Belo's 500 "RIF"

[SockPuppet]

The good news: You've still got a job.
The bad news: You have to pay for parking and (partially pay) for wireless.

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2009/01/30/breaking-ah-belo-to-cut-500-jobs/#more-18352

 

[Armchair_QB]

So let me get this straight, they're forcing writers to PAY for ****ing internet service in order to do their jobs?

Somebody kick this asshole's teeth in.

 

[lone star scribe]

Go easy on Bobbi. This plan just earned him another bonus.

 

[derwood]

They paid Bain millions to come up with this crap. Brilliant!

 

[txsportsscribe]

laying off 500 more people and charging those left with jobs $40 a month to park in the dmn parking lot and for wireless connections? freakin unbelievable, even for belo. loks like that weekly thing may be closer to reality than we thought.

 

[lone star scribe]

They could make more money by renting laptops and PCs to writers and copy editors.

 

[Stitch]

Just turn everyone's desk into an executive office where you pay a few hundred a month for a desk and a phone.

 

[SockPuppet]

Next round of Belo cost-cutting initiatives:

Charge reporters/editors for:

Electricity: $5 for every hour in the office.
Water: $2.50 for each visit to water fountain, $5 for each toilet flush.
Personal hygene: $.05 for each panel of toilet paper.
Computer/interment usage/upkeep: $25 for each hour of work; $2.50 for each e-mail.
Telephones/communication: $1 for each minute of office phone usage.

 

[imjustagirl]

Did I misread? The $35 is a payment TO the employees for wireless. So yeah, I guess they're still paying some, but who knows how much the charge is?

The first is a revision to the wireless device policy which establishes a new single monthly reimbursement for designated employees of $35 per month, which is substantially below previous levels.

 

[txsportsscribe]

Next round of Belo cost-cutting initiatives:

Charge reporters/editors for:

Electricity: $5 for every hour in the office.
Water: $2.50 for each visit to water fountain, $5 for each toilet flush.
Personal hygene: $.05 for each panel of toilet paper.
Computer/interment usage/upkeep: $25 for each hour of work; $2.50 for each e-mail.
Telephones/communication: $1 for each minute of office phone usage.

guilty bystander?

 

[txsportsscribe]

and just so nobody overlooks or forgets this little bit of info: Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and chief executive of A. H. Belo, recently received a raise of 140 percent.

 

[JakeandElwood]

and just so nobody overlooks or forgets this little bit of info: Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and chief executive of A. H. Belo, recently received a raise of 140 percent.

So they're laying people off and this asshole is making almost 2.5 times what he was before? I would love to see anyone defend that.

 

[DanOregon]

No doubt every reporter is required to have a car, so you're paying to work there. Nice.

 

[imjustagirl]

Um, do papers NOT charge their employees for parking? I paid $20 a month to park in the garage in Richmond.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

I was going to say that if the office is in the middle of downtown, that it surprises the hell out of me that they haven't started charging for parking yet.
Every one of my friends (non-journalism) that works downtown takes public transportation to work, because it costs $40/day to park in a garage.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Um, do papers NOT charge their employees for parking? I paid $20 a month to park in the garage in Richmond.

Every paper I've worked at had their own parking lot, where employees parked for free.

 

[silvercharm]

So let me get this straight, they're forcing writers to PAY for ****ing internet service in order to do their jobs?

Somebody kick this asshole's teeth in.

That's not quite how I read it. They're reducing the compensation for wireless card devices. They're nice, and for some reporters, I suppose they're necessary. But with the proliferation of free wireless in this country, it's not a impossible obstacle to get around. And hardly every newspaper in the country pays for them. When I had one a year ago on a major beat, most of my competitors didn't have a card, and many worked for large metros.
As for parking, I don't know where the DMN is located. If it's in downtown Dallas, I don't have a problem with people having to pay to park. It's a fact of life working in a downtown business. I've worked before at a downtown newspaper, and my wife has worked in a downtown business, and neither compensated us to park. Some do, some don't, but it's not mandatory. Belo is saying this is a perk we can no longer afford. Now, if the DMN is located in an area where most of the parking is free, that's another matter.

 

[txsportsscribe]

$35 isn't going to cover the cost of a wireless card's monthly fee so yes, they are having to pay for wireless. as for parking, the parking lot is on dmn/wfaa's property so it's ridiculous to make employees pay to park there. i can see making them pay for a parking garage but not a parking lot on company property, especially when the big boss just got a 140 percent raise.

 

[imjustagirl]

$35 isn't going to cover the cost of a wireless card's monthly fee so yes, they are having to pay for wireless.

My old paper not only didn't pay people back for wireless cards, but we only had 1-2 for teh whole newsroom. You signed it out, took it on an assignment, then turned it back in. So there's your choice. You pay to use it (which some people at my paper did) or you find free wireless (which I did).

 

[Some Guy]

Our downtown office does not have its own parking lot or garage. You want to park, you have to contract with one of the pay lots around there at a monthly rate. Or feed the meter every couple of hours.

This isn't all that difficult on reporters. We don't need to be in the office all that much anyway. And it isn't a big deal for the night staff, copy editors and designers and whatnot ... the meters are all free after five.

I feel sorry for the folks who are required to be in the office during the day, every day. Their parking bill must suck.

As for wireless cards ... never had one .... never needed one. This is America. If I get in a pinch, I am always within two blocks of a Starbucks. Also, I have a pretty good mental database of all the hotels with free wireless I can pilfer from the parking lot or lobby.