Missing It

I don't believe the thinking really goes that deep.

More like, "Our revenues have decreased every quarter for 10 years. We can't possibly increase ANY expense, be it newsprint, travel . . . or payroll."

 

With all due respect, don't be naïve. Gannett just upped its offer to buy Tribune from $12.50 a share to $15 a share in what has been reported to be a mostly cash deal. That's an increase that represents tens of millions of dollars. Gannett also hasn't increased wages in years.

 

Why aren't you throwing unpaid hours on top of it? If you do it for the love of it, and it's not about the money, why wouldn't you work unpaid hours?

 

Because slavery is illegal.
I don't want to get back in it because of the pay. It doesn't mean I don't want to do it for free. Working 60 hours a week for 30k a year isn't admirable. It's foolish.

 

Bet those at the top are being well-compensated, though.

 

Right, that's why the "we can't possibly increase any expense" is silly. But management at most newspapers believe they can still underpay their workforce because a chunk of the worker bees "don't do it for the money." There's more to it than that, but there's a correlation.

 

Why didn't they underpay their workforce in, say, 2003? Why did I receive raises for 19 of 20 years leading up to 2006? Why was there not a single layoff at my shop until 2008? Not a single furlough?

If the worker bees "didn't do it for the money" then, then why were they so well compensated vis a vis 10 years later? What changed?

By the middle of 2012 newspaper ad revenue had fallen 25 quarters in a row. I think it's safe to say that figure in mid-2016 is 40 quarters in a row.

Newspapers report ad revenue loss for 25th quarter in a row

And regarding the "higher ups" . . . did you know Tribune company is basically combining its editor and publisher jobs? That the Fort Lauderdale paper hasn't had a managing editor since 2008?

 

That was true at my shop as well. Was referring more to the very top, the bonuses and salaries exploding, while the worker bees have been going backward. It's far from just a journalism issue.

 

That's true. For the past year or so, however, it hasn't had "a" managing editor -- it's had two. In fact, one of the co-MEs was promoted to Trib Publishing's chief digital officer position a few weeks ago, and the open co-ME job was filled immediately with an internal hire. Both positions reportedly pay about $150K a year, which is almost five times the salary of a recent hire on the production desk.

 

When we've struggled to get part-time help, we've tried reasoning with higher-ups that someone can go work at Walmart for $3 more an hour. We got back from them the "well people shouldn't be in it just for the money" schtick.

 

No doubt ad revenue has fallen off consistently over the last decade. There's also no denying that media companies are working with smaller budgets than they were 10 years ago.

But most companies have also gone through massive layoffs and furloughs to mostly offset those losses.

Does this look like company hemorrhaging money? » Gannett CEO Gracia Martore’s total compensation: $12.4M in 2014 vs. $7.9M in 2013 JIMROMENESKO.COM

 

I once interviewed for a job with a daily, assuming it would pay more than the weekly where I was then working, and was stunned to learn at the end of the process that it in fact paid less, even though it was in a substantially more expensive place to live. Next interview, I made sure to ask up front about the pay. The response was, "We're not interested in people who are that concerned with money;" knowing, at that point, that the lack of interest was mutual, I went ahead and said what I was thinking: "That tells me all I need to know about how you pay. Thanks."

Oh, and this was when newspapers were still doing well.