Bay Area bloodbath

[MMatt60]

by the way, new bosses in San Jose are not too interested in "reimagining" much, as Ms. Hutton learned.

 

[Babyjay]

It was hateful and ridiculous enough when I thought it was limited to the management/non-management divide at the Mercury News. Now I see that companywide, every worker bee who isn't in a Guild -- the other shops aren't unionized -- gets a chance for some small silver lining.

I don't know if union employees robbed his mother's purse on the picket line or what, but my God does that guy harbor an irrational hatred for organized labor.

OK, so maybe he's an ass who hates unions (I know nothing of the man). But shouldn't a little anger be directed at the unions who agreed to that deal?

 

[VJ]

Who needs to reimagine when you can just cut the workforce and size of the paper in half? Surely that will bring advertisers back!

 

[fishwrapper]

Babyjay, why don't you read the Lean Dean thread.
Educate yourself before you post on a thread where hundreds/(thousands with families) of lives are about to change.

 

[Babyjay]

The guy's evil incarnate, I get it. Still, the union agreed to a crappy deal. How can you be surprised that a crappy deal is what they get?

 

[steveu]

No surprise that the leaner and meaner Merc didn't work, perhaps because people would like a little news with their paper (not to mention pages).

When I was out in SF in mid 2004, this market was a fantastic one for newspapers. God, has it declined in the last four years.

 

[Angola!]

what does the oc register have to do with lean dean?

 

[MileHigh]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/1661304/

 

[Angola!]

i'm assuming that's the lean dean thread?

 

[juno05]

My fiancee and I have tried to find out whether it's just the big papers in BANG or if it goes out to every single paper, including the small ones in the I-80 Group. We've been out of luck though — anyone able to help out?

 

[MileHigh]

It's all of them in the Bay Area.

 

[juno05]

It's all of them in the Bay Area.

Just to clarify: I'm wondering if it includes Vallejo, Vacaville and Woodland. Some folks consider those three to count in the Bay Area group for the sake of convenience, so it's hard to say. I'll be asking my boss tomorrow, regardless, but it'd be nice to approach him knowing already.

 

[Write-brained]

i'm assuming that's the lean dean thread?

Love how you have enough energy to write this but not click the link ... :P

 

[Angola!]

wb, i can't click links on my phone.

 

[Write-brained]

wb, i can't click links on my phone.

Oh. You shouldn't have told me that. I thought it added to your character ;)

 

[dragonfly]

I've actually gotten pretty good at predicting when the next round of layoffs is coming. Basically, Dean has bought a tremendous amount of papers on credit. He has like no equity in these places. But get the financing from banks or sometimes even their previous owner who is just happy to get rid of them.

He buys something worth, let's say 500x for 400x, but only puts like 25x down.

Then he immediately slashes operating costs by 20-30 percent (through consolidation, layoffs, moving up deadlines, etc.), so he can claim a profit. If that doesn't work, then he comes with deep, deep layoffs throughout the chain.

The chain reaction is becoming predictable. Any time I read he's bought another paper, with money he doesn't have, I know another round of layoffs is comign to my shop.

The sad part is, I've been told that my shop turns a profit. It's just not enough to offset his debt from the other papers he's bought.

 

[deskslave]

I've actually gotten pretty good at predicting when the next round of layoffs is coming.

Oh come on, you could say "this week" and be right at least one out of three times.

 

[MMatt60]

Watch for more physical consolidation of Bay Area papers. For example, there has been talk of the San Mateo Times moving into the Mercury News building. (Sure, it makes no sense geographically, but it does in terms of saving $$$)

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

Update:

http://www.kcbs.com/CoCo-Times-Reporters-Try-To-Unionise/2118297

Posted: Friday, 02 May 2008 3:23PM

CoCo Times Reporters Try To Unionise


CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KCBS) -- Reporters at the Contra Costa Times said Friday they've sent a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to start the unionisation process following a recent round of job cuts.
Both the Times and the Oakland Tribune would fall under a newspaper guild.

The reporters believe a union may prevent further cutbacks at the papers.

"Given the condition of the industry and the condition of our company as of late, we think this is the best way to make sure that journalists want to stay at our newspapers and that a quality product is put out to the public," said Times reporter Karl Fischer.

Times Vice President Kevin Keane said the company is hoping employees will do the right thing and reject a union if the NLRB certifies the petition to organize.

 

[Write-brained]

Update:

http://www.kcbs.com/CoCo-Times-Reporters-Try-To-Unionise/2118297

Posted: Friday, 02 May 2008 3:23PM

CoCo Times Reporters Try To Unionise


CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KCBS) -- Reporters at the Contra Costa Times said Friday they've sent a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to start the unionisation process following a recent round of job cuts.
Both the Times and the Oakland Tribune would fall under a newspaper guild.

The reporters believe a union may prevent further cutbacks at the papers.

"Given the condition of the industry and the condition of our company as of late, we think this is the best way to make sure that journalists want to stay at our newspapers and that a quality product is put out to the public," said Times reporter Karl Fischer.

Times Vice President Kevin Keane said the company is hoping employees will do the right thing and reject a union if the NLRB certifies the petition to organize.

Either that or they'll all get fired. Desperate times yada yada yada ...