Sad Day in Orlando

Unfortunately the quality and quantity of your work doesn't matter any more, no rhyme nor reason to who gets ax'd. In the case of Zach at the Sentinel, his byline was everywhere in many sports from prep to pro. He built up a following in his chats and gave a shot in the arm to the blog. Sentinel got it wrong.

 

Did other people in sports get laid off?

 

I don't think this is fair. I completely understand what you are saying. But the point seemd to be that the kid was busting his ass for peanuts and should have been rewarded for that. You know, like the way it used to be in this business. I'm sure glad I came up when I did, when this was still the case. Well, I actually wish I had come up about 10 years prior, when working at a major metro was something you could/would aspire to.

 

A lot of times it's not personal. Corporate eliminates a position and that person is the one who is gone. It's idiotic, but that's the way they do it. God forbid they shuffle people around or get rid of someone who is close to retirement or something like that.

 

Should always, always be based on merit. Doing "more with less" always works best when you keep your hardest-working people. Too bad a lot of places don't think this way.

 

I have been a loyal Sentinel reader for 16 years (less and less each day)...

I remember Zach from the Sports Institute (program for HS students), years ago. I am a big fan of high school sports so I saw his byline too many time to count.

Zach pioneered the OrlandoMagicDaily website which was picked up by True Hoops / ESPN. He was hired by the Sentinel full time about 15 months ago.

*) Many of his articles/videos were referenced my many other outlets. I've seen several referenced on ESPN TV programs.

*) There was a significant improvement (my opinion) in online content (he appeared to be the primary contributor to the Sentinel Magic Blog)

*) From what I saw he was the ultimate utility player (football, soccer, golf, HS sports, hockey, etc). He is a regular "NBA/Magic" contributor to a local radio show.

Zach's "Thanksgiving gift from the Sentinel"; a layoff slip. I understand these are tough times and the NBA lockout is not helping the folks who make their living supporting and promoting the NBA. However, most companies at least try not to do these type of actions during the Holidays???

 

I disagree, have you ever tried to find a job during the Holidays. Have you ever been unemployed during the Holidays. It is hard to enjoy them to say the least.

I do not understand your "NFL SideBar writer" comment? His body of work speaks for itself, he is far more than just a sidebar writer? Like you said, "you do not know anything about this fella" so why make statements on his skill level.

Bottom line, this was a heartless, lazy and cowardly act by the Orlando Sentinel. Most businesses find creative ways to try to keep their young talent (while still being respectful to the "old" guys like me).

As a long term Orlando resident, I am sad to say (and hope I am wrong) but I doubt the Orlando Sentinel will exit in 5 years or if it does exist it will be smaller and very different.

 

I think a lot of places hide behind the "Well, they eliminated that position, so we eliminated the person who held that position." It's kind of the safer route than saying, "Well, the person who held that job is one of our best, so we're going to move that person to this job and that person to this job and get rid of the dead weight..."

The chickenshit approach to layoffs...

 

With typical newsrooms employing about 40-50% of the staff they used to, I don't think "dead weight" has been an issue at most newspapers for quite some time.

 

You'd be surprised. They're all understaffed, but a lot are still stuck with the guy who they've been praying would retire for the last decade.