Here's some information on the Booth cuts as reported by Bill Shea in Crains. It appears that the pay cuts are all over the place. Some were cut 10-15 percent, others 25 percent and a few unlucky souls were hacked by 50 percent. Wonder how that's going over in Booth newsrooms?
Also it's being reported that 85 layoffs from the FJ alone were reported to the State.
Just a short break from the blogging sabbatical.
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Why The Flint Journal will fail
If all goes to plan, effective June 1, 2009 The Flint Journal, along with sister papers The Bay City Times and The Saginaw News will adopt a three day per week print product distribution ending an era of a daily newspaper in Michigan’s fourth largest city which stretches back over 100 years. Don't expect this to last and here is why:
While management of the paper touts the availability of news seven days per week on Mlive as an outsider one must consider the following reasons this plan, like the previous two buy outs, along other hair brained schemes will fall short: Bad management, poor execution, lack of a well thought out plan, inadequate funding, understanding competition, insufficient marketing or research, inability to adapt to a changing marketplace and failure to keep overhead costs low.
One could end this denunciation here and now simply focusing in on point one- bad management. In Other cultures, specifically Japan- when an organization fails supervisors take the sword and responsibility for it. Another example is professional sports. If the Yankees or Tigers fail to win consistently, they fire the manager. The Flint Journal rewards incompetent managers by promoting them or reassigning them. From there, management shapes their staff of mediocre minions and lackey losers. The same team of retreads that brought you the first two buyouts and a failing product are the architects of the latest restructuring. ‘Nuff said? I wouldn’t want to be a passenger on that Exxon Valdez.
Remember In Touch, In Depth and Involved? Wasn’t that the feel good trilogy of the past decade? So the company issued a few half-assed internal memos with logos they paid way too much for and flung in futility this ill-fated concept to oblivious readers and advertisers. Failing to execute tangible results from this nebulous effort contributed to the financial ruin now at the doorstep of 200 E. first St.
Thinking clearly eludes The Journal’s higher echelon also. Word is in the last five months Peter Principle management has fired or laid off their top classified producer, their top national advertising producer along with a veteran production employee who sharpened their own skill set at every turn to help the company was laid off in favor of an employee who retains their job on the basis of nepotism. Adding insult to injury are the 25-50% pay cuts those who remain are offered while they are told “you’re lucky to have a job.”
Failure to fund future efforts will plague the three-day a week paper too. Taking shortcuts and underpaying performers by the publication is a recipe for disaster. In the past the Journal ran on the cheap, taking eons providing modern technology to their sales staff, expecting them to sell with stone knives and bear skins. If red ink is flowing faster than employees are being dismissed, proper funding will not be there.
A culture of arrogance has been the history of the paper, with those possessed with the most self-importance occupying management positions. This has led to past instances of ignoring or not understanding threats to the paper. Don’t expect this to change. The Journal is already cooking numbers regarding Mlive. Saying Mlive is the top newspaper web site in the state is deceiving- the site serves eight markets. Unique to Flint, there are plenty of opportunities for competition to come in with a web based news site, or, a daily paper. Word is management feels by going to three days a week will only reduce revenues by 25%- based on that alone the paper will cease to be in a few months.
As mentioned before, the paper has cut loose human capital that supported valuable research. This will result in millions of dollars left on the table, or, in a shrewd competitor’s pocket. Marketing at the Journal is nothing more than a country club designed for one or two events- those who care in this department are overworked, underpaid, overwhelmed and discouraged from giving suggestions for fear management might be shown up.
We’ll finish up here on the final two points- arrogance and incompetence tie in heavily to the Journal’s inability to adapt to a changing marketplace. Why many who drew a paycheck from the paper have been heard saying as recently as a year ago that newspapers will never die and advertisers will always need them. Where the hell have they been? What kool aid have they been drinking? The publisher stated this week classified revenues were heavily responsible for falling revenues, yet, no changes have been made to management or the model of the department for years- except for driving out revenue producing people or ideas. Mlive is difficult to navigate and mediocre as an advertising opportunity. Yet, throughout the latest in buyouts, layoffs and salary reductions don’t expect to see those who rule the roost to take a financial hit. They’ll still be overpaid ineffectual bunglers who burglarized Flint and Genesee County of its daily newspaper, and in the not too distant future- the three day per week paper as well.
Some U.S. Senator introduced a bill to allow newspapers to operate as non-profits.
A little late wouldn't you say, it looks like Booth found a way to the "non-profit" status a while ago.
Never say ever
To keep in place a slew of incompetent management and fire all the people that actually worked is how out of touch this company is.
To make matters worse now they are alienating the people that actually paid for the paper on a daily basis. Yeah; let's not forget about the customer.
The lives affected by these incompetent decisions will ultimately cost them their jobs as well. When it is their turn I wonder how "PRO company" these people will be then.
To see the look on these peoples face after they learned of their fate is heart wrenching to say the least. GET IN LINE
20:34...wow, what a great post! I agree you with completely. However, I would like to mention that some management at the FJ was great to work for, actually got in the trenches if needed and were not failures...Teresa Calkins, Bob Pierce and Dan Gaydou. Sadly, in my 20 years there they are the only managers who "got it."
Because the comments above were positive, I'm going to let this one post go, but PLEASE, let's watch the use of whole names.
I will, and have, deleted other posts that included the names of laid off employees. Without their permission I do not want to inflict any more pain than has already been inflicted.
For positive comments like the above, try using just the first names in the future.
Remember, I cannot edit comments. My choice is to "Publish" or "Reject," that's it.
I try very, very hard to publish all the comments, positive or negative, but full names and profanity will get your post rejected everytime.
Thanks.
Taking a cue from the new content director in Ann Arbor, I wore my baseball cap backwards today hoping it'd make me smarter. But, alas, it didn't. So I still can't figure out how Newhouse can slash pay under the notion that the papers in Flint, Saginaw and Bay City are published 3X a week, therefore they're not daily newspapers.
True, there will not be printed papers every day. But won't these reporters still have to work to fill the internet "papers" the other four days? Maybe even longer hours to compensate for the additional headcount cuts?
Amen, 0:549. Amen.
Those managers left up here in Bay City are still waving the corporate Pom Pons.
"THIS is EXCITING!"
"A NEW ERA!"
"WE can DO THIS!"
"Those three papers we still print are gonna be AWESOME, BABYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Great. Oh, and don't forget, these are the same "journalists" who ran the story of the 93-year old, WWII vet who froze to death in his home on 3A, while running some mind-numbing story on wind turbines all over the cover. Don't worry, though; it's unlikely no one missed the story of the 93-year old, since it made the national news on every network imaginable and was featured on Yahoo!'s home page for two days.
Oh, and that little issue of the Bay City cops killing a guy last week with a Taser? At least it made the cover on Monday, albeit below the fold . . . directly underneath, I kid you not, another mind-numbing story on wind turbines. Both were shoved off to the side in favor of a big shot of a marching band strolling down Center Avenue during the annual St. Pat's Parade.
The marching band was that of Saginaw High which, amazingly, falls outside of The Times' coverage area.
Seriously, could anyone make up this stuff??? What'dya think, Tennis Boi? How about you, Princess??
Yes, many of the problems our industry faces are of the macro variety. Newspapers with Pulitzers hanging on the walls are in peril. I understand. But at least these folks are going down with a fight.
Up here -- and, I'm assuming, in Saginaw and Flint as well -- when someone screams "FIRE!," the dolts in charge always seem to show up with a gasoline truck.
Yeah Management in Flint is the same way- empty headed feckless cheerleaders who expect their jaded staff to act like trained seals everytime they scream out "you're excellent"- not to mention the junk the sales manager gives out from "the prize box"
I have one question.
Are pay cuts going to make anyone do a better job?
How a about we cut everyones pay so they can still do a crappy job for less money. Ridiculous.
AMEN!
Two things, the AMEN! posting was in reference to a post previous to the one directly above. I know that because both the AMEN! and Anonymous 22:36 were waiting for moderation this morning. So the AMEN! could not have been for the above post.
The comments are posted based on the time received.
We have now had two rather direct point and counterpoint posts about one individual. I appreciate both posters not using names, but from here forth we're not going to deal with individual personnel issues even in the people aren't named.
I give a lot of latitude for comments, but without a way for me to check and double check it just becomes a destructive argument that none of us can sort through.
Where I have direct knowledge of an individual or situation I will allow a little more latitude. With little or no knowledge of what was going on in advertising (as it should be) I can't be a good referee.
Hopefully, enough said.
thanks for removing those posts jim appreciate it!
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