Birmingham's turn

anniston's pay scale was low to begin with. this won't help.

i think Bham's upper management would be happy to have nothing but alabama and auburn coverage in its sports section, along with some preps. They used to be players at some national events like the masters, Final Four, etc. Now, not so much.

 

Right you are. Anniston's publisher is perfectly content to bring in fresh college grads every two years, pay them nothing, and then have them leave just as they're learning their way around the place because they realize they can't pay their student loans. He's even said as much out loud.

 

What a great recruiting tool that must be.Your starting salary is dog poo and then the pay cuts kick in. Add in parking (yes, some places actually make employees pay for parking) and before long, you'll be paying US for the priviledge of working here. Classic!

 

I read that Huntsville lost some designers via buyout but has hired a well-traveled (but young) design boss. I don't know if the buyouts were truly voluntary or not.

 

I was born and raised in Anniston. The loss of Ft. McClellan hurt that town very badly. When I go back home, I am shocked at the loss of business in that community. I now live in Birmingham. We have not felt the hit of the economy nearly as badly as most of the rest of the country. Of course, as I write this, Jefferson County is out of money. That is far less economy related and far more idiot related.

If I heard correctly, The News subscriptions went up last year. I feel for guys like Scarbinsky, Melick and Segrest (all friends). They have to write opinions about two of the most fervent yet delicate fan bases in the world. I can't imagine how many emails are sent from those fan bases that start: "I just canceled my subscription and plan to boycott your sponsors."

 

Does Anniston still have a Jacksonville State beat? They used to do a pretty good job with that.

 

Yes. They travel for all football and a good bit of hoops, plus baseball and softball in the postseason.

Al Muskewitz has been on that beat since 1996. Probably the best reporter at that paper.

 

Al and Ned Colletti of the Dodgers used to work together at the Philadelphia Journal.

 

Musky's my boy. One of the funniest sumbitches on the planet. Met him in Athens in the '80s. Damn good reporter. Helluva guy.

 

reading that the internships are done at the bnews is sad. that's where i interned, along with some of my best friends...spent some great times living under the vulcan.

 

I know I'm coming back late on this thread, but I have to say it's good to see Al is still doing well. He was one of three guys who used to carry the Southland Conference football teleconferences back in the day. We were afraid that if we didn't utilize it to its fullest every week, it would go away.

So Al, Kevin Gore from Nacogdoches and I would be asking questions to guys sort of off the cuff, making sure none of the coaches would get on the call with no response.

Good times.

 

Bump. Just got this via e-mail:

The Birmingham News offered buyouts today to employees, the third round of buyouts in 16 months. Media of Birmingham has learned that all employees will be eligible this round, regardless of number of years of service or full-time or part-time status.
Past buyouts were limited to those with at least 5 years of service.
Our insiders tell us that full-time employees taking the buyout would receive 2 weeks of pay for every year of service, while part-time employees would receive 1 week of pay for every year of service. Both are capped at 6 months.
The daily newspaper is looking for “substantial staff reductions,” this time, but says no layoffs are planned for Feb. 6, when the Advance Publications’ “no layoff” pledge expires. The newspaper has not only faced an advertising shortfall because of the down economy but also a 10.8 percent drop in weekday circulation.
Earlier this year, the News cut benefits and required furloughs.

Heard there were also similar meetings in Huntsville this afternoon.