Back on September 10, this year, I blogged about the editor's admission to the staff that more buyouts were on the way and that many folks would be encouraged to leave or face transfers to jobs outside the newsroom or even to other Booth properties.
A short time later, the publisher met with the staff and told them no such decisions had been made and basically to kind of ignore what the editor had told them.
Then early this month the very thing the editor told the staff two months earlier came true. So first, as I did then, I want to give props to the editor for telling the staff what he knew even though it didn't fall in line with the Booth timeline.
While I disagree with the editor on many things, this was a good moment for him.
Why the publisher would come tell the staff to disregard or at least temporarily ignore what the editor told them seems a little ridiculous in light of the buyouts just offered.
Anyway, the round of discussions going on in newspapers across Michigan actually first occurred in Flint in September after the editor's admission in a staff meeting. So round two of the meetings is ongoing and pretty much the news remains the same.
Many employees are weighing their options, others are being pushed to take the buyouts and others have gotten the safe sign from the umpire.
Jim Carty has blogged at Piper Tiger No More (link to the right and at the end of this post) about the discussions in Ann Arbor.
http://papertigernomore.blogspot.com/2008/11/hard-day-in-ann-arbor.html
More to come.
9 comments:
Why is it that newspapers are all about seeking truth until they're the ones in the hot seat?
Kudos to the editor for at least having the decency to level with staffers. Shame on the publisher for trying to pull the wool over people's eyes.
I wonder if any of the staffers who are being actively "encouraged" to take the buyout consulted with a lawyer. There might be a class-action suit here.
Also, it seems as though women managers aren't faring all that well in these Journal shakeouts.
Women managers? Are you kidding?
Perhaps you should take a look at display. Female ad director, 3 female managers. All being way overpaid, and all doing very well considering their limited abilities.
Your comments abut women managers is not the first time I've heard that.
It does seem the top management is decidedly male and the rumored management survivors of this round of buyouts is also pretty much on the male side.
Not sure if a law suit would work under the circumstances but the diversity of the newsroom has certainly taken a hit with all the buyouts.
I know in the first round of buyouts a number of women managers walked out the door, some were pushed to take the buyouts.
Because I'm not a lawyer I'm not going to speculate, but it might not hurt for someone involved to call a good lawyer. Tom Pabst or Glenn Lenhoff come to mind and they have past experience in suing the Journal.
Admittedly, this blog is more directed at the newsroom.
Somehow I don't thing the top editorial management could, even if it wanted to, affect the employment of people in another department.
Maybe there's an opening for a blog about Booth advertising departments. I'm not going to do it, but someone certainly could.
Obviously, that should be "think" not "thing."
See sometimes I do need an editor.
Yes, I am referring to the newsroom, since the title of this blog is "Free From Editors."
But the comment about the "overpaid" women in display advertising is intriguing, since I don't know many overpaid women. "Overpaid" compared to whom?
Overpaid compared to their abilities; way overpaid as a ratio of the people they managed.
Free from Editors I took to mean, you know, expression without censorship.
Whatever is happening in the newspaper business, the newsroom is only a small, small part of that! To overlook the other departments in your analysis I think is negligent.
So pardon me for my comments on the entire paper's workings. I take it they aren't welcome here?
Your comments are welcome. I'm just telling you that my interest, my knowledge is from the newsroom.
If you have other information, please share it. Just don't be snarky because our focus here is mainly on the newsroom.
You are free to post and write what you want. Afterall, I've now posted your comments twice (or more perhaps).
I was just explaining that most of us here are talking about editorial. If you have a different perspective, as our current President says, "Bring it on!"
Management in every department at the FJ treats their people exactly the same way. People over in the PDC complain about their bosses the same way reporters complain about certain editors. I never understood the management style of the Journal. Treating the people under you like crap to where some of them hate your guts is not normal, or good for business. A boss will never get these people to work as hard as they could if they were treated right and liked working there. People will only do just enough to get by. We have seen plenty of that throughout the FJ.
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