McClatchy to eliminate 1,600 jobs

I think it's still pertinent to ask, "How much is Pondunk Times, by itself, making or losing?" versus "How much is its corporate owner, as a whole, losing?"

It may not matter in what happens to these papers, given the corporate ownership structure, but it puts the whole "newspapers are dead and dying!" mindset into a slightly different context.

 

I've been writing running gamers since I was in college and that was long before anything needed to be posted on the internet. It used to be for the early editions of the paper and now it's for the internet. That's the only change.

 

The ones that go into bankruptcy are losing because of corporate debts. The ones that are shutting down or threatening to are legitimately losing money.

 

Funny how the chains that have certain newspapers in the black will siphon off those earnings to buoy other papers that are bleeding red. But conglomerates that own newspapers in addition to other media or other businesses entirely won't siphon off the profits from those other enterprises to buoy the newspaper. They will, instead, push the paper into bankruptcy or close it entirely, while keeping their moneymakers in separate jars.

Who slapped the "Kick Me" sign on the back of the newspaper industry?

 

Well, the newspaper I work at now is making money. Good money.

Problem is, a lot of other newspapers in the chain are losing a lot of money. My newspaper must funnel its profits back to the company to help make up for the ones that are in the red.

So in the end, it's a lose-lose situation for everyone involved. All newspapers in the chain are treated the same, regardless of profitability. We're all being punished for the mistakes made by editors and publishers hundreds of thousands miles away.

It's a sad state of affairs.

 

I knew starting the Sea of Tranquility Times would screw us over at some point.

 

it was only a matter of time before they cratered.

 

Which chain?

 

Hmm. Can anyone say, "Scripps?"

 

I wish two things:

1. That this thread title was "McClatchy To Eliminate 1,601 Jobs" and the one was Gary Fucktard Pruitt.

2. I could climb into the Wayback Machine to 1900 and get a law passed that said something to the effect of: "Because of the importance the Second First Amendment and the free press has on this country, every newspaper in this country must be independently owned; there will be no newspaper corporations."

So, now dogpile me about that being a stupid idea.

 

Which amendment?