Columbus Dispatch sold

No, they just have sign something saying they would pay it back.

When I was laid off in 2010, the higher ups were told not to give recommendations and I have heard that edict has applied to other papers in the chain

 

Correct. They have you sign an agreement. If you break any of the rules from that agreement, they have you pay back your severance.

 

What severance does GateHouse normally give?

 

So layoffs are now total banishments at GateHouse.
Next they'll cut off your hands and cast you into the desert.

 

Now THAT is one agreement I would default on, if at all possible.

How would they make you pay it back? Garnish your wages at your new Gatehouse shop?

 

I think I read that the Wolfe family included the 90 day provision in the sales contract. Has the Dispatch gone through as many salary reductions and layoffs as other newspapers or were they at least somewhat sheltered because of the family who owned them had other sources of income?

 

I can't speak for salary reduction but the Dispatch hasn't had any big layoffs since the recession. I think they're the only large Ohio paper that hasn't seen big cuts.

From the people I talked to, I understand the paper is (was?) a money maker. It supposedly makes a lot off of OSU-related advertising.

EDIT: After searching, they had a big layoff in '09, but haven't had any others since.

 

I was shocked that the Dispatch only sold for 47 million, which mostly means that I am old and remember when it would ahve gone for 500 million. But I just looked up the New Media, aka Gatehouse,financial statements and they only had an EBITA margin of ten percent. If a company that runs as leanly as Gatehosue can only make four cents on a dollar how many newspapers are at the point where they will actually start losing money? As a generalization newspapers have become increasingly less profitable but still make money as long as they don't have a lot of debt piled on. But as revenues go down at some point cash flow goes negative and we are going to start to see newspapers go the way of video rental outlets.

 

Well, I'd think they'd try to sue you for it, if you had violated some other part of the "agreement". But depending on how much it is, would it really be worth it for them? More likely, I'd think they just do it to scare people.

 

And yet, they keep buying papers ...

 

You posted just as I did. But if the Dispatch only sold for 47 million I don't think it was still making very much money.

They appear to be the only buyers out there. I would have thought Gannett would have snapped Columbus up at that price. Columbus already prints the Cincinnati paper. Gannett could have also centralized a lot of the production from Columbus in one of thier central design centers. But evidently they were not interested.

 

Gannett also owns smaller papers near Columbus like Newark and Chillicothe.