Gannett layoffs

Well, it's certainly not the only industry to suffer layoffs in the past few years.

 

Tough week for Nashville. Along with the Tennessean cuts, today is the last day of the Nashville City Paper.

 

Sad to hear the news about Purdy. Lee is a young guy with a lot of promise. Damn.

 

Realize that.

 

Some stuff in re P-C and DMR.

Mark Emmert was reported to be one of the casulties, per a local weekly. Also, the rumor was that it may have been Harty who was tipped off by Ryan S., and told KCJJ radio about the layoffs at the P-C, but that's speculation being tossed about.

http://www.dmcityview.com/civic-skinny/2013/08/07/more-layoffs-at-the-register-branstad-buys-a-house/

 

That seems to be the story on Romenesko's blog...

http://jimromenesko.com/2013/08/07/ryan-suchomel-is-out-as-iowa-city-press-citizen-sports-editor/

 

I don't know how I feel about that. Harty probably didn't think it was an off-the-record conversation, but throwing your boss under the bus ain't cool.

 

Our industry is a mess.

 

And not very smart either.

 

Hasn't Gannett gotten the memo from the Orange County Register that beefing up the print edition is now the way to go? Hiring people and increasing pages is now IN again? Anybody see the story in the Wall Street Journal written by the new owner of the Orange County paper indicating print is in/Websites are out? Good read from Sunday's Wall Street Journal.

On a side note ... have any of you been around long enough to be amazed at the lack of activity/noise in your newsrooms/sports departments today compared to 10 years ago? I'm amazed a huge daily newspaper still gets put out at our shop considering the miniscule amount of individual reporters/copy editors and layout people we actually have doing the work. There are almost as many do-nothing editors as reporters/copy editors, you know, the people who actually produce the paper at our shop. Thanks Gannett. You are such a fine company.

 

Someone should post that column here. I agree... I often wonder why other newspapers have not taken the OC Register route and tried something different. Apparently it's paid off with more advertisers and subscribers.

 

But has the increase in advertisers and subscribers offset the $30 million or so in increased payroll and benefits as a result of the new hires, and the $4 million or so in added newsprint costs?

Not yet, of course. But it's early.

God bless them for trying, though. At least in a few years we can say, rather than speculate, whether the newspaper industry was destined to die or just screwed up in the heat of panic.