South Bend Tribune cuts arrive

Anyone know how many in sports got whacked? Here's the brief:


Tribune announces job cutbacks

The South Bend Tribune will end 2008 with about 56 fewer employees than it had at the beginning of the year, David Ray, editor and publisher, said Tuesday. This will be a staff reduction of nearly 14 percent, he said.

The job reductions include unfilled open positions, retirements and voluntary and involuntary severance arrangements.

Ray said The Tribune faces the problems that have affected the newspaper industry nationwide, including continuing increases in the cost of newsprint and an unprecedented slump in advertising revenue.

The newspaper decided to offer a severance package to some employees this fall after other cost-cutting efforts failed to keep pace with the economic downturn.

"Like other local businesses, when our customers suffer, we suffer," Ray said. "In our case, both our readers and our advertisers are struggling with the bad economy.

"We hope that things on that front will improve soon," he said. "Newspapers are a vital community asset. These reductions are necessary for us to continue to produce and distribute an excellent newspaper for our community."

 

South Bend has a circulation almost identical to the paper I work for, and after these cuts, they STILL have 100 more people working in their building than we do.

I don't know whether I should be impressed with our efficiency or worried for SB's future.

Maybe both.

 

Any news on Tom Noie?

Hopefully he made it through...

 

Sports lost three guys -- two voluntarily, one not-so-voluntarily.

The losses included a part-timer, the main columnist who mostly worked on the Notre Dame magazine and a full-timer who's been there for about 50 years.

Noie is safe.

 

Did Jeff Carroll leave?

 

Carroll left voluntarily.

He's writing a book and then headed to law school.

 

Does Charlie Weis get voluntary or involuntary severance in this deal?

 

Charlie Weis must be smiling today.

 

I guarantee you that Charlie Weis is not phased one iota one way or the other about Carroll's departure.

 

I dunno. I follow ND Football and liked that Jeff held Charlie's feet to the fire and did not play along party lines.

 

Charlie has plenty more to worry about than what Jeff Carroll wrote about him in the SB Tribune, and that's not a slight against Jeff. He's very good at what he does.

 

In my opinion, Carroll was the only reason to read that section. He did an outstanding job.

I'll definitely buy his book and wish him the best of luck in law school.

I'm happy for him and sad for the business. I find myself thinking that a lot these days.