NYT reportedly sells off regional partners

[deskslave]

Are you talking about married couples?

Yeah. They got rid of either the husband or the wife. But usually not both. And there were quite a few in DB.

 

[Tarheel316]

I have never worked at any shop where married couples working on the same staff. That's interesting.

 

[Versatile]

I have never worked at any shop where married couples working on the same staff. That's interesting.

Really? I've experienced it at all three of my shops.

One couple I knew a few years ago experienced the situation deskslave described. Both were sports writers and worked together often -- and well. She was laid off. He was kept on (and given increased duties, though I'm not sure if his pay was increased). She quickly was hired by a smaller competing paper. She's since moved to a paper less than an hour away with a circulation that falls between the two competing shops. He's still with the original paper.

Another shop I worked at recently laid off a husband while his wife continues at the newspaper. The husband was certainly paid more and might even have technically been the wife's boss. I'm not sure what the husband is doing now.

Aside: In both cases, the more-talented spouse was the one laid off.

 

[HanSenSE]

"Countdown" on in Santa Rosa:
http://santarosa.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/12/news/an-anxious-48-hours-for-us-at-the-pd/

 

[deskslave]

I have never worked at any shop where married couples working on the same staff. That's interesting.

If memory serves, it was particularly common in DB. I think that was one of the unique things about it under the family management.

 

[deskslave]

Should anyone here be at any of these papers, be aware that should Halifax offer you a job, you will have very little time to decide whether to accept. A friend who worked in DB said it was 32.5 hours. If you didn't accept, you were gone. And whatever is offered will almost definitely have a noncompete attached to it.

 

[Prospero]

Hadn't seen this on this thread, so here's Romenesko's post re. the sale from yesterday. The Q&A is ... ridiculous.

http://jimromenesko.com/

 

[Tarheel316]

Deskslave, 32.5 hours to accept or 32.5 hours a week? Or both?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I have never worked at any shop where married couples working on the same staff. That's interesting.

Really? I've experienced it at all three of my shops.

One couple I knew a few years ago experienced the situation deskslave described. Both were sports writers and worked together often -- and well. She was laid off. He was kept on (and given increased duties, though I'm not sure if his pay was increased). She quickly was hired by a smaller competing paper. She's since moved to a paper less than an hour away with a circulation that falls between the two competing shops. He's still with the original paper.

Another shop I worked at recently laid off a husband while his wife continues at the newspaper. The husband was certainly paid more and might even have technically been the wife's boss. I'm not sure what the husband is doing now.

Aside: In both cases, the more-talented spouse was the one laid off.

One of the preps writers at my last stop was the worst writer on staff without question. He's in his late 40s and he's a deck to the desk, he files late and in the words of the former SE, "His writing is as bad as his attitude."

His wife is a top editor there and is arguably the most-talented person on staff. In the last few years, the sports staff has lost 12 people, and every time there is a layoff, the only person in the building who isn't worried is that guy.

Every paper I worked at had a married couple on staff. The only place where it was ever an issue was at the last place, because that guy never would have been hired, much less stayed around as long as he has without his wife being there...

 

[Lollygaggers]

Know a lot of people at a lot of these papers. Everyone is pins and needles, and who knows what they mean when they say the plan is to retain "the vast majority of employees." I would imagine Halifax is taking on a lot of debt to pull this off, so they're going to be looking to cut expenses as much as possible. I'm thankful more and more each day that I got out of this business when I did.

 

[Rockbottom]

The breath-holding in west-central Alabama is palpable, folks. A certain newsroom there has gotten by almost without layoffs (in fact adding staff in sports the past couple years ...), and methinks there will certainly be some casualties there.

Thoughts to all affected ...

rb

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I have a friend at one of the Florida papers and he said the popular feeling there is that every single paper is going to get "gutted"