Big, big changes at USA TODAY

I'm not comfortable posting names until they're more public, but some really surprising people are departing USA TODAY as Morgan swings his ax. Yikes. Stay tuned.

 

Wonder if it's a purge of people still there from when I was a loaner there more than 20 years ago.

 

Bailing or getting pushed off the ledge?

 

Pushed.

 

From today's Sports Business Daily's Closing Bell:

USA Today Sports Media Group Restructuring Editorial Staff

USA Today Sports Media Group has enacted a significant restructuring of its editorial roster that has resulted in the departures of about a dozen veteran staffers of the media outlet, including sports business and media writer Michael McCarthy and "Game On" blogger Tom Weir. Company officials declined to say how many staffers overall were affected in the move.

 

Sad to see anyone lose their job. I especially enjoyed McCarthy's contributions.

 

Jesus H. Tapdancin' Christ. A lot of good names, it sounds like, are headed out based on the sampling above. I wonder if this extends to inside the other sections. Hate to see them lose Robert Bianco, one of the last remaining decent TV critics a newspaper has.

 

Is USAT going to hire a bunch of people to replace those who got cut? Seems like they're leaving themselves open for a lawsuit.

 

How?

 

Restructuring doesn't really mean moving people around to make your operation work better. It means getting rid of salaries to protect the excessive bonuses of corporate execs, no matter the cost to the product.

 

Some of them are definitely older, and it's a salary dump.

Some aren't.