KC Star layoffs?

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Rumor out of KC is that the Star laid off 40-plus people yesterday.
Anyone know anything? Any in sports?

 

[Moderator1]

Jesus.
All of us who have a job by next Friday meet at a restaurant in Tahoe. I'll book a room for 20.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Like I said, this is just something I heard from someone I trust.
Please let him be wrong.

 

[Moderator1]

24. And they were, uh, voluntary.

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/446188.html

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Ugh.

 

[wickedwritah]

Interesting reader comment at the bottom of the story:

"xxxTully declined to say how much The Star would save, but he said the program was The Star?s initiative and not mandated by its parent company, the McClatchy Co. of Sacramento, Calif.xxx
You think your readers believe this? No wonder revenue is collapsing and your circulation has imploded."

Even they see through the BS.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Yeah, what wick said.

Star publisher Mac Tully declined to break down the departures by department, other than saying that six persons in the newsroom accepted the offer. The six included two copy editors.

Does the SportsJournalists.com Intelligence Agency have any info on who bailed out of the sinking ship this week?

 

[Moderator1]

The Pipeline has been quiet, though it has never had a strong KC connection.

 

[Jeremy Goodwin]

Under the program, which was announced in November, employees with 20 years of uninterrupted service were eligible to leave with 20 weeks of pay. The program was limited to fewer than 4 percent of The Star’s employees and did not have a minimum job reduction target.

Star publisher Mac Tully declined to break down the departures by department, other than saying that six persons in the newsroom accepted the offer. The six included two copy editors.

So Tully wouldn't break it down by department, but would say 2 were copy eds? odd.

I think might have had a thread in November about the announcement, or maybe I saw it on Romenesko.

 

[In Cold Blood]

will there be any jobs left in five years?

 

[Jeremy Goodwin]

Thread announcing this topic.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/49921/

 

[STLIrish]

Not to minimize this, and it sucks any time something like this happens, but all things considered, six newsroom buyouts doesn't seem so bad these days.
I can only think of a handful of papers its size that haven't gone through at least that in the last few years. Most publicly-traded metros have been hit a lot harder.
Granted, this says a lot about the industry, but maybe I'm just desensitized at this point.

 

[wickedwritah]

Not to minimize this, and it sucks any time something like this happens, but all things considered, six newsroom buyouts doesn't seem so bad these days.
I can only think of a handful of papers its size that haven't gone through at least that in the last few years. Most publicly-traded metros have been hit a lot harder.
Granted, this says a lot about the industry, but maybe I'm just desensitized at this point.

Per the linked story: The Star has gone from employing 1,800 to 1,300 in recent years.

They took some big hits in 2001 thanks to K-R.

They may be making out better than most, but still, it's no picnic there.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Well, they had to pay for that beautiful building somehow.
Seriously, for newspaper junkies, it's comparable to a blackjack player seeing the Bellagio for the first time.

 

[slappy4428]

Well, they had to pay for that beautiful building somehow.
Seriously, for newspaper junkies, it's comparable to a blackjack player seeing the Bellagio for the first time.

And since the house always wins, you get ****ed by those running the show eventually too?

 

[Ace]

Well, they had to pay for that beautiful building somehow.
Seriously, for newspaper junkies, it's comparable to a blackjack player seeing the Bellagio for the first time.

And staying in this business is like hitting on 16.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Well, they had to pay for that beautiful building somehow.
Seriously, for newspaper junkies, it's comparable to a blackjack player seeing the Bellagio for the first time.

And staying in this business is like hitting on 16.

Against a 6.

 

[Ace]

Well, they had to pay for that beautiful building somehow.
Seriously, for newspaper junkies, it's comparable to a blackjack player seeing the Bellagio for the first time.

And staying in this business is like hitting on 16.

Against a 6.

Eggzactly.

 

[FreddiePatek]

Yahtzee!