News from Riverside, Calif.

this business is a laugh a fucking minute.

 

Ammenheuser was listed as AME/Sports Editor in the sports page staff box today.

 

What I'm told is something like 125 people took the P-E buyout offers (which went to everyone in the company) with just more than two dozen of those from editorial. But there's still another round of exits coming next month, when about 30 of those who turned down the buyouts are laid off because the P-E didn't meet its Belo quota

 

Oldfart knows of what he speaks here.

And now we're on a quota system for firing people. Splendid.

 

What a shame. The LA suburbs are still a growing market...to see this kind of continual job-shedding in a place that acquires more potential readers (but not actual ones) every day does not bode well for anyone.

 

These suburbs seem like a better market than they are. There is a specific subset of Inland Empire readers who would be enthused about the paper: White-collar professionals who have kids in high school. Other groups -- younger/older, better off/less well off, no kids, less educated -- don't have that much time or need for a product that keeps people informed but, from their point of view, is not essential to their daily lives. The TV and radio are from L.A., so the market, while huge, sort of sits there in an in-between orbit. There isn't a unifying presence (lots of medium-sized cities, the colleges aren't vital to the masses), and over-extended housing is in a historic free fall.

 

I'd heard 10 newsroom staffers got whacked. An incomplete list was posted in local blog. What's odd about the move is that this paper has actually reported circulation increases this year. I guess circulation and ad revenue aint the same thing, especially in an area that's gotten hammered by foreclosures.

http://iepapers.blogspot.com/2008/10/bleeding-continues-at-pe.html

 

Papers don't seem to give a damn about circulation, or their readers. There are plenty of shops where circulation is level or even slightly up that are being cut to the bone. I know ad revenue is the big money ticket, but it it's kind of sick when companies are systematically destorying papers people still want, even if they aren't making the kind of ad $$$ they were five years ago.

I remember applying for a job at the Riverside paper (I think it was city beat but I can't quite remember) a few months back, when I was still foolishly trying to keep my journalism dream alive. It was advertised on their corporate site. Sent in my clips and such, they seemed well-received, their was (email) talk of setting up an interview. A week later I got an email informing me they were "not filling the position."

I think it was actually this that pushed me into looking for non-j work. Which I found within two weeks, more money, less stress. So...thank you, Riverside. I guess.

 

3 designers getting laid off? That's crazy.