The upcoming AJC list

[Moderator1]

I have seen the "unofficial" version so I'm not going to post it - yet - because it may change.
But do stay tuned. Rather interesting. And long. Looks like they got a bunch of buyouts, so layoffs will be limited.

 

[Shifty Squid]

So many names rattling through my head as possibilities. I can already tell this list is going to make my stomach hurt.

 

[ondeadline]

I heard that 78 applied for buyouts, but they wanted 90 positions eliminated.

 

[Moderator1]

That about matches up with the list I saw, od, but I don't think the numbers are quite that high.
I'll post it as soon as I find out it is official.

 

[Fredrick]

It's almost worth it to take buyouts these days. If you don't you may get nothing when they show you the door. At least buyouts gives you a kickstart on what you are going to do next.

 

[ondeadline]

Are the packages given to buyout takers that much better than for people laid off?

 

[Moderator1]

Varies greatly from place to place. I've been buyout offers that suck and some that will make your head spin. I've seen severance packages that suck and some that will make your head spin.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't know why the AJC even bothers anymore.

 

[MileHigh]

Honestly, why do most places bother anymore? There's been so much slashing and burning, it's getting to the point of "What's the point?"

 

[Matt1735]

According to Creative Loafing, here's the list...

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/04/13/ajc-buyout-list-official/

At least two huge sports names:

Thrashers writer Mike Knobler
Columnist Terence Moore

 

[Shifty Squid]

According to Creative Loafing, here's the list...

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/04/13/ajc-buyout-list-official/

At least two huge sports names:

Thrashers writer Mike Knobler
Columnist Terence Moore

Also, Derrick Mahone. Was a long-time preps guy but was unceremoniously booted out to cover cops/courts in Cobb County last year. Great guy.

I was right. Reading that list makes my stomach hurt. Ugh.

I had originally posted some rumors I'd heard here, but I've decided against it until I have it better verified. We've got enough terrible news coming out of the AJC camp without incorrect stuff getting out there.

 

[Drip]

Clark Freeman, an outstanding desk man has called it quits. This business and the AJC must truly be ****ed now.
Moore should have a nice buyout package.

 

[playthrough]

From the Creative Loafing story:

"Also receiving pink slips was the entire news research staff, which likewise included four or five people. Oddly, however, we understand that reporters have not yet been told they no longer have a research department."

 

[BigRed]

According to Creative Loafing, here's the list...

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/04/13/ajc-buyout-list-official/

At least two huge sports names:

Thrashers writer Mike Knobler
Columnist Terence Moore

Also, Derrick Mahone. Was a long-time preps guy but was unceremoniously booted out to cover cops/courts in Cobb County last year. Great guy.

I was right. Reading that list makes my stomach hurt. Ugh.

I had originally posted some rumors I'd heard here, but I've decided against it until I have it better verified. We've got enough terrible news coming out of the AJC camp without incorrect stuff getting out there.

That list is ridiculously depressing. I don't know Moore well, but know he's a darn good columnist. Knobler is one of the nicer guys you could meet and had just moved to the Thrashers beat from the Georgia Tech beat.
Also, John Hollis' name was on there - believe he covered Tech for a long time before moving over to news-side.
Boy, I remember the days living in Birmingham when I'd buy the AJC at my corner gas station and marvel, dreaming of working there someday.
I don't think there'll be an AJC to work at soon, sadly, at least not in its current form.

 

[Jay Stone]

Boggles the mind that this, the fourth round of buyouts in just over two years, is still generating raised eyebrows over the talent walking out the door. Just gives you an idea of just how much talent was stockpiled by the AJC. It is also now worth wondering what the paper is going to cover and what it will decide not to cover. Those decisions seem imminent.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Well it didn't cover the Final Four or Super Bowl, so I think it's pretty obvious that they've made the decision. They will cover as little as possible. Next up, no more NBA or NHL road games.

 

[bigbadeagle]

I cannot stand Terence Moore's columns. Yet I liked him very much. He was a very gracious gentleman to me.

 

[Mike Knobler]

According to Creative Loafing, here's the list...

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/04/13/ajc-buyout-list-official/

At least two huge sports names:

Thrashers writer Mike Knobler
Columnist Terence Moore

Also, Derrick Mahone. Was a long-time preps guy but was unceremoniously booted out to cover cops/courts in Cobb County last year. Great guy.

I was right. Reading that list makes my stomach hurt. Ugh.

I had originally posted some rumors I'd heard here, but I've decided against it until I have it better verified. We've got enough terrible news coming out of the AJC camp without incorrect stuff getting out there.

That list is ridiculously depressing. I don't know Moore well, but know he's a darn good columnist. Knobler is one of the nicer guys you could meet and had just moved to the Thrashers beat from the Georgia Tech beat.
Also, John Hollis' name was on there - believe he covered Tech for a long time before moving over to news-side.
Boy, I remember the days living in Birmingham when I'd buy the AJC at my corner gas station and marvel, dreaming of working there someday.
I don't think there'll be an AJC to work at soon, sadly, at least not in its current form.

Thanks, Big Red. Your check is in the mail.

Here is the complete sports-related list of the people who took the buyout and did not request to be omitted from the public list:

Clark Freeman, copy editor
John Hollis, former Georgia Tech reporter (a news reporter for five years)
George Leite, copy editor
Rachel Lister, copy editor
Derrick Mahone, former preps reporter (a news reporter for about a year)
Terence Moore, columnist
Chip Saye, high schools editor and page designer
Mark Slockett, clerk and all-around great guy

And me.

Not on this list but a major part of this round of cuts, the part-timers, including Todd Holcomb.

You might not know Clark, George and Rachel, but I owe them all for catching some of my screw-ups. Thanks to them, and to all the copy editors out there who get too little credit and too much blame.

I was planning a career change, so the buyout is nothing but a good thing for me. It's a longer-than-expected paid summer vacation before law school. I probably would have chosen to get out of the business even if the business hadn't been shrinking/transforming/disappearing as it has. I was ready for a change.

When I decided to swap sports writing for law I thought I was being original, but I have since learned otherwise. One example: Jim Carty, who kicked butt for the Ann Arbor News, is a 1L at Toledo.

I'm hoping to become a law professor someday. I'm not sure where I will be heading this fall; Georgetown is the leader in the clubhouse while I await word from several other schools.

Thanks to everybody in the newspaper business. It's a noble calling pursued by amazing people I have been proud to call colleagues.

 

[bigbadeagle]

There's a lot of experience set to walk out that door at 72 Marietta St. if that list is accurate.
Will the last person to leave the AJC turn out the lights and take Henry Grady's cold, dead body with you?

 

[SoCalDude]

The Knoblers grew up out here. I worked with his brother Danny for a brief time before he moved to Detroit.
I met Mike at some NCAA regional many years ago and remembered him being the only Harvard grad covering sports in Mississippi.
Both are great guys.
Sorry to hear this, Mike, best of luck in whatever is in your future.