Big, big changes at USA TODAY

If it was about digital, they wouldn't have dumped several online producers.

 

It's official. Gannett now eats its old as well as its young.

 

I understand restructuring, what I don't understand is issuing a quote that makes it sound like the people you let go were holding you back from doing so.

 

At least they didn't sign it "Go Gannett"

 

Remember -- this is a new management group. They're clearing people out to bring in their own people. Some of them are going to be cheaper. Some (Posnanski) aren't.

I have no idea whether they're making a ton of money at the moment, but they would've done all this regardless of today's bottom line. It's all about tomorrow.

Not saying it's a good thing. To me, it looks like a mix of a giant ego trip and a plain old boondoggle.

 

I should say by way of disclaimer that I know of no evidence whatsoever that this was done intentionally. But when you look at the whole list of people who got cut, one thing leaps out at you. That Sports department was disproportionately white to begin with. Now? A whooooole lot whiter.

Again -- I don't want to accuse anyone of anything. Just wondering if this could end up in court.

 

Gannett's severance packages have shrunk considerably in the last few years. When the layoffs first started most were getting two weeks per year there and now they're getting nothing close to that.

I would think USA Today employees would get a better severance package than those at the other Gannett papers, but maybe not...

 

No.

 

I obviously think it sucks that people lose their jobs but I've never understood why USA Today had or needed a big staff considering that it is a national paper that could mostly just compile stories from the Gannett properties throughout the country.

 

Well, every single layoff and contract non-renewal at Morgan's old shop over the past year, without fail, has been white males, so at least you can apparently be happy that the "right" demographic is being targeted for loss of their livelihood in that instance.

 

The guy on that link says "Bad timing for (Pedulla) considering I’ll Have Another will be going for the Triple Crown at the Belmont in a few weeks."

Actually, is there ever a good time to be laid off? And good luck to USAT finding someone to cover a potential Triple Crown who knows anything about horse racing. Sure the headline will be "Horse wins race."

 

Who else worked there? Maggie and who else?

People seem kind of defensive about this, but seriously -- if I have the numbers right, over half the non-white population in the Sports department got laid off in one fell swoop. Regardless of intent or whatever, that doesn't look good.

I can attest that a couple of them were shockers. But that's also true of Weir, McCarthy, Pedulla and some others.

The interesting thing -- no women have been laid off. (Check that -- one female page designer is on the list I've seen.) Marlen Garcia and Vicki Michaelis quit on their own, and they hired Mary Byrne. A couple more women have good jobs in the reorg. So far, Morgan has done a lot to undo his rep on the gender front.