Sarasota, again

A friend who works there says "A lot of good people" got cut today. Hope to get some details later on tonight.

 

40 jobs cut, seven of them vacant positions. Those being dismissed will remain on the payroll for 45 days, with flexibility on how long they can work.

I'm told that for at least one group, a group meeting preceded the paper-wide meeting. Those attending were tapped on the shoulder and told to go to one room or the other. I think there was a group that did that sort of thing in the 40s.

OK, OK. That was too much. But still.

Sarasota's an NYT regional paper, for those keeping score. Wonder if others will follow.

Edit to add link: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080806/ARTICLE/808060338/2107/BUSINESS&title=Herald_Tribune_reduces_its_staff

 

Damn...

 

Talk about burying the lede ...

All hail the almighty profit margin.

deskslave, a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have believed that story. Now, I'm not sure it even surprises me. Good luck to everyone affected ...

 

Names?

The rumor mill says Gainesville is next.

 

Pseudo: Again, not to excuse the way many of these things have been done, or years long mismanagement that led to this point, but newspapers ARE allowed to make some kind of profit. That's how they stay in business. The fact that she's citing this as unusual is the eye-opener.

The quarrel hasn't been with newspapers having a profit margin; it has been the size of that margin that has been the problem.

 

Nowhere have I seen the list of those who were cut.

 

I'm wondering if all these losses are real or whether the figures include massive depreciation writeoffs, etc. There was a good book about the Detroit papers' application for JOA approval -- the title was a pun: "Paper Losses."

 

Lakeland will probably be next in line.

 

Who was cut?
What was the package?

 

Charles Apple is reporting that a designer was laid off after less than four months.

http://www.visualeditors.com/apple

 

What the effin eff? That's just brutal.