Braublog
Pioneer Press lays off Twins reporter, five copy editors
By David Brauer | Published Tue, Jun 30 2009 12:42 pm
Filling in the blanks from this morning's report on PiPress layoffs, here are the details from editor Thom Fladung.
The best-known name is Twins reporter Phil Miller, who is being canned mid-season. Miller and fellow Twins scribe Kelsie Smith are the bottom two reporters, seniority-wise.
But the copy desk was slammed, with five of the nine cuts coming from that area. How many copy editors are even left?
As Fladung notes, "We are going to look to accelerate the integration of our copy desks, which we began several months ago with the sharing of more tasks between the hub and sports copy desk."
Here's the list, which doesn't include product planner Andrew Schaefer, the lone non-newsroom layoff:
Fellow staffers:
I am very sorry to announce that today we laid off nine newsroom colleagues, including:
--- Page designer Dana Albrecht
--- Copy editor Trish Collopy
--- Copy editor Sara Connolly
--- Copy editor Emily King
--- Sports reporter Phil Miller
--- Copy editor Andrew Pritchard
--- Photographer Brandi Thomas
--- Copy editor Jennifer Westpfahl
---- Page designer Amanda Willis
The layoffs are to deal with the challenges we face in this continuingly difficult economy and amid unprecendented change for our industry.
In that, we certainly are not alone in the newspaper world.
That's the reality. But I realize it's little solace. The layoffs bring new challenges to our newsroom. These people are more than just a list of names in an e-mail. They are a talented and productive collection of journalists whose work here included designing dynamic pages, producing memorable photos and videos, covering one of our highest-profile beats in the Twins, writing vibrant headlines and saving us from ourselves by asking good questions and catching and correcting numerous errors of fact and nuance.
We will miss them.
This week, faced with the additional challenge of the holiday, we will be scrambling to fill holes. Going forward, we are going to look to accelerate the integration of our copy desks, which we began several months ago with the sharing of more tasks between the hub and sports copy desk. We also will be going to a more universal approach, with more shared work, with our page designers. And we will continue to look for tasks and work that can be eliminated or streamlined without badly damaging our newspaper, online sites and niche magazines.
Your ideas for that and any other ways we can do our jobs better are most welcome. And as always, I am here for questions. Thom
Pioneer Press lays off Twins reporter, five copy editors
By David Brauer | Published Tue, Jun 30 2009 12:42 pm
Filling in the blanks from this morning's report on PiPress layoffs, here are the details from editor Thom Fladung.
The best-known name is Twins reporter Phil Miller, who is being canned mid-season. Miller and fellow Twins scribe Kelsie Smith are the bottom two reporters, seniority-wise.
But the copy desk was slammed, with five of the nine cuts coming from that area. How many copy editors are even left?
As Fladung notes, "We are going to look to accelerate the integration of our copy desks, which we began several months ago with the sharing of more tasks between the hub and sports copy desk."
Here's the list, which doesn't include product planner Andrew Schaefer, the lone non-newsroom layoff:
Fellow staffers:
I am very sorry to announce that today we laid off nine newsroom colleagues, including:
--- Page designer Dana Albrecht
--- Copy editor Trish Collopy
--- Copy editor Sara Connolly
--- Copy editor Emily King
--- Sports reporter Phil Miller
--- Copy editor Andrew Pritchard
--- Photographer Brandi Thomas
--- Copy editor Jennifer Westpfahl
---- Page designer Amanda Willis
The layoffs are to deal with the challenges we face in this continuingly difficult economy and amid unprecendented change for our industry.
In that, we certainly are not alone in the newspaper world.
That's the reality. But I realize it's little solace. The layoffs bring new challenges to our newsroom. These people are more than just a list of names in an e-mail. They are a talented and productive collection of journalists whose work here included designing dynamic pages, producing memorable photos and videos, covering one of our highest-profile beats in the Twins, writing vibrant headlines and saving us from ourselves by asking good questions and catching and correcting numerous errors of fact and nuance.
We will miss them.
This week, faced with the additional challenge of the holiday, we will be scrambling to fill holes. Going forward, we are going to look to accelerate the integration of our copy desks, which we began several months ago with the sharing of more tasks between the hub and sports copy desk. We also will be going to a more universal approach, with more shared work, with our page designers. And we will continue to look for tasks and work that can be eliminated or streamlined without badly damaging our newspaper, online sites and niche magazines.
Your ideas for that and any other ways we can do our jobs better are most welcome. And as always, I am here for questions. Thom
