USA Today Sports Blasted by Layoffs

Fran and Geddy -- Sadly, one person did get laid off from the USAT sports copy desk.

 

OK -- why have you lost almost all of your classified revenue?

Can you honestly tell me you think print revenue is in a mere dip right now rather than a decline?

I'm checking in on the copy desk. I had heard they would lose someone but didn't hear a name, then I heard they didn't lose anyone.

 

Craigslist lets people post ads for free. Can't compete with "free." That's nobody's fault and nobody's "lack of vision." And if you spread out the money craigslist makes from its paid job ads, it would equal about one full-time position for each daily newspaper.

Psssst. I didn't say the internet had no effect. Just that it didn't cause everything to crater.

Doubtful. But the economy pushed it off the cliff, and scum like Sam Zell and Randy Michaels took all the parachutes. Give today's print environment a 1996 economy, and I'll take my chances on making it to retirement age.

 

From a 15-year veteran.

 

I heard the news from people on the desk and the person who was laid off.

 

I didn't "say it was." I'm not playing the blame game here. My point is that classified revenue, which steered newspapers through the recession of the early '90s, isn't coming back.

Possibly. Again, I don't think print is dead. But how much advertising do you see in USA TODAY's Sports section every day?

 

About as much as I saw 25 years ago: None. Just open page after open page.

 

OK, I did hear of a copy desk layoff, though I can't give details for a couple of reasons. And it's a slimmer desk that it used to be because 1-2 guys have shifted to other duties, though as everything converges/reorganizes, it might not be an apples-to-apples comparison.

USA TODAY does have job openings, with some new jobs being created through reorganization.

 

It appears Mel Antonen landed with SI.com: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/mel_antonen/archive/

 

Good. They will need to speak up for him to hear them, but that's good.