1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

'Black Wednesday' in Tampa

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Moderator1, Jul 2, 2008.

Page 1 of 46
  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    From The Pipeline:

    10 writers gone today, unsure of the Sports hit. 11 more in newsroom over the next week. Mainly editors. When all done, newsroom will be about 200. A loss of 20 percent.

    Online first or, as one person elsehwhere said, "work for the Web and put paper out in spare time."

    An Atlanta-type newsroo model that eliminates all departments (including sports) and puts writers into generic "areas" (such as deadline news). No one seems sure exactly how it will be set up but it works basically like this: those "areas" include writers, editors, online & TV people. Idea is to converge all stories across 3 platforms (print, tv, online) if applicable.

    A flat line of management oversees all the areas and makes decisions on what gets covered, what gets resources, and where it all goes.

    Also, space cutbacks, section combinations and more. Zones cut way back, bureaus being closed, etc.


    Me again - Ugh. Don't see one thing there that makes me say, "well, at least there's that."
     
    Moderator1, Jul 2, 2008
    #1
  2. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/
     
    playthrough, Jul 2, 2008
    #2
  3. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/01/tribune-wfla-trim-news-staffing/

    The Tampa Tribune said Tuesday that it will lay off 11 newsroom staffers this week with another 10 news jobs to be eliminated by early fall.

    The newsroom will lose a total of 50 employees under the cost-cutting effort, with 29 either accepting a voluntary buyout offer or resigning for other reasons. The Tribune newsroom will have about 200 employees after the staff reductions.

    The moves are part of a previously-announced streamlining by the Florida Communications Group, which operates the newspaper, WFLA, Channel 8 and TBO.com, among other media properties. FCG is part of Media General of Richmond, Va., which has been hard hit like other media companies by a soft advertising climate and a weak economy.

    WFLA said it will have eliminated 10 news positions by the end of the year.

    Tribune publisher and president Denise Palmer said newspapers' traditional advertising base is being upended by the economic malaise and the impact of the Internet.

    "You never want to have good people go away," Palmer said. "But I also know you have to work within the revenue you bring in."
     
    2muchcoffeeman, Jul 2, 2008
    #3
  4. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Will the former newspaper photogs who are kept be expected to use minicams for WFLA as well?
     
    2muchcoffeeman, Jul 2, 2008
    #4
  5. budcrew08

    budcrew08 Active Member

    [blue]"I never knew this Interwebs thingy would be so... so... so impactful!"[/blue] [/newspaper corps]
    Just sickening. When the hell is this going to end? Will it ever end? So many questions, so few answers.
     
    budcrew08, Jul 2, 2008
    #5
  6. mediaguy

    mediaguy Well-Known Member

    Wow. All the photographers have to re-apply for their jobs, and Tribune and WFLA will share photographers. As if it's the same job. Outstanding.
     
    mediaguy, Jul 2, 2008
    #6
  7. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Congrats, former journalists! You have been granted your independence!
     
    Joe Williams, Jul 2, 2008
    #7
  8. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Some HR person is probably saying, seriously, "Well, the good news is you can enjoy a REALLY long weekend."
    Make it as positive as possible was the topic of one lecture in a leadership seminar I attended.
    Lord.
    Just fucking say it. Don't spin it.
     
    Moderator1, Jul 2, 2008
    #8
  9. Written Off

    Written Off New Member

    I keep telling myself: Either newspapers have to start hiring people again (or at least not buying people out) or they have to fold altogether. These cuts can't continue at this rate. To be a newspaper, and not the AP, they have to generate original content.

    I mean, right?

    Can someone please back me on this so I can start sleeping at night again?
     
    Written Off, Jul 2, 2008
    #9
  10. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    I keep having this thought that small newspapers with little to no web presence and which basically own news monopolies in their towns will survive. Kind of like -- and I mean no disrespect to those of you who work for them -- cockroaches. Large papers that cover local stories of national interest are the ones which appear to be in the most peril, at least from where I sit.
     
    novelist_wannabe, Jul 2, 2008
    #10
  11. budcrew08

    budcrew08 Active Member

    I asked that in my small papers vs. big metros thread... The little papers seem to be cut down to the bare bones they can be already... and they can't go farther than that because readers would complain...
    The bigger papers, like a Tampa, for example, have 200 people in their newsroom... My shop only has 10. Big difference, obviously.
     
    budcrew08, Jul 2, 2008
    #11
  12. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    There's something to be said about the simple life.
     
    nmmetsfan, Jul 2, 2008
    #12
Page 1 of 46
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page