Gatehouse to Buy Boston Herald

RIP Boston Herald. The slashers are at your doorstep.

The "newspaper business" experts.

 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/media/paper-cuts-at-the-herald/

 

“In addition to the cuts, union members are slated to take a vote on a proposal from Digital First to adjust the severance package for employees that is part of the collective bargaining agreement. While the severance amounts vary depending on the length of employment – many older employees get two weeks paid for every year they worked at the Herald, while those with less seniority get one week – the revised package would pay about 37 cents on the dollar to departing workers.”

Fuck that.

 

Man, 12 million dollars is not a lot. That's all a major newspaper was worth. Seriously ... some sports team owner shoulda just bought it. Lousy relief pitchers get 12 million over 3 years. Good but not great ballplayers make 12 million a year and some flame out. The sports teams coulda pitched in 4 mill a year and had control of the newspaper.

 

The circ is 40,000. It’s not a major paper anymore. (That’s not a rip on the Herald.) There also are no ancillary assets to sell off. Ten or 11 years ago, the circulation was 200,000. The Herald was an impulse buy, and now that you can do 38 other things on the train ride into work ...

It saddens me, but it is what it is.

 

The link was corrected as follows:

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the vote on a severance change was negotiated with Digital First Media. It is part of the bankruptcy case filed by former owner Patrick Purcell and does not involve Digital First.

FWIW.

 

The most remarkable thing is the link says there are less than a dozen reporters left. Is that true?

 

In news, maybe. They have at least that in sports.

 

Given the cuts in sports at the Denver Post if you are not covering one of the big pro sports teams you are quickly likely to get broomed pretty quickly. The Post is at seven.

 

After you pay the reliever, the only additional expense will be per diems and medical. Buy the newspaper for the same price and you're on the hook for annual losses (probably seven digits per year), pension payments, and etc. etc. etc. You missed the mark on this one, pal.

 

Yeah, I forgot about all that. But 12 mill is not much. Then they lose lets say 2 million a year, but they still own the paper as a house organ.