Relatively stable newspapers?

We were warned. Apparently Zell got a nice ovation at one of his earliest "meet-the-grunts" events (before the Orlando debacle), and the editor told us, "Why are they cheering this guy?"

 

Things "seem" to be OK at my paper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. There haven't been any layoffs since shortly after I began working there last year (I survived them, but a co-worker hired at the same time as me did not), and we replace people as they leave now. We're a statewide paper, and one of the reasons things may be more stable this year is because of an initiative started earlier this year to give iPads to subscribers in some rural areas to view our epaper instead of giving them a printed paper. We have just enough people to do the work, and we put out a pretty good paper everyday. I'm content with the management there after some pretty shitty experiences that brought me there.
p.s.
We recently ran a house ad that said the following:
Thanks, Arkansas for making the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette one of the best and largest newspapers in the South.
.......................................................SUNDAY.........MARKET SIZE.......SUBSCRIPTION
.....................................................CIRCULATION*.....RANKING**.....MONTHLY RATE
Houston Chronicle...............................249,763..................6.....................$60.66
Dallas Morning News..........................176,293....................5.....................$64.95
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette................142,509..................86 ...................$36.00
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.......................136,052...................23....................$37.44
San Antonio Express-News..................123,002..................26....................$45.50
Miami Herald........................................122,644...................11....................$57.00
Kansas City Star.....................................115,262...................35....................$86.66
Louisville Courier-Journal.....................102,617...................55....................$41.00
Oklahoma City Oklahoman....................96,855....................50....................$43.33
Nashville Tennessean ............................. 89,717 .................. 43 .................. $37.00
Austin American-Statesman....................82,462...................33....................$59.99
Memphis Commercial Appeal..................73,378...................51....................$29.76
Jacksonville Florida Times Union............59,494..................46....................$48.21
Daytona Beach Days Journal ...................56,846...................92....................$56.98
Jackson Clarion-Ledger.............................30,891..................127...................$55.00
Springfield News Leader............................25,606..................135...................$56.00
Shreveport Times.......................................22,458..................140..................$27.00

*Print circulation as filed with the Alliance for Audited Media for period ending March 31, 2018. **The Nielsen Company; Fall 2017

 

I honestly think my paper does it this way to avoid the bad publicity.

 

The iPad idea is interesting, but it means nothing without strong Internet service. Even the rural areas up here are fiber deserts. Also, isn’t the D-G owned by GateHouse/NewMedia/et al? When is the next big debt payment due?

 

The Democrat-Gazette is owned by WEHCO Media, and I cannot be more grateful that we are not owned by GateHouse, my former employer.

 

Will be interesting to see how long that continues. The glass-half-full argument is that The Villages is still growing like crazy, with an estimated population of almost 200,000 in 10 years. The glass-half-empty argument is that as older residents die off, the wave of younger retirees moving in will consist of people who either never read print or stopped reading it. There's also an online-only startup competitor that has a small (at this point) but loyal and growing readership. So it's possible the Daily Sun will thrive for five or 10 more years, and after that it's anybody's guess.

 

And probably because your employer is cheap, like mine.

We do fairly well, I'll say. Our circulation obviously isn't what it once was, but our print subscriptions haven't quite taken the hit other places have and our prices have tripled over the last two years to offset the losses. Yet our newsroom is a shell of what it was three years ago (a little more than 2/3 the size) and when management does hire someone it's only after a position has been vacant around six months.

If a position is deemed vital enough to re-fill, why take so long to fill it? Because you can save six months of salary.

 

The front desk? You mean, like a clerk or receptionist?

 

Basically, yes. Don't know what their exact title is, but that's essentially what they are now.

 

Yeah, I've seen our management do the very same thing. Helps them get their bonuses at the end of the year.

 

That explains why a lot of Globe people jumped ship recently.

I'm sure Trump and co. hope this will impact the larger papers. He's already attacked WaPo's Jeff Bezos by hitting the U.S. Postal Service lmao.

 

Marty Baron poaching the place for the past five years hasn’t helped.