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Sun-Sentinel cuts coming soon

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Mizzougrad96, Jul 9, 2008.

  1. Desk_dude

    Desk_dude Member

    Bricker lives in Tampa, about 250 miles away.
     
  2. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    I hate to see anyone laid off or forced out, but living 250 miles away, unless that is part of your assignment, puts you in a vulnerable position even in the best of times.
     
  3. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Sadly, I couldn't help but think that would be an issue as well.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I could be wrong, but I believe he volunteered. Set off some red flags with HR (which is antsy about age-discrimination suits). But he's over 60, his wife is a judge. He'll be fine. He's had a good gig for awhile, but he earned it. In his situation, there is no reason to subject yourself to the misery of that Dolphins beat.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Are they done? I really hope they are, but since I've yet to see anyone who was let go against their will, I fear another round is coming.
     
  6. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Can we just all agree that, at this point, there is no such thing as "voluntary?" Even if someone leaves via buyout, the odds are very good that they have been nudged out the door with hints that their role might be changed. Or they have been intimidated out the door with the second shoe of layoffs about to drop. Or -- and this is increasingly the case -- they never would have considered walking away from a career they loved, even one day before their official retirement, if the climate and the work conditions hadn't gotten so damn gloomy and hostile and demoralizing.

    NOBODY volunteered to have the working atmosphere go to hell the way it has, so let's set aside this notion that newsroom people are departing voluntarily. I don't see many who are happily grabbing a buyout check and starting some peachy-keen Web site with dollar signs in their eyes, as might have happened in the dot.com boom. The job market sucks, the economy is in the tank and you're competing for work with thousands of other displaced journalists, driving down the market value of all.

    It's just that, for those who put their name on a buyout list, that is a preferable existence to toiling with little job security or satisfaction in a field that used to be, and used to offer, so much more.
     
  7. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Since the money was the same whether you took a buyout or were let go, I'm sure you are seeing more things called "buyout" than was actually the case. And since the list on the blog only shows about 35 . . . there are about 20 or so as yet unknown. That's not "another round" . . . just the same round with more confirmations.
     
  8. STLIrish

    STLIrish Active Member

    I don't know.
    When my paper did buyouts about a year ago, there were people literally rejoicing at the opportunity. And most of the bought-out I'm still in touch with seem happier now and found something useful to do, usually not in daily print journalism. Meanwhile, those who could have gone, but stayed (and there were plenty, some of whom still don't do a heck of a lot, which leads me to think 'nudging' was minimal), actively look forward to the next round.
    Now, is that because the job just isn't what it used to be? Probably. And I guess you could say that makes them involuntary. I.e. they didn't volunteer to work at a paper that's a shell of what they remember.
    But, as a not-quite-30-year-old who's low on the seniority list and doesn't pine for those days of past glory, I'd much rather see my older colleagues leave by choice with a hefty check than get pushed out the door before I'm ready with two weeks of severance and a COBRA plan.
    I guess it depends where you sit. But to me there's a big difference between voluntary buyout and involuntary layoff.
     
  9. Montezuma's Revenge

    Montezuma's Revenge Active Member

    It's leaving mostly by necessity and not choice, StLIrish.

    And those "hefty" checks are usually fool's gold -- really that much money, if you use your brain.

    The only way they qualify as hefty is if you're getting bought out at the same time you already have another job lined up.
     
  10. Desk_dude

    Desk_dude Member

    It looks like there were about 35 "voluntary," 15 involuntary and around five people who quit right before the "voluntary" window opened.
    With the package the same, the higher number of "voluntary" ones meant the top bosses didn't need to call someone in an office and tell them they had to leave immediately. The voluntary ones stay until Thursday.
    Lots of other juggling going on in the newsroom, considering it's about one-fifth less after these cutbacks and one-third less than a couple years ago.
     
  11. STLIrish

    STLIrish Active Member

    OK, "hefty" may have been an overstatement. But many buyouts have been a year's pay for a 26-year-vet. That's not nothing, even after taxes.
    It's a hell of a lot more than I'll get if I'm laid off. And if it comes to layoffs, I'm near the top of the list, the downside of a union shop where layoffs are determined by seniority.
    These are the rules, and I'm fine with them. But don't pretend that buyouts are equal to layoffs, which is what Joe seemed to be suggesting. They're not.
     
  12. fleaflicker

    fleaflicker Member

     
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