Problems at Patch.com

1. The Qatari government

That's about it.

 

Never said any of those things, but Johnny made an excellent point.

What I have said is that people around here seem way too eager to assume the worst. It sure as hell sounds like they are rooting for it. Kinda sucks to see people piling on any time there is talk that journalists working for Patch might lose their jobs, and that is sure what it looks like on threads related to Patch. Some of those people are friends of mine, so I do take that personally.

That said, this latest report is speculation based on one anonymous source, and the person doing the speculating is a former AOL employee who left under bad circumstances. Her boss was let go and then she was passed over for a job she claims was supposed to be hers. Sure as hell sounds like somebody with an agenda to me.

 

If we assume the worst, it's because we've seen it over and over again from this parent company.

You're not the only one with multiple journalist friends working at Patch sites, you know. But it's not piling on to say: We all know how this story ends. If I'm working for a Patch site, I'd be a fool if I wasn't sending out my resume elsewhere right now. Take from that what you wish.

 

You really don't think there are people on these threads who are a little too anxious to see Patch fail? Seriously?

Sorry, but there are some people here who are much more concerned with being right about Patch than they are concerned for the jobs that would be lost if AOL pulls the plug.

There are plenty of media outlets where the employees should at least have the resume ready to go. But some people act like Patch is the only one and they go apeshit every time blogger that left an AOL property in a snit takes a shot.

 

I don't care to see Patch fail. Can't speak to how anyone else feels.

I just think that, based on AOL's track record, Patch eventually will fail.

I do agree that there are many places, many professions, where it's wise to have one's resume ready. To be honest, I used to get really into these discussions, urging people to cover for their futures and all that.

But now?

I really don't care. I can only attempt to influence my own meager sphere in real life, not some message board.

Many of the wise - and lucky - already got out. Anyone wants to work for a Patch (or most newspapers, for that matter) and blissfully go through their professional life - while loudly protesting the "NEGATIVITY!!!!" - hoping for the best, while seeing the evidence that might indicate otherwise?

Hey, good for them, and good luck to them.

 

I don't think there is anybody at Patch thinking that is going to be their job for the next 20 or 30 years. It certainly has a long way to go to prove it can last. So do a lot of news outlets these days.

But it is interesting how much credibility is given to a disgruntled former employee posting gloom and doom on a blog, which was really just speculation based on something she heard from an anonymous source. Sorry, but when I notice the stench of people talking out of their asses, I tend to point it out.

Doesn't mean they won't eventually be right. It does mean that right now, they are talking without knowing what they are talking about.

By the way, as far as I know, there is only one poster on this board who has identified himself as a Patch employee, and I'm fairly certain he left for another job.

 

Exactly. There's an undercurrent of hatred here that we don't see for, say, Gannett properties. And given the way Gannett has acted in recent years, especially with Dubow, Gannett might deserve it more than AOL.

We know. AOL screwed over FanHouse. Just as every media company out there has screwed over tons of our friends. Doesn't mean we should be hovering over Patch like tabloid reporters tailing Lindsay Lohan, waiting for the big fall.

 

No one's immune from cognitive dissonance. You believe Patch is in trouble, you read Patch is in trouble, you instinctively find it credible regardless of the source.

 

Thank you.

I've known a lot more people who have been fucked over by Gannett than AOL, myself included.

 

We all know Patch is in trouble. It's bleeding tens of millions of dollars. The question is if/when AOL pulls the plug.

 

A couple of things:

1) Last year at this time, I was making good money freelance editing for Demand. Then they went public and went through a lot of changes after taking heat for being a content farm. Their stock plummeted, and the work dried up almost completely as they decided to reinvent themselves. And I kept telling people on Demand message boards, "Don't worry, they've got a good track record, the work will return." And I was called a sycophant, and other things, for being a company guy. Well, all those warning signs? They were mostly right. Work has remained dried up, and the whole thing is a mess. The point being that when there are signs, there's often a reason.

2) As far as Patch is concerned, I hope they last 500 years and get stronger and everybody gets more and more work. But when people point out the multiple changes of direction that AOL has taken over the past 10 years, they're not making it up. They've reinvented and rethought and changed their minds and hired and fired a half-dozen times. That's not being negative, merely a fact.

 

I just generally assume that people remember I'm a Patch employee, but I don't know if that's the case. I know at least four or five people on here know, since they're in my area and I see them while on the beat.