old Times Mirror papers, the Mark Willes era would be the good ol' days?

 

That's when I left...right after Willes started (well, a few months). Little did I know what was to come.

 

i just read this article.

if it weren't for the thousands of jobs affected since zell took over and in the next couple of years as the company continues its downward spiral, this situation would be laugh-out-loud-hilarious. it's a premise for a bad sit-com.

unfortunately, real people are suffering, and will continue to suffer so i don't find it the slightest bit funny. i left the media biz a while ago but have two close friends at a trib property who are surely doomed.

 

Am I really the only one who is going to criticize the NYT for this article?

I know you all enjoyed seeing the Trib get trashed, but it's no excuse for the Times to abandon its own journalistic standards.

 

The Times seems to abandon it's owns standards quite regularly. Why get worked up about it?

 

49ers fans weigh in on the debate.

 

This has been a major topic of conversation in the world of employment law since the story came out. I draft policies like this and think that this one is just moronic. It is one thing to say that you work in a pressure filled environment where language or comments may at times cross the line, but we don't condone them. It's another to say that you're signing a get out of sexual harassment free card.

The counter is the Hooters waitress issue. You work at the job with that outfit, you know that you are going to get ogled and almost certainly hit on by men. It's part of the gig. Isn't it better to get it in writing so that there is no confusion later.

 

Really, how stupid, and how much of an embarrassment, can these guys be? This comes just days after the NYT article...

http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/10/tribune-co-executive-sends-offensive-memo.html

Honestly, it enrages me that these people are in charge, and practically the only ones not only surviving, but thriving, at these papers.

I guess this is part of what happens when you have non-journalists at the top. It is truly incredible.

I hope Tribune Editor Gerould Kern survives his complaint to HR, though.

 

From the linked article:

" Michaels sought to discredit the New York Times story with a preemptive note on Oct. 5 telling Tribune Co. employees to “ignore the noise” in anticipation the Times would “apparently paint the work environment at Tribune as hostile, sexist and otherwise inappropriate.”

Citing the company’s employee handbook and harassment policy, Michaels wrote “it is our intention to create a fun, non-linear creative environment” and “our culture is NOT about being offensive or hurtful.” "

In other words, more fucktardity, which just proved my earlier point. It's all nice to cite the employee handbook in trying to claim that what you're doing is fine and dandy.

But don't these corporate jackasses realize that just because it's in the manual doesn't mean that it suddenly is now okay to do what you want?

Utter stupidity.