Richmond, you're up.

[imjustagirl]

If a place is understaffed at 178 -- and now is going to at least 160 according to the moderator -- at what point do you decide to fold up shop?

The way I read Moddy (And I didn't know the staffing numbers) capacity is 178. So 40 below that is 138. They're losing, from what we're hearing, five people from the newsroom, to 133.

 

[Drip]

The 2 p.m. meeting was for those who got it with some vaseline
The 3 p.m. meeting was for those who got it bare and raw......
The 4 p.m. meeting was for those who didn't get it but will get it soon....

Not trying to be gross or raw but this is getting ridiculous.

If a place is understaffed at 178 -- and now is going to at least 160 according to the moderator -- at what point do you decide to fold up shop?

I mean, how many people can you reasonably expect to run a paper of that size with before it becomes an AP clipping service with a few local ads?

Zag, if there was a true answer to your question, a lot of people would be rich right now.

 

[Moderator1]

If a place is understaffed at 178 -- and now is going to at least 160 according to the moderator -- at what point do you decide to fold up shop?

The way I read Moddy (And I didn't know the staffing numbers) capacity is 178. So 40 below that is 138. They're losing, from what we're hearing, five people from the newsroom, to 133.

Correct. They have 178 slots, or did when I left. They were at 138 or so recently. The 18 is company wide, not out of the newsroom. Five there - three "staff" and two managers of some sort.

You are not correct.

When did something like this last occur at the T-D?

Right off the top of my head: 1992, 2006 (twice) and, in some parts of the operation, earlier in 2008.

 

[zagoshe]

Oh my God -- 133 -- Moddy -- you were there -- how many more can they realistically lose before they can't put out a legitimate product?

 

[93Devil]

A major city cannot have it's only newspaper fold shop.

I hope those people find a way to land on their feet.

What's also sad is I think my school district, which normally hires 250-300 new people every year, might only hire 25-30 new people next school year.

 

[clutchcargo]

Many papers shedding bodies are going to pour even more of their remaining sources into the online product and go down to between 1 and 5 printed products per week that are more magazine-like in editorial structure. That's why all these big companies keep laying off all these people why most of us keep looking at this and wondering "How in the heck can they be doing this?" Simple, they're going to put fewer products out.

 

[Moderator1]

Oh my God -- 133 -- Moddy -- you were there -- how many more can they realistically lose before they can't put out a legitimate product?

They're bumping up on that number now.
VT played hoops 100 miles away last night. VT is about 220 miles from here but has a massive following in the area. VT and VA are the two kings.
No staff coverage. Granted, the VT writer was tied up with the football stuff. But there aren't enough bodies to send someone up there for a 5 p.m. game.

 

[BYH]

Unbelievable. Yet not.

 

[Drip]

Oh my God -- 133 -- Moddy -- you were there -- how many more can they realistically lose before they can't put out a legitimate product?

They're bumping up on that number now.
VT played hoops 100 miles away last night. VT is about 220 miles from here but has a massive following in the area. VT and VA are the two kings.
No staff coverage. Granted, the VT writer was tied up with the football stuff. But there aren't enough bodies to send someone up there for a 5 p.m. game.

wow

 

[imjustagirl]

Apparently the staff meeting at 3 p.m. was nothing but bull. No names, no confirmation, just the publisher talking about how he's sorry this had to happen. Someone asked for a total, the publisher wouldn't give one.

Weak. Weak. Weak.

 

[Cosmo]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

 

[Dickens Cider]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

 

[WS]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

They can't go any lower reporter-wise at my MG community shop. Well, they could, but maybe since two pressroom guys decided to come to blows last week at work, that'll ease some of the cost pain.

 

[dooley_womack1]

#7.

The win is strong in this one.

 

[Cosmo]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

They can't go any lower reporter-wise at my MG community shop. Well, they could, but maybe since two pressroom guys decided to come to blows last week at work, that'll ease some of the cost pain.

Nor mine. We lost two people in sports and didn't replace them, one desk, one writer, so we're down to five. We've lost a couple of other newsside desk people and they haven't been replaced, and one retired reporter wasn't replaced. Not much fat to trim at my shop.

 

[slappy4428]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

They can't go any lower reporter-wise at my MG community shop. Well, they could, but maybe since two pressroom guys decided to come to blows last week at work, that'll ease some of the cost pain.

If one of them didn't threaten the other with a bat, it might as well have been purses at 20 paces.

 

[Big Circus]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

They can't go any lower reporter-wise at my MG community shop. Well, they could, but maybe since two pressroom guys decided to come to blows last week at work, that'll ease some of the cost pain.

Nor mine. We lost two people in sports and didn't replace them, one desk, one writer, so we're down to five. We've lost a couple of other newsside desk people and they haven't been replaced, and one retired reporter wasn't replaced. Not much fat to trim at my shop.

The numbers aren't quite the same, but it's pretty similar at my MG shop.

 

[Hustle]

Does this signal the trickle down beginning at the MG community shops? 'Cuz, that would, uh, suck.

I'm amazed it didn't begin there.

They can't go any lower reporter-wise at my MG community shop. Well, they could, but maybe since two pressroom guys decided to come to blows last week at work, that'll ease some of the cost pain.

Nor mine. We lost two people in sports and didn't replace them, one desk, one writer, so we're down to five. We've lost a couple of other newsside desk people and they haven't been replaced, and one retired reporter wasn't replaced. Not much fat to trim at my shop.

The numbers aren't quite the same, but it's pretty similar at my MG shop.

It wasn't all that long ago when we had one photographer for each of those pods along the wall over there... five in all. Now we're down to two, and there was a point over one weekend where we didn't have any. We were down to one and he left; we got a stringer in here FT the following Monday and he was thrown into the fire.

And it's been like that all over. We lost one spot. Copy desk is bare bones. Newsside has barely enough. Our editorial assistant works FT hours but, of course, she's not.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Oh my God -- 133 -- Moddy -- you were there -- how many more can they realistically lose before they can't put out a legitimate product?

They're bumping up on that number now.
VT played hoops 100 miles away last night. VT is about 220 miles from here but has a massive following in the area. VT and VA are the two kings.
No staff coverage. Granted, the VT writer was tied up with the football stuff. But there aren't enough bodies to send someone up there for a 5 p.m. game.

Isn't there a good part time kid they could have sent down there for the game? Oh wait, he's on the Redskins beat (EDIT to add that's not meant as a shot at Redskins writer, who is doing a good job). Media General, a company I used to be glad I worked for, is a joke - even by this industry's putrid standards.

We get e-mails almost everyday telling us how we need to be thinking toward the future and helping the company build the Web. Of course any ideas for decent Web products that might generate revenue are quickly shot down because they don't fit the model of what we're already doing. Meanwhile the Web product at all Media General operations seems to get worse every day.

There's nobody left to cut at our MG community shop unless they decide city council and school board meetings don't need to be covered. That wouldn't shock me though.

 

[Moderator1]

The paper's story:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/RTDD09_20081208-212852/145952/

The Features editor, a good guy and hard worker, was among the newsroom cuts. So was a long-time copy messenger who went to school with me.