layoffs in Greensboro

I don't know how y'all feel, but for some reason, this particular layoffs debacle saddens me much more than ones in the past. Perhaps it's just me coming to grips with the fact that newspapers, as we know them, will no longer exist in 10 years.

 

The last two sentences in the second paragraph scare me. I feel a tremor in the force.

 

yeah boots, there are some enlightening comments in those two sentences. sounds like more you know what is on the way in roanoke.

 

Exactly. Proof is that I believe there are several openings at the paper in news and sports. Those positions aren't being filled too quickly.

 

Wrong. They will never be filled.

 

That's my understanding as well but I don't like to use the word never.

 

An "increasingly competitive market"? By what measure are they calling it "competitive"? Winston-Salem had layoffs earlier in the year. High Point is a shell of its former self, which itself was a shell. Is there some big news website down there? What the 'ell?

 

It's financial competition rather than other-media competition. People want information more than ever, and it's sad that people are caught so abruptly in the middle as the industry tries to find a model that works.

 

If they could prove that the layoffs were even being considered prior to or at the time of her hiring, could she file suit against the company for fraud or misrepresentation?

 

I think the letter from the Roanoke publisher was a stand-up gesture.

What she's saying is, "We don't want to lay people off, but things are going to have to turn around."

What that means to me is, if you have any revenue ideas (special sections, etc.) or any cost-saving ideas (trips that can be eliminated, etc.), you had better start making them happen. Pronto.

I can live with a tough economic environment. It happens in virtually every business at one time or another.

What's b.s. is when managers overspend like drunken sailors for years and then wake up one day, look at the P&Ls and freak out, whacking anyone in their sight.

And as for the poor girl that got laid off soon after getting hired, I'm sure the person who hired her had no idea. If he did, why hire her in the first place? It makes no sense.

 

this is godawful, but trying to look at the positives ...

i'd buy a newspaper knowing i had rob daniels, one of the hardest working college writers in the business; ed hardin, a columnist who can cover absolutely anything; and dustin long, a NASCAR writer who makes lugnuts interesting even to people who don't follow the sport day to day.

i worked at the N&R for a summer a long time ago (1827, i think?) and even then, there was a sense that the paper was all about the bottom line. but good people can rise above that. good luck to everyone who works there ...

 

Dallas did the same thing as Greensboro three years ago in their first round of layoffs. Suits knew in mid summer about impending layoffs, but newsroom and advertising hires were still being made in August before the axe fell in October. Only difference was, Dallas kept the cheaper labor and let higher-paid vets go.