More from Lean Dean

Here's a link to the Daily News' union blog with some more details: http://thenutgraph.blogspot.com/

 

please keep us updated, and we all hope things turn out well for you.

 

From the union blog:

According to Ron, the original plan called for 10 more reporters to lose their jobs, but Dean Singleton personally rejected that plan and asked the cuts be less steep. That's some consolation, but not much.


Ah, what a sweet and charitable guy that Lean Dean is.

 

(1) "Mighty White" of them. :

(2) On what fucking grounds would they contest the unemployment? Lawyer Up.

(3) No it won't. They'll whack these 22 people this week, then they'll come back and whack a dozen more in a month or two.

(4) Bull Shit. Singleton cuts whomever he feels like. None of this shit about how he's "asking" the cuts be less steep. He is the Sith Lord. What he "asks," he gets.

 

Just to clear things up: Employees who want to take the buyout have 24 hours to decide, not 48.

The guillotine will start swinging Friday morning. So those taking the buyout need to put their names in the hat before that (Thursday).

What's sad is, if they made the buyout slightly more attractive, and gave people a week or two to think about it, I bet they'd get the 22. But 24 hours and 6 weeks of severance pay?

 

You'll take it and you'll like it. Quit whining. [/DeanSingleton]

That anyone tried to stand up and say Singleton wasn't for cutting more jobs is kidding themselves. Starman, as usual and correctly so, was pretty blunt about it.

 

Might as well accept it fellas. Whether its this year or 10 years from now, we're all doomed. This business is dying. Time to start looking at sports information or teaching for me. I'd like to know I have a future ... and there is none in this profession.

 

Six weeks for the maximum? What if you're someone who's worked there 20 years? Talk about being cheap. There's other places that offer at least a week per year up to 20 or 25 years. Some of the big places even offer two weeks per year.

Even though it would make them happy (less jobs), it's too bad that all 100-plus people cannot afford to walk at the same time.

 

Either this is absolutely untrue -- who would have asked for MORE cuts if not Singleton himself? -- or he has so trained his attack dogs now running the various shops that they cut deeper and more viciously than even he seeks. Whichever, it starts with Lean Dean and won't end until he's gone baby gone.

 

Here is an update, courtesy of Romenesko, on a displaced editor from one of Lean Dean's more recent acquisitions:

http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_8389700

As CEO of the philanthropic organization, (Carol Leigh) Hutton will make $225,000 annually and oversee a $14 million yearly budget that funds programs run by 33 agencies.

"This is a natural for me. There's not that much of a disconnect between philanthropy and journalism," she said.

Not much difference, either, for those of us who will go from our piddly paychecks to being on the receiving end of charitable handouts, the way this industry is going.

 

RIP Daily News and the Newspaper biz. I'm glad I got out when I did.