F$#% you, Sporting News: Layoff names according to Big Lead

Hate this for them. I remember reading Sporting News growing up, back when they had all the baseball box scores and everything. It was an annual birthday or Christmas gift from my parents. Just makes me shake my head.

 

Update on this situation. Most of the names are out. Some editors who had been there for 20+ years, along with writers as well. Not surprising that most of the people let go were 40+ and making higher salaries. Clif Brown joined Dennis Dillon (who is now at SI) as laid-off NFL writers at SN, not sure where they're going to go to fill that. Stan McNeal was another casualty, leaving Anthony Witrado (who was brought over by G. Howard after the two were together at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) as the only main baseball writer.

Never a good time to lay people off, but it also didn't look good when Brian Straus was let go almost immediately after writing a fantastic in-depth piece on the U.S. Soccer team's internal struggles with Klinsmann, one of the few SN articles that has been picked up by major media outlets in the last few years.

Apparently there was an internal meeting after all this went down. To no one's surprise, it didn't go well. The remaining people basically are wondering what the motivation is as SN continues to identity search. The latest is this Sporting News Media thing, becoming more video-oriented. We'll see how it goes. Also looks like NASCAR Illustrated and the yearbooks (which are being brought back) are moving away from this new deal and will be their own entities.

I know there were predictions made in an earlier thread about Dec. layoffs, looked like they were just three months late. When the AOL $$/contract runs out, it's going to get even worse.

 

I know of a ton of top-level editors who are begging for freelance work. I'm talking about people who have been sports editors or assistant sports editors at some of the best papers in the country...

I cannot name a single top-level columnist who has been out of work for more than a couple months and Whitley and Olsen won't be out of work for long either. Olsen is one of the best in the business, and Whitley is very well-liked.

 

This is true. ESPN is also doing a Nine for IX (subdraft of 30 for 30) this summer, with nine documentaries focusing on women in sports. One of them, "Let Them Wear Towels," is about Olson's harassment by Patriots players. She is a respected columnist who definitely will be writing for someone (may even have her pick) soon.

 

Excellent update. SN, at one point, was fine with being the little guy in new media. Now, that attitude has seemingly changed.

 

It was the same deal when FanHouse closed down. A handful of writers immediately got jobs and included in that handful were most of the columnists.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but if you're a columnist who can draw readers to a paper, website or anything, somebody will hire you. There were beat writers from FanHouse who I would have ranked among the best in the country at what they do who were out of work for almost a year before they found regular work. I would say in most cases, it's even harder for editors.

 

I sure hope these columnists and editors find jobs. However, I suspect the columnists will find that it's a different day than when Fanhouse shut down. The odds are now stacked against former newspaper sports columnists hoping to land something at their old salaries -- or anything close.

Once you get past the largest sports websites, the trend is overwhelmingly in the direction of young bloggers who really know their sport, are hungry as hell, but never worked at a newspaper. Another trend is the "expert" who has made his name largely through TV, even if he started out in newspapers.

We can talk all we want about how good these people are, but there are simply not a lot of slots available for writers who may have been earning between $70,000 and $120,000.

None of these people are going to join a sports website and increase revenue by $100,000. So I don't buy that angle. But, as I said, I do wish them well, although being realistic about this is important also.

 

Just heard from an insider at Sporting News. Says morale is high among those who were retained. They have heard the pitch from the new company -- including new benefits signup and all of that -- and the prevailing feeling is that they can make it in the new structure focusing on mobile delivery.

Sounds like they have all had a big glass of the Kool-Aid -- and I don't mean that in a negative way. Next big test will come at year's end when the new company takes a fresh look at the numbers and makes decisions about 2014

 

What's the problem? Just look to the individual in charge and follow his vision, innovation, leadership, straight-shooting and roll-up-his-sleeves hard work. Problem solved!

 

The individual in charge? You mean Garry Howard? First, he isn't in charge. Second, the vision isn't his, and never has been.

 

This is correct. Jeff Price is running the show. As for those who drank the Kool-Aid, I just hope for the best. Sporting News Today didn't work out. Shutting the yearbooks down didn't work out (and I wonder how they'll do now after a year hiatus). I'm not sure how the transition from closing to print and going all digital is working out, but continued numerous layoffs can't mean things are good.

Maybe this Sporting News media is something that'll work. We'll see.