More from Lean Dean

First, the layoffs at the L.A. Daily News. Then the planned layoffs at San Jose (100 or so) and the predicted consolidation of reporting, etc. among Contra Costa/Oakland Tribune/San Jose.

Now ...

The Oakland Tribune is leaving downtown its Tribune Tower in downtown Oakland and all three papers advertising and classified will be consolidated in one place.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/blogs/?p=250

The same blog said Contra Costa's publisher told the newsroom to expect "layoffs in the weeks ahead."

How soon before there's one newsroom for all three papers?

Again, not a surprise. This is the Singleton M.O. He did it in Southern California, turing some pretty good papers into virtually nothing. Now he's doing it here.

Though at least he found some spare cash lying around to hire back Woody Paige at the Denver Post.

 

This cannot be a shock to anyone, right?
This is what this man does. Dean Singleton has done it for more than three decades. He closed the Fort Worth Press and sold off the parts for profit in 1975.
What troubles me the most: Somehow, recently, he has become some sort of Newspaper Dignitary. He's not. Other than covering local sports and local government, his papers are lean-running cash cows with little investment in journalism and investigative reporting. It's a model. A money-making model for a profiteer. No more. No less.

 

Lean Dean, what a great nickname. Reminds me of a now-retired publisher in Ontario who was infamous for his cost-cutting abilities -- he was called "Jake the Knife."

 

Layoffs in San Jose ... Santa Cruz going CNHI ... Ouch!

 

The deities at Poytner and E&P should be along any second now to expose this scandal. In fact, I hear them now:

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (we love publishers) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ..."

Well, maybe they just need more time.

 

Dyepack,
You're exactly right. That is the problem. Poynter and E&P (and the New Yorker) are always willing to hit anyone from an editor down to an agate clerk. But, God forbid, they write a cross word about a publisher.
They must keep those lines of communication open for that day when they need that ever-important quote to make their story: "We are looking to move forward as a company and a newspaper so we can better serve our readers."

 

How come Dyepack gets his secret Santa gift first?

But he's right in this instance.

 

Media News is proposing a 30 percent pay cut for the Mercury News in new contract negotiations.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/blogs/?p=282

 

Pretty standard stuff for Singleton. When he bought the Long Beach paper, he fired everyone on staff and forced them to re-apply for their jobs. You didn't get your old job back without a pay cut similar to what he's proposing for San Jose.

In Long Beach, he busted the union -- in the middle of a contract -- by getting a judge to agree that he had not bought the union contract when he bought the paper. It will be interesting to see if he tries this strategy again.

 

Those guys at Poynter are a bunch of old biddies. When the Armstrong Williams payola story broke, they gave some wishy-washy comment about how that wasn't good...but if some poor bastard making $30,000 a year eats an egg roll at a trade show for an industry he covers, well, they come down on that like he's destroying journalism.

 

Does this really surprise anybody? I mean, what about San Jose would make people think anything different would happen.

The difference in 2006 is that San Jose is the capitol of high tech, and people in that area are more likely to be connected to the Internet. That is a situation where it is likely to go downhill extremely fast.

 

A one-two punch I wouldn't wish on Sauronpolopack, Tom Petty or Lyman ... D_B however...