Berkshire cuts?

[Fran Curci]

Bucky Gleason also is out in Buffalo.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Bucky Gleason also is out in Buffalo.

I am unfamiliar with the Buffalo paper but according to Google Geason was a columnist as was Sullivan. Is Buffalo going without columnists a la Sacramento?

 

[JC]

It amazes me how the chains simply do not care about the bylines. Their business model has ZERO to do with the actual product. You could fill a newspaper Hall of Fame with name columnists and beat writers from NFL and NBA and MLB teams shown the door by the suits in the chains. The Athletic is existing SOLELY to put these type of people to work. The newspapers? Give us all 25-to-33 year olds at 40,000 to 50,000 per annum and we're set. So Sullivan probably made 200,000 a year right? heck, that guy has been a day-to-day decision of the suits for years now probably. I don't know how old he is but he was on the chopping block every day of his career the past 10 years or so. My question to the suits on here (Denver excluded as the Denver suits are my heroes!!!!), I know you accept all decisions from the top as great ones. But how can you justify getting rid of POPULAR name columnists as being a positive thing for a newspaper?? Tell me please.

You are set making 40 grand a year?

 

[goldy220]

I am unfamiliar with the Buffalo paper but according to Google Geason was a columnist as was Sullivan. Is Buffalo going without columnists a la Sacramento?

I'm not in everyday reader of the Buffalo News, but Sullivan and Gleason both did columns on the Bills and Sabres. Sully more the Bills and Gleason more the Sabres.

I also saw on Twitter that Sabres writer John Vogl took a buyout as well.

Sad to see.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Yes. Owns several papers in Virginia, Omaha and Buffalo.

Tulsa, too, a section I've always been impressed by. And not shy about spending money, which probably isn't a good thing these days.

 

[Slacker]

What the heck is Berkshire? Family owned? Or ?

There goes your shot at the Wall Street Journal ...

 

[franticscribe]

B-H axed several of their news columnists at their North Carolina papers a couple of months ago. Seems the bean counters in the company no longer find value in independent voices. Well, except that the marketing departments continued to tout the same columnists for several months after they were let go as reasons to subscribe to the newspaper. Anyway, it could be that or columnists just have a bigger number on the line items and so they're easy to cut when looking for savings.

Tl,dr: If you're a columnist at a B-H Media paper, start polishing your resume.

 

[LanceyHoward]

B-H axed several of their news columnists at their North Carolina papers a couple of months ago. Seems the bean counters in the company no longer find value in independent voices. Well, except that the marketing departments continued to tout the same columnists for several months after they were let go as reasons to subscribe to the newspaper. Anyway, it could be that or columnists just have a bigger number on the line items and so they're easy to cut when looking for savings.

Tl,dr: If you're a columnist at a B-H Media paper, start polishing your resume.

I find it very surprising in these era of page views. In most markets, even the size of Greensboro or Winston-Salem, the lead sports columnist draws a lot more page views than stories on the high school or secondary college sports. The columnist would also be a name recognized by far more sports fans than anyone else on the sports staff. I know columnists make more money but getting rid of your brand names seems dumb.

 

[Alma]

I find it very surprising in these era of page views. In most markets, even the size of Greensboro or Winston-Salem, the lead sports columnist draws a lot more page views than stories on the high school or secondary college sports. The columnist would also be a name recognized by far more sports fans than anyone else on the sports staff. I know columnists make more money but getting rid of your brand names seems dumb.

Sports columnists, yes.

News columnists? That can go either way. Over time some newspapers have unwisely morphed those roles into feature writers with a mugshot. And almost all feature writers bend one way politically so the story choices tend to be left-leaning and repetitive.

 

[LongTimeListener]

It strikes me that if anyone in the world can be trusted to make money and run a good business, it would be Warren Buffett.

Those are some big names who did great work in the local market. But maybe Berkshire is right. Quite probably Berkshire is right. The names don't matter.

 

[Fredrick]

Since wen did comnists become so expendabe

I find it very surprising in these era of page views. In most markets, even the size of Greensboro or Winston-Salem, the lead sports columnist draws a lot more page views than stories on the high school or secondary college sports. The columnist would also be a name recognized by far more sports fans than anyone else on the sports staff. I know columnists make more money but getting rid of your brand names seems dumb.

It's all about the money. If they would work for 1/3 what they are making now, they might stand a chance of getting hired. I wonder about columnist page views. A column seems more suited for the print edition, when you have time to grab a physical product and read. I'm thinking the beancounter suits have decided columns aren't as popular online. They may not get as many page views as we think they would. Think about it. The Internet is all about quick reads. Columns don't fit the bill ONLINE. Obviously I'm a fan of columns, but the internet has killed them.

 

[Fredrick]

It strikes me that if anyone in the world can be trusted to make money and run a good business, it would be Warren Buffett.

Those are some big names who did great work in the local market. But maybe Berkshire is right. Quite probably Berkshire is right. The names don't matter.

Again, the names matter in the print product. They don't fit the online model. All people want is a quick fix regarding their favorite team(s). Columns are luxury reading like books. You read the physical column, but unfortunately for many reasons, the physical product is dead.