Lee buyouts taken in Madison, Wis.

Some folks just accepted buyouts at the Wisconsin State Journal. Not sure of the total number, but I know of three in sports.
Any other Lee papers undergoing another similar round of downsizing?

 

None here. What cuts there have been haven't hit the newsroom, although there's been a heck of a lot of rearranging of the deck chairs. But some yhings are happening in my department that are encouraging.

 

We've lost like 10 people in the last six months. A few layouts, retirement, resignations, etc. All departments, from news to IT to pre-press you name it.

It's a weird feeling to look across the newsroom at night and see just a couple of other living, breathing human beings in the building.

They laid off our proofreaders and now are wondering why there are more mistakes in the paper. C'mon, surely you guys can put 2 and 2 together, eh?

 

I'm trying to figure out the "plan." I haven't been able to figure it out, except it seems to me everybody is cutting, cutting, cutting and just saying to the remaining few: "You figure it out but by god, don't put down more than 40 hours in the process."

 

Who did they lose in sports?

 

There is a job in Baraboo.

 

You don't REALLY need an answer to that do you?

 

I don't know who the copy folks are, but I'm told Tom Ziemer took a buyout, meaning the WSJ will change its Packers beat writer in the late preseason for a second consecutive fall.

 

Ziemer is more proof they just want to get rid of all salaries. Papers have a master plan that the writing and contacts reporters get DO NOT MATTER. Anybody can do it; the cheaper the better.

 

Jim Polzin is taking over the Packers beat. He's covered Badgers football for years and been at Capital Newspapers for more than a decade. A sports copy editor and assistant sports editor also took the buyout, in addition to a video/graphics designer.

 

We were debating in the newsroom Friday night which newspaper chain was the worst.

Lee edged McClatchy by one vote.

Not shocking at all to read that Lee is about to slash again.

Bad newspaper chain, baby.