Cleveland update

[Moderator1]

From The Pipeline:

The Plain Dealer is now raising the number of newsroom layoffs from 38 to 50 or 51. I learned that from a PD reporter last night who got the memo yesterday. Supposedly only 10-15 of the 50 will come from metro. The rest will be sports, lifestyle, opinion, etc. Sports, particularly the prep staff, is going to be hit hard, according to multiple members of the department.

 

[prezclinton]

****. Dunno what that paper is doing wrong. The online coverage is pretty good and its trio of beat writers is one of the best as far as metros go.

 

[Walter Burns]

I wonder what's going to happen to their partnership with the OHSAA as a result of this.
And it's more than just scuttlebutt.
Via AP:

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Plain Dealer will cut more jobs by the end of the year because of the struggling economy.
Ohio’s largest newspaper reported Wednesday that it has increased cuts from 38 to 50 employees, or 21 percent of its unionized newsroom jobs. The paper earlier offered employee buyouts.
The newspaper will begin layoffs if 50 employees do not volunteer to leave.
The Plain Dealer announced the cuts last month, citing poor advertising revenue and a struggling newspaper industry.
There are 299 employees in the newsroom, 238 of them represented by the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild.
The Plain Dealer is owned by Advance Publications Inc. and has a daily circulation of about 345,000.

 

[Colton]

I know having talked to a couple of the prep guys, they are worried as hell.

Can't say I blame them.

Damn...

 

[Joe Williams]

****. Dunno what that paper is doing wrong. The online coverage is pretty good and its trio of beat writers is one of the best as far as metros go.

a. Online coverage doesn't pay. The ads bring in a pittance compared to print.
b. The difference between good beat writers and lousy beat writers, to a paper's bottom line, is nil. By the time you pay the good ones a little more than what lousy ones command, that probably erases what little added revenue they might generate.

oh, and:
c. Preps writers should be the last to go, not the next. Preps is hyper-local, isn't it?

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

oh, and:
c. Preps writers should be the last to go, not the next. Preps is hyper-local, isn't it?

Unless you are getting rid of the high school writers and demoting the pro and college writers.

 

[SportsGuyBCK]

oh, and:
c. Preps writers should be the last to go, not the next. Preps is hyper-local, isn't it?

Hey, college and pro players deserve coverage -- they work just as hard as high school players ...

Sorry, I couldn't resist ...

Unless you are getting rid of the high school writers and demoting the pro and college writers.

 

[sg86]

Most people these days just seem to be reading prep gamers because it's less complicated than a box for stats and scores.


I'd imagine they'd keep most of the pro and college writers where they are and operate with a couple preps and a plethora of stringers.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Someone at Crain's Cleveland Business up late getting the scoop. Or early!

http://crainscleveland.com/article/20081117/FREE/311179977/1025/TOC&Profile=1025

As another round of newsroom cuts nears at The Plain Dealer, friction is growing between management and union members over the company's approach to the impending job reductions.

Last week, the newspaper raised the number of jobs it plans to eliminate by the end of the year to 50 from 38. Unlike previous staff reductions, however, Plain Dealer leadership this time has not offered to extend health care benefits to those losing their jobs, a move Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild Local 1 sees as unfair.