Tribune buyouts announced today

[Readallover]

https://nypost.com/2020/01/13/tribu...untary-buyouts-at-ny-daily-news-other-papers/
Just waiting to hear when the axe swings at New Gannett.

 

[cubman]

Our printing press here in Columbus will close as of March 6, affecting 188 people. How many of them get new jobs within the company is anyone's guess.
My gut instinct is buyouts and layoffs are coming, probably within the next month or two.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside

 

[Tarheel316]

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside

Gordon Gekko approves.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Alden has bought about a third of Tribune. According to Ken Doctor Tribune was budgeting for a 20% drop in cash flow because of declining revenues. Alden said cut costs and budget for a zero percent drop.

Newsonomics: Worried about Alden taking control of Tribune? It’s already pulling strings inside

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.

 

[Tarheel316]

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.

In other words, the Gordon Gekko approach.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.

In answer to point 1. This is the quote from the link. "In 2019, Tribune reported earnings (EBITDA) of $97 million. Twenty percent down from that is about $20 million." So Doctor was confused and not really writing about earnings. The Tribune Company has been having negative earnings ever since it book the sale of the LA Times. Doctor frequently confuses earnings and EBITDA..
As to point 2. It is odd that it is written that way.

 

[Readallover]

Here are the buyout details:
https://nypost.com/2020/01/16/buyou...shing-staff-at-ny-daily-news-chicago-tribune/

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

An Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote about why he won't take the buyout and spotlighted many of his co-workers who are also stilling plugging away.

Once again, Tribune wants veteran journalists to leave. Here’s why we haven’t ... yet. | Commentary

 

[Liut]

An Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote about why he won't take the buyout and spotlighted many of his co-workers who are also stilling plugging away.

Once again, Tribune wants veteran journalists to leave. Here’s why we haven’t ... yet. | Commentary

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Tarheel316]

I have no idea if what he wrote about what is going on behind the scenes is true, but a few things.

1) He wrote about a 20 percent drop in income, not "cash flow."
2) The use of the word "budgeting" was very odd. A budget is a plan. Nobody puts a plan in place to see their profits drop by 20 percent. That is the kind of thing that happens despite your best efforts to perform better.
3) When you have a company that is seeing its profits decline to that extent, whether it is an activist investor or otherwise, it's not that crazy for the largest shareholder/owner to push for the company to stem the tide. That kind of decline in profits is going to make the company less valuable, which makes your investment worth less. What Alden has done wthin the industry makes it a lightning rod, but at the end of the day, these are businesses that are performing poorly. Alden didn't make people stop buying newspapers. They see a way to earn a relatively quick return on their capital by buying in and aggressively cutting costs. There is probably a reason why newspapers are appealing to investors like that, and not growth investors who see a long-term opportunity with which to be patient.

There’s nothing good to say about Alden.

 

[matt_garth]

https://nypost.com/2020/01/30/tribu...nging-glory-hallelujah-about-buyout-packages/

 

[Fredrick]

https://nypost.com/2020/01/30/tribu...nging-glory-hallelujah-about-buyout-packages/

How offensive. Whenever buyouts are offered ... it's such an embarrassment. It's a company saying through its actions it cares not about any specific writer/journalist. If somebody's been there 8 years and is making a buck, they want them gone. Many businesses want good people. Not newspaper companies.

 

[FileNotFound]

Seems like this might be of interest:

Tribune Publishing Says Terry Jimenez Assumed Role Of President And CEO

 

[ondeadline]

At least two sports writers taking buyouts in Hampton Roads: Ed Miller at the Virginian-Pilot and Dave Johnson at the Daily Press.
More reporters, editors leave The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press in latest buyouts offered by Tribune

 

[Bud_Bundy]

At least two sports writers taking buyouts in Hampton Roads: Ed Miller at the Virginian-Pilot and Dave Johnson at the Daily Press.
More reporters, editors leave The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press in latest buyouts offered by Tribune

That would leave, if I'm told correctly, an SE, an ASE, a columnist in David Teel and 5 sportswriters.

 

[LanceyHoward]

That would leave, if I'm told correctly, an SE, an ASE, a columnist in David Teel and 5 sportswriters.

Are the papers managed as a joint newsroom or still run seperately?

 

[Bud_Bundy]

Are the papers managed as a joint newsroom or still run seperately?

Joint newsroom. It's all one big combined family now.

 

[Bud_Bundy]

At the Daily Press/Virginian-Pilot, add sports columnist David Teel to the list of those taking the buyout. He was there 36 years, enshrined in a couple of halls of fame and winner of countless awards.

His farewell column .... which may be behind a paywall ....

 

[maumann]

This isn't just a journalism issue, sadly. I've always given notice, but that's not required. And I've been laid off and let go, with notice and without, sometimes with a buyout and sometimes without. That's how it works.

I got a great piece of advice from someone a long time ago who said, "You may love the business, but the business will never love you back. Working is strictly a financial arrangement: You do a certain amount of production and the company is supposed to pay you whatever amount you've agreed upon, or the check bounces.

"If you think the company isn't holding up its end of the bargain, you can quit and find something else to do. You owe the company no notice and no explanations. If the company doesn't need you, its only obligation is whatever terms you agreed to when you were hired. They owe you nothing more than that.

"If you attach an emotional investment to the job, you're always going to find yourself disappointed in the eventual outcome."

Given the state of the industry, if you pass on the buyouts, you're gambling that the xx months you'll stay employed during that time will outweigh the buyout money. But with all due respect to the people in Orlando (and any job), your sense of community responsibility means squat in bottom-line decision making. If management thinks your employment is beneficial, you'll stay. If not, you'll be replaced or eliminated.

Nobody is irreplaceable. Somebody replaced Grantland Rice, Shirley Povich, Furman Bisher and Jim Murray. Somebody's working at all the radio stations, newspapers and online outlets where I used to be employed.

It's a lousy way to run a newspaper. Or a hospital. Or a bank. But that's the cold, harsh reality of economics in the 21st century.