Gannett Whacks News Journal
From a reliable source via the tip line:
The axe has fallen at TNJ. The newsroom has lost nine so far, about half of them long-timers. Probably the best-known names are sports columnist Kevin Noonan and writers Al Kemp and Chris Yasiejko. Several others were copy editors, including a couple of long-timers in sports.
So Gannett is going to save its business by turning its product into shit.
Smaaaaaart…
First!
I read this on the news journal website at about 3pm…
George is special. I think we should call him Special George.
Gary Haber from the Business section was let go as well.
George,
The NJ web site sucks which is why the company is tanking.
There are 31 people being laid off from the entire News Journal, which includes three people who volunteered for the severance package. So far, 12 of those are from the newsroom. They include photographers, reporters and copy editors, and are from all newsroom departments – local news, features, sports and business.
Thirteen unfilled positions are being eliminated, including those of former reporters Summer Harlow and Kristin Harty, who both departed within the last few months for greener pastures.
The layoff list also includes editorial writer Rita Truschel and photographers Carla Varisco-Williams and Scott Nathan.
Layoffs are expected to be finished by Wednesday.
Look for a slimmed-down version of TNJ to debut in the very near future – that means minus a section or two – and writers reassigned to new beats.
They had copy editors?
Interesting that none of the newsroom names I recognize were management. Instead, I’ve been seeing editor names as bylines in recent months. There’s almost no limit to how many hours managers can be forced to put in. Condolences to Walt McDermott and Tom Cobourn, each of whom I worked with for 25 years.
Interesting side note: Carla Varisco-Williams is the bride of Lee Williams.
This is so sad. Although there’s never a good time to lose a job, it has to be worse at this time of year. My heartfelt sympathy to each and every one.
You mean Williams is married? Who would of knew.
Al,
My guess is the editors are going to get whacked tomorrow when they arrive. The rumors that are gelling into semi-fact include the consolidation of sections and staff, so they’d need fewer editors to manage them.
Jason what do you mean they are going to turn it into shit. More than likely you haven’t been reading it the past year or two
spy: Sounds corporate, therefore likely.
Jason wrote:
Having read this fine site for many months now, I was under the impression that you already thought the News-Journal merited that description.
Truth Teller,
Here’s what you can expect:
* Less coverage of business activities – startups, layoffs,
* Less feature coverage of arts and entertainment.
* Less news coverage from Middletown-Odessa-Townsend and Smyrna.
* More errors in stories and headlines.
* Fewer sports stories.
* Fewer photographs.
* Less general news coverage from all over the state.
They’re going to cut their way to growth!
I’m not sure what newspapers need to do to survive. I do get the News Journal, but the news doesn’t really feel fresh because I’ve usually already read it online first.
The key I guess is doing something that you can’t get anywhere else.
It will be a glorified “Dover Post” just what we need.
Dana,
Yes. The editorial board has been shit for years. The editors were more interested in being invited to the right parties than they were interested in reporting actual news.
Spy
I stopped taking the Sunday paper months ago because I got tired of reading news that they printed 3 weeks before
Jason,
Please don’t make the mistake of conflating the editorial board with the rest of the news staff.
Why does it seem layoffs in any sector happen before the holidays? There is never a good time to be laid off, but talk about timing.
I’ll miss Kevin Noonan’s writing about Philly sports. I think he’s pretty sharp. Cutting people like that seems penny wise and pound foolish.
You know, I love newspapers, but their day is almost done. They are eighteenth century technology, updated as much as possible, but still going the way of the keypunch machine and the land-line telephone.
Joseph Epstein wrote Are Newspapers Doomed? in the January 2006 issue of Commentary:
Yeah, I pick up the Inquirer at the Turkey Hill on my way to work; the drivers like having a newspaper there, and I appreciate being able to pick up the paper and read it. But the news is always several hours old, at the very least.
The function of the newspaper is to provide information we want, in a convenient and timely form. But while still somewhat convenient — there’s something to be said for reading words printed on a page — their timeliness has disappeared.
The newspapers have to figure out a way to make money via the internet alone. If they can, their reporting functions will survive. If they can’t, they’re doomed.
A single newspaper in a town is useless. The pressure to become an advocate and mouthpiece for the status quo is too strong.
When local papers stopped competing with each other to be the first to publish an interesting, timely stories, they were doomed.
Take the Castle stroke story for example. The NJ published Castle’s PR verbatim. They printed that he was walking around and joking with nurses. it was Mike Matthews who broke that fact that he actually put on a ventilator and transported to Wilmington by Helicopter.
Jason wrote:
Thing is. it doesn’t seem like most cities can support even one newspaper, let alone two.
Dana,
They can’t support one under the current model. They need a new internet-based model.
Yea, Matthews!!!!!!
….and a big wink to ya ;). Keep up the good work.
Delaware CAN support a daily newspaper.
Just not one that’s run by people who expect 30 percent profit margins (TNJ), or one that has all of five news stories in it (DSN).
Dana,
You are probably right about papers being on the wrong side of history, however, newspaper chains like Gannett sold their souls to Wall Street when they could have focused on producing a worthwhile product.
As a former Independent Newspapers corporate employee (the group what owns DSN), I have to agree with much that was said here:
*news on dead trees long after electronic media has had the story is pretty lame these days; check
*the Mal*Wart-ization of employee relations from quality of product, management tactics & compensation; check
*the crony-capitalization of the news, forfeiting the intent of the Founding Fathers, surrendering the duties of the Fourth Estate, many times, what they DON’T print speaks volumes; check
I worked there for 10 years, started there just about the time that the family feel to the paper was walking out the door (family feel = security and fair dealings), I used to think I’d retire there, but left when I realized that I was pretty walled in. I am now a graphic designer who owns part of the shop (invested in THIS economy, o joy). Even still, 3 years later, much better.
Good friends keep me somewhat up to date, the sale of the Dover Post has changed things in Dover. I actually believe DSN is a bit BETTER. I subscribe to the dead tree version for my hubby & subscribe to the PDF version for me.
Other than you folks, I don’t have much to do with above the canal Delaware, TNJ never interested me much… the No-Compete thingy I signed kept me from going up there looking for work later, seems like a good thing now.
Information is power. Empower yourself. Citizen’s media is on the rise. Peace.
Nice to see you back, flutecake.
This is no surprise. I cancelled my weekend subscription since I’m overpaying by 30% from what it would cost me to get the paper at Royal Farms. They also ran a nice scam on “upgrading” weekend subscribers to daily service for free, but never told the carriers, who have to eat the cost of the free papers. My carrier tried to pass the cost on to me. I could not get a straight answer from “customer service.”
I will echo Jason’s description of the NJ website. It is one of the most un-user friendly pieces of garbage on the internet.
flutecake: They ran that “non-compete” scam for years. It wouldn’t stand up for two seconds in court.
Can somebody just post a list of those who have been canned? Just the names, please????
At a news staff meeting today, Executive Editor David Ledford took q’s and talked about what’s ahead. He mentioned likely changes to the paper, including staff reassignments and beat changes for reporters. He also confirmed that the paper will soon look a lot different. The Life section will become part of the Local section, Business will move into the ‘A’ section and classifieds will move into Sports several days a week. The goal is to cut newsprint costs, which have soared.
Thanks, spy. Keep us posted. What do they think they’ll do to actually entice people to buy the paper if they are cutting is back so much? Or is the cost cutting the only thing in sight?
The plan is basically prayer, as I see it. And it’s a given that they’ll have to sacrifice more on the altar before the gods of profitability before 2009 is over. There’s no white knight riding to the rescue.
So they will basically wring all the money they can out of it while slowly killing it. What a horrific business model.
That is really too bad.
Here’s what I’ve got from a credible source-colleague/friend. I only post because of possible networking outreach, and not any malicious intent.
Al Kemp
Gary Haber
Kevin Noonan
Carla Varisco-Williams
Scott Nathan
Chris Yaseijko
Kristin Harty
Joanne:
Your source is partly right. Kristin Harty left last week for another job in Maryland. She and former reporter Summer Harlow, who left before that for an international fellowship, probably saved the jobs of two other reporters.
Also on the newsroom/editorial board list as I understand it are Rita Truschel, Walt McDermott and Tom Cobourn, and Cecelia James from the library volunteered.
Losers. You’ll rue the day that is void of the printed word.
Thanks for your input Mr. Williams. If you put that much thought and effort into your political columns you’d be dangerous.
I spent 13 years in newspapers, but nothing screams “Obsolete” more loudly than looking for Phillies game coverage and finding, “Game was not over by press time.” Hopefully, there will always be a readership for the New York Times and the Washington Post, but those that cater to the lowest common denominator and try to be TV in Type will be, as Harry says, “Outta here!”
(I was going to post this myself, but instead will run with it here.)
Newspapers used to be a family business, but after the 3rd or 4th generation, the extended families got tired of running grand pap’s paper and sold them out to corporate interests.
That wave of corporate takeovers ( late 80’s – 90’s) changed the main thrust of print journalism away from giving out reliable news to that of turning a profit.
How could you ask a manufacturer for a $1000 ad, when you had just published his track record of pollution for all to see.
The hard-lined news reporting was dumbed down. Newsrooms were cut, whereas their advertising sales positions were increased.
Because of such indirect corporate influence, the main reason people read the paper anyway, (to find out what was going on) dissipated.
Nothing could more appropriately finger the demise of the newspaper business than the last sales pitch I received from a vendor: “I’ll be out here on Thanksgiving. That’s the paper with all the sales in it for Black Friday.”
Far cry from the days when newsboys hawked their ware by yelling out the day’s headlines….
The idiotic assumption flowing down from the top: like anyone would buy a paper just to find out the next day’s sales…
But this philosophy has flowed through all facets of media now. One can even see it in the differences between those who blog for profit, and those who just unwind.
The difference between old and new is appropriately put like this: I’m going to do what I like and maybe make some money doing it… versus I’m going to make a lot of money, by doing what I like…
A different focus… yields a different outcome.
What is fascinating, is that many of those family papers grew their large readership during the last Great Depression.
Bottom line: the main stream media is neither left nor right. It is corporate.
Too bad Ron Williams wasn’t one of the casualties at WNJ. He’s the one most responsible for sticking us with dingbat Karen Weldin Stewart for the next four years. Does anyone know if she’ll be eligible for a lifetime state pension if she doesn’t get kicked to the curb before her term is up? Talk about adding insult to injury.
I don’t know if I would go so far as to give wRonG credit for much of anything, but lumping him and his style in with the good ol’ boys and gals of old machine politics is about as spot-on as you could ever get. There are some reporters/editorialists back from the day who long ago sold their soul to ensure first-access in the future. I’ve longed concluded wRonG to be among them.
Not the right Williams, but “investigative reporter” Lee Williams has left as well. Last day was Friday.
kavips,
25% profit margin says it all. mystifies me that a corporation needs that kind of margin…
greed, the bottom line
Donhusseinsquishviti,
Where’d you get “25% profit margin”?
k: When I reached the Wawa at 11 a.m. Thanksgiving morning, all copies of the News-Journal were gone. People do indeed buy it for the ads.
Yikes!
“Too bad Ron Williams wasn’t one of the casualties at WNJ. He’s the one most responsible for sticking us with dingbat Karen Weldin Stewart for the next four years. ”
Bullshit. Williams is a tool, but the idiots who blindly voted for her just because she is a Democrat have to take that responsibility.
Say what you want, and much may be true; but nothing replaces the few minutes with a newspaper to begin a morning or recharge at night. What an island it is in an airport, when you’re stuck, luggage on another plane, no magazine (who by the way are heading also IMHO to advertising alley), book read, and you spot a folded newspaper from some random town/city across the US. I am on it–and have even ripped out articles from the pages. I will always like the paper, because it memorializes better, your child’s day of birth, the random field shot of your kid in a band–and “oh my gosh mom, that’s me–that dot behind the hat, up in the corner..I just know it”, and lastly and sadly your best friend’s obituary. Something is lost reading it at this screen. Printing it out, and cutting/ripping it out for posting reduces it again to a corporate message versus “this one’s for you”. No I don’t miss the ink, but if the way of the world continues, don’t count on any of your lives or the lives of those you love to ever impact–just insert. Refresh button.
Anyone with an ounce of common sense should have predicted as internet use rose, printed media would fall because if its inherent inefficiency. It’s expensive to produce, and a tremendous waste of natural resources. I dropped my subscription to WNJ about three years ago. Compared to the internet, everything in the NJ was, literally, yesterdays news, and it was a royal pain in the ass to haul it to recyclers. In order to survive they’re going to have to evolve at a faster rate. I also dropped subscription to a local paper for mostly the same reasons. It was interesting that they offered an online subscription and even though they were saving money on newsprint, labor and mailing costs, it was the same price as the print edition. Via the internet, I can still get most of their relevant news for free.
In addition to the reasons above, I prefer the internet because there’s far more diversity in news than in any one, or more, newspapers.
When on the road, I use a compact notebook with WiFi and an air card. If the news gets boring, there’s always porn.