Just wanted to note that with the looming layoffs/buyout departures tomorrow, Friday, May 29, that many of my former colleagues are struggling through a tough week. I've seen their countdowns on Facebook and their poignant comments.
Some of them were actually asked to stay, but at such a reduced rate of pay that they made the decision to leave. Good for them. Until management announces what pay cuts they took, there will always be a high level of suspicion over whether the pain is being equally shared. Not saying it isn't, but it should be shared with the staff.
Some familiar columnists bylines will stay on, but on a freelance basis. There has been much talk about freelance pay here in recent days, but I'll bet some freelancers will make a lot more than others.
The paper will pay only as much as they have to and as little as people will accept. Nothing wrong with that from a purely business sense, but the paper will limit the quality of its product by hiring on the cheap. Not because the people left aren't good people, some are great people, but low pay and long hours will hurt morale and that will translant into quality issues.
This is not a business plan for survival, it is death by a thousand cuts. The only constant is that the people who led the company through this decline, continue to lead it. There's an old saying about continuing to do the same thing, but expecting a different result.
Someone from Bay City or Saginaw has been posting this stupidity: (I'll paraphrase) With the departure of so many people and with pay cuts "now we'll see who is just working for a paycheck."
That may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Who doesn't work for a paycheck? Has the guy who is posting that nonsense agreed to work for free now? Unless he has volunteered to do his job for nothing, I guess he has put himself in that same category.
Most people at the Flint Journal worked for many more hours than they were paid and worked odd strange schedules that no union organization would ever tolerate. They have done that because they love what they do and want to do it well. They also did it for a paycheck.
I once argued with a Board of Directors member (a publisher of a string of Michigan weeklies) at The State News over his comment that "reporters aren't motivated by higher pay." That's when the maximum pay for student journalists at The State News was $25-$35 a week for about 25-35 hours of work.
I vehemently objected to his premise. I may have even referred to it as solid cow exhaust. While many of us loved our work, we like everyone else, have bills to pay and children to raise. That doesn't happen without a paycheck.
Back to my colleagues. Keep your heads up, the demise of the Flint Journal is the result of a number of factors, the economy, the general decline of newspaper advertising and the incompetence of the Booth/Advance leadership, but you have done your jobs and done them well.
Good luck to you all.
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7 comments:
Don't forget the angle they're using now; they fire you, then come back a month later and ask if you're interested in "joining the new team" on a part-time basis for $12 an hour, maybe freelance for $30-$50 a story.
Oh, you aren't interested? WELL! I guess we'll go out and find some REAL journalists who LOVE the business! Obviously, you're only thinking of yourself.
I'd call the whole thing a Mickey Mouse operation were it not for the fact that you can make a lot more working summers at Disney World.
'Probably more gratifying work these days, too.
Have a safe trip to Buffalo and back, Jim. Just make sure you're in front of a TV at 8 p.m. Saturday for the game.
"Now we'll see who is just working for a paycheck." Huh??? Somebody up there in the Saginaw Valley is either snorting too many fumes from the sugar beet plant or needs to get his/her head out of management's butt for a few minutes for oxygen.
There is nothing dishonorable about expecting a living wage to do a job that requries long hours, excellent writing skills, a college degree, and an ability to handle often-hostile people.
I know of reporters who, under the new model, will have to get second jobs to pay bills. I suspect neither the Booth managers nor any members of the Newhouse family will have to do similarly.
History tends to repeat itself. Booth kept unions out of its newsroom (Bay City was unionized for a while) for years because it paid decent wages and benefits. The end result of this race to the bottom may be that the employees have no choice but to unionize.
Don't have much to add to what you posted, except that you can bet I'll be in front of a TV at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
"Now we'll see who is just working for a paycheck." Sounds to me like management couldn't resist posting one, Jim.
We all know these stories too well by now, but I've got to tell this one, if you'll allow. A dear friend who worked in pre-press at Bay City for 20 years or so spent the first half of her tenure as a part-timer. She's been full time and basically supervising pre-press with no title for the past nine years. She was forced to take the buyout with credit only for her part-time years, no credit at all for her full-time-status. A week ago, Mr. Breeze and the Princess asked her to stay another month to help smooth the transition. She told them to stick it. Never been more proud of a co-worker!
Well put, Jim. I guess the reporter(s) making $23,000 a year now must really LOVE it. Until they find something else, that is.
Now we'll just see who has a family to support!
Interesting how I heard the new Flint publisher went from driving an older Jeep Cherokee to an $80,000 audi in a couple weeks. Way to rub it in the faces of those working for a reduced salary.
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