Palm Beach Post

Damn again.

 

That is nothing less than a brutal bloodbath. Absolutely disheartening.

 

When people seek buyouts and get turned down by the company, is the company doing them a favor or screwing them even worse?

That is, if a layoff sucks because you lose your job against your will, does a buyout suck nearly as much because you keep your job against your will?

 

It's hard to say they're getting screwed worse. At least they still have a job. I doubt they have another one lined up too quickly because it's not like they knew the buyout was going to be offered to them too far in advance.

 

That's what I was thinking, but as bad as this business has become, the idea of raising your hand for a buyout and then being told no, you have to stay (even though the bosses now know you aren't "loyal" or "have your mind right") has to suck bad too.

 

I thought it was by far the best paper of its size and better than most twice its size. They got it right so many days, and sometimes they got it perfect. I hope that during this awful time the people there will do what the publisher suggests, remember all they accomplished. They'll always have that. Tremendous job there, folks, you had at least a decade and a half of greatness.

 

130? Damn. That's a lot of people. That's out of how many? I've met some great sports people in Palm Beach. I hope it goes well for them.

Any details of the buyouts yet? They're still being awfully vague. They almost sound as though they'll make offers depending on how much they care for the individual employees. Certainly, that can't be the case.

 

One HAS to wonder if PBP SE Nick Moschella is at APSE.

rb

 

Holy mother, 130?! What percentage of the newsroom is that?

 

Well, it's a little less than 25 percent overall (300 of 1,350). So I don't know how that translates into the newsroom.

The short, easy answer? Too high of a percentage.

 

the 130 is, as far as I know, out of a approx. total of 270 who work on the second floor newsroom. Truly a sad day. I wonder if in sports, specifically if any of this mid-level managers will be forced to go. The copy desk is already a skeleton. I can think of a few reporters who have a lot of seniority and not a whole hell of a lot of bylines these days, too...

However, I do hope that anyone who gets hit by these finds a way to make the best of it and move ahead. It really does suck.