Lee Enterprises near bankruptcy

Sorry for bumping this, but I know a lot of the guys at WSJ/CT, and I wish them all the best.
Rough day for the state. Shit.

 

Good news for The Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal. Enough people elected to take the buyout and there will be no layoffs. They're restructuring positions with online and print coverage, but otherwise, no other folks will lose their jobs.

 

Just heard that among the accepted buyouts was State Journal Packers beat writer Jason Wilde. That floored me.
I prefer the work of the Packers guys in Milwaukee, but Jason was exceptional in his own right, and produced amazing work as a one-man gang on that beat.

The Dr. Ted Nelson pipeline tells me Tom Ziemer, who did UW men's basketball last season and a few short years ago was still in college, will take over the State Journal's Packers beat. Meteoric rise for a good fella. I wish him the best of luck.
I'm assuming, then, that the Cap Times' Rob Schultz will just take care of UW men's hoops for the State Journal now as those newsrooms continue to merge.

 

Dang, that is shocking.

Jason is big-time. Says a lot about the industry when a pro like that leaves willingly.

Also re-confirms what a horrible chain Lee is.

You'd be better of painting gates for a living than being led to slaughter by Lee.

 

According to Jason's Twitter account http://twitter.com/jasonJwilde, he's moving from one job to the next.

 

Rejiggered some jobs here, dropping the Sunday paper in favor of a Saturday weekender, plus moving print operations to the commercial print operation at ouir weekly 30 or so miles away. Unfortunately, means really moved-up deadlines on Fridays, but "we'll make it work" is my motto ....

 

So which .com is scooping him up? He's already been a regular on SportsCenter and other ESPN programming. Or is he going the Schefter route and headed to the NFL Network?

Judging from his conversation on the radio yesterday, it seems like an opportunity was already there before the buyouts were even offered. His last day is Sept. 5, I believe.

A big loss for the State Journal.

 

I grew up in Madison, and my dream job at the time was someday working for the Wisconsin State Journal. And if things had happened differently back in 1977 and 1978, I might still be there.

No regrets, obviously. I know there's nothing most anybody could have done, but it seems like a great town like Madison deserves a better newspaper situation than it has.

 

Me thinks Jason is doing some Web writing along with his radio work with the ESPN radio affiliate in Milwaukee. He's on a couple AM sports talk radio shows and also has (daily, weekly?) segments on a morning FM radio show.

He has a bunch of talent. Loss for the State Journal, for sure.

 

Agree. Huge loss. That's quite a hit for that paper.

 

Agreed.... Jason moving on is a big loss... but getting out of the stinking rathole that's Lee is a good thing.

Good guy. I met him a few times while covering Packer camp a few years ago. He was always happy to help out a guy from a twice-weekly who was new to a big-time deal like an NFL camp.

 

jason wilde apparently to the ESPN Milwaukee/Madison affliates full-time..... just announced on his ESPN radio appearance in milwaukee.