Tribune hacks and slashes and gouges

Since my paternal grandmother and great aunt have both been ravaged by Alzheimer's, I read Isaacson's piece. Very, very moving.

Fuck you very much, Sam Zell. You, Bob Jelenic and Lean Dean Singleton all have spots reserved for you in Hell. May all of you burn well.

 

the reader updated again with these new sports names:

Kristin Morris, Assistant Design Editor, Sports
Thomas Carkeek, Associate Subject Editor, Sports
Bob Vanderberg, Assistant High School Sports Editor
Ed Cavanaugh, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports
Richard Rothschild, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports

 

So so so so awful. One of my good friends is on that list, and my heart breaks for her. We worked together at a previous stop and she is one of the most talented, energetic, young, smart and enthusiastic people I have ever known and ever worked with. I talked to her briefly today and she, surprisingly, is in a lot better shape than I thought she would be.

 

One of my bosses said this a while back: "When the knives come out, if you have 'assistant' in your title, look out."

Best wishes to those who were booted -- and to those who have to stay.

 

It's amazing, sometimes.

I once survived a round of cuts at my two jobs ago gig. I was one of three people who started the same day. Another guy was hired a few weeks later. One day, I get an e-mail from the owner of the company announcing that several people were laid off: The two people who started the same day I did, the guy who started a few weeks later, and a guy from I.T.

I remember being scared shitless when I read that e-mail knowing I could have been there too. A few minutes later, one of the people who got whacked came to my office to say goodbye. She was a real sweetheart.

I later found out how close I came to being whacked that day. Turned out the VP in charge of the IT department sacrificed his guy because he noticed me busting my ass at my job. It didn't make that day any easier, but I'm now acquainted with survivor's guilt.

 

Good God.

 

The assistants in the Tribune's case are not managers. They're the equivalent of senior copy editors at most other papers. I count nine people losing their jobs in the sports department. And Chicago is sending off its pages, including the baseball page, to other Tribune papers. So much for job security there with added work.

Note among the top senior managers reorganizing the Tribune included Jocelyn Winnecke, the one who wrotewith her daughter a piece on looking at $750,000 condo.

 

No, not Bob. :'(

 

Here is the full in-house memo on this:

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/04/tribune_seeks_court_ok_to.php#more

The two graphs that strike me:

Another motion seeks approval to make incentive payments of approximately $13 million to approximately 700 individuals across the company for their work in 2008. This is consistent with the company’s long-standing practice of recognizing managers, directors and others for their work during the preceding year. These incentive payments are also an important component of the compensation earned annually by these individuals in the normal course of business.

and:

As the motion states, we think these payments are “…necessary to reward the participants for their extraordinary contributions during an exceptionally difficult year, including implementation of strategic initiatives in 2008 that are expected to generate approximately $425 million in incremental annualized cash flow and the consummation of transactions generating over $1 billion in proceeds.” Without these actions, and the leadership of the people covered by the motion, we would not be able to collectively transform the company as quickly as we must given the challenging economic conditions our businesses operate in today.

It's not exactly the same scenario, and there were other, possibly government-related issues involved then, but am I the only one to whom these words sound an awful lot like the ones coming out of AIG only just about a month ago?

And, I'm re-posting the Chicago Reader blog item that started this thread here (so people don't have to go back to the beginning to look).

http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2009/04/22/53-out-tribune-victims-changing-priorities/

Did anyone else notice that eighth reader comment?

SamZell
April 22nd - 1:19 p.m.
"you'll miss them when the survivors have to double their workload."

Holy crap! You mean people will have to spend at least half their shift working instead of screwing around? How cruel.

Sure, it could be just a user name, with no way of necessarily knowing for certain who's behind it from here, but I wouldn't be surprised if...

 

Had a really busy night here at the shop, so I hadn't checked AP or SI.com at all.

Then after deadline, I saw this.

I know many others on this site have gone through this, and some great papers which have served their communities for so many years (the Rocky, Seattle P-I) have closed down and/or scrapped their print product. I felt bad for them, but this one hits harder for me personally.

As others have said, the Trib is the paper I grew up reading. When I became interested in this business in college, it's the paper I dreamed about working for someday. The gold standard of the Midwest, I always believed.

To see names of people I've actually met -- let alone read for years -- is shocking, because I know how hard they work and how talented they are. Many already have mentioned talented folks in sports like Melissa Isaacson, "Sako," John Mullin, Terry Bannon.

Another guy I had the privilege to meet: photographer Charles Cherney, a great shooter who once took time to chat with an absolute greenhorn at a holiday basketball tournament. I remember thinking: this guy's shot Super Bowls, NBA championships, and here he is busting his ass at a prep game, trying to get as many good photos as he could before his deadline (this was back in the days of film). It made an impression.

To everyone who has achieved and accomplished so much in this business -- both at the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere -- only to have the rug pulled out from them, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

I'm just asking here, since I don't know any of the inside people and only know a couple of the writers from sports from afar. But based on the, you know, seniority (i.e., age) of Mullin, Bannon, Sakamoto and Isaacson, was there a pattern to the layoffs? I'm thinking they're all north of 40, right? That's the age at which you're supposed to be eligible for federal protection from age discrimination, isn't it?

Haven't heard of many youngsters being dumped by the Tribune, but then, maybe they don't have many in the first place. It being a destination paper and all (used to be, anyway).

 

I'll add to this list too.