Herald to cut about 175 positions

I feel like a worker at a buggy whip factory.

 

Sometimes I feel like a horse getting hit by a buggy whip.

 

For those of us who haven't had the privilede of working at a buggy whip factory, how exactly does that feel?

 

Here's the thing to keep in mind.

If the Herald is dumb enough to lay some of these talented folks off, it might be the best thing that ever happened to them.

They'll find work because they are kind, talented people, and those are always in demand. It might take them some time to find that next job, but all good things are worth waiting for I suppose.

I worry more about what all the press people will do.

 

See, that's what I told myself when the Rochester D&C (Gannett) got rid of Scott Pitoniak. An insane move on their part ... but he's too damn good to not land on his feet, I thought.

And yet, he's still looking ...

 

If it worked for Steve Elling, my hope is that it would work doubly good for Jeff Shain.

Nothing against Elling. Shain has been a rock on two good beats.

 

See, that's the whole point. It doesn't matter how damn good you are, that's not what the suits care about right now. You could have a row of Pulitzer's and you still wouldn't be exempt from the firing squad.

We can cite one example after another of talented people who drew the short end of the straw, whether it was because they made too much money or something else. The very few jobs I see that are hiring right now (see the SportsJournalists.com job forum as a prime example) are entry level or maybe one step above that. Not major metros or even mid-sized dailies. Which begs the question.....

If you are laid off and there is simply no one hiring at jobs for your experience and salary level, are you better off taking something far beneath you or just sitting it out for a while in hopes the industry recovers at some point down the road and people start hiring again?

 

Foreman said these jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back ...

 

I will be stealing that line as soon as I put myself in the position to have friends and family ask me whether I miss it.

 

That right there is why I find it unacceptable, ultimately, to continue in his profession. It is run by people for whom the above is OK. Quality means nothing. Talent means nothing. Productivity means, well, maybe a little because you might be able to fill more space than the next guy. Your salary means a lot -- inversely (the better job you've done, thus earning raises, the more likely you are to lose that job now. Meanwhile, the suits all believe that every raise and bonus they've gotten has been earned, overdue and probably too small.)

Those of us who aren't taking buyouts, getting laid off and spinning that into a new life opportunity or just finding work in another field and bolting without any severance need to ask ourselves a few questions: Why? Why do we want to keep working for true rat-bastards, people who are telling us -- in the non-pattern of how they shed our colleagues -- that none of our work really matters, either from those who go or those who remain? Why enable and prop up horseshit managers and non-leaders that way?

Is it truly for us and our family's basic sustenance? There are other ways to put food on the table that won't require us to sell out a profession that was supposed to be so much better than this. Or our souls.

Is it our way of "fighting the good fight" with blinders on, blocking out the circumstances around us? (Tap on the shoulder) Sorry, brother, the fight is over. The towel's been thrown, the crowd is gone, the blood on the canvas is dry and, by the way, it's ours.

Getting dumped by, run off by or turned off by bosses who look at us with the same respect and appreciation as they look at a used Kleenex is, at least, better than continuing to work for bosses who look at us that way.

I know, I know, they all wring their hands and show us sad expressions on their mugs on cutdown day. But they keep pulling in the salaries that were being paid, in part, for them to find answers to this mess, while we were busy digging and moving the news. They continue to pull in those salaries as they hold the door open for newly minted former staffers walking out with cardboard boxes. Yeah, right: It just "kills them" to see this happen and preside over it on their watches. But somewhere inside their heads is a little voice saying, "Whew! Better them than me." Otherwise, they'd walk on the corporate fuckety-fucks.

 

Damn Joe!! Don't beat around the bush next time!

Seriously, another dead-on post by you. It just feels like we're swimming agains the tide with no hope of getting back to shore at this point.

 

All terrible news about the three sportswriters posted on The Daily Pulp.
But for those of you who know Dave Fitzpatrick (Fitzy), his wife, Brendy Moody (at least, I'm pretty sure that this Brenda is his wife) is on the list, too.