Monday, January 18, 2010

First the layoffs, now the hiring

Just a couple weeks ago we reported the pending layoffs at Booth newspapers on the west side of the State. Today comes this ad. Hard to know if this is cutting too deeply, or getting rid of the high-priced help and replacing it with lower paid, part-time help.
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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rumors the bc times to close. Top employee leaving unexpectedly. Know anything?

18 January, 2010 20:56
Jim of L-Town said...

Haven't heard a thing.

18 January, 2010 22:28
Anonymous said...

So now you're posting rumor comments? Sometimes I think you're damaging peoples' lives more so than the people that have to make the tough decisions. Of course you always did have an ego bigger than the 3-story building you worked so many long hard hours in

19 January, 2010 00:19
Jim of L-Town said...

I simply put up the poster's question. As I said I don't know anything. That comment, like yours, came from an anonymous comment so take it for what it's worth.

19 January, 2010 05:56
Anonymous said...

Yeah it was Jim's decision to get rid of most of the good FJ writers and go to three days a week.

When are you closing the Journal down Jim?

19 January, 2010 07:40
Anonymous said...

"Damaging their lives more so than the people that have to make the tough decisions" ... yeah, like the guy that told people their jobs were safe, didn't need to take the buyout, then 2 months later told them the paper was closing and they were out of a job.

19 January, 2010 08:15
Anonymous said...

It was a four-story building. Us intelligent workers who were cut were never fooled by that "mezzanine" trickery.

19 January, 2010 14:05
Anonymous said...

What kind of an idiot doesn't understand that substantiating rumor is what news people do best? It's how you find out what's going on when decision-makers are trying to hide under rocks. And what tough decisions did these people have to make? "Hmmm, how many people shall I layoff today? Enough to save my own behind, surely. Let's see, a dozen reporters, most of the copy editors and a few photographers for a good start. Kids out of college will write for half the price of the reporters, and reporters should be able to spell so who needs copy editors and as for photographers, heck my 15-year old has a digital camera and Photo Shop."

Whew, tough decisions!!

19 January, 2010 18:11
former newsie said...

Don't know anything about the BC Times closing or a top employee leaving unexpectedly. But a former assistant metro editor at the Times has returned as the new community editor.

19 January, 2010 19:57
Anonymous said...

Regarding the rumor, unless ad revenue has fallen completely through the basement floor, I don't see Bay City folding in the immediate future. The Times was still selling around 24,000 papers on Thursdays and Fridays, and around 34k on Sundays as of the last ABC report. Those numbers have been going down big time for awhile now, but they'll probably still be selling at above the 20k (30k Sunday) mark a couple of years from now. I mean, if people are willing to pay you money, take their money. On top of that, The Times obviously reduced its expenses in anticipation of these constantly-declining numbers, so it should be in good position to soldier on for some time.

As for the west side of the state, I'd say it's a scary time to be in Kalamazoo or Muskegon.

But don't worry about G.R.

Just as concern over the state of the industry was growing there, the paper got a most-welcome submission stuffed into its employee suggestion box. Man, this is a great American story. This idea came not from a finance person, not from an ad rep, not even from a journalist, but rather from a -- get this -- SPORTS WRITER! Local management loves it, and the boys on Staten Island are . . . well, they're damned intrigued, that's what they are.

It's a source for a new revenue stream at The Press. Right now, the working title of this project is "Wealth Enhancement Enabling Dividends." Details leaked to me are a bit hazy, but my source -- let's call her Mary Jane -- tells me this is something that has really taken root -- actually, by the hundreds -- and prospects for this project are sky high.

Word has it the project has cleared the incubation stage and is now at kind of a "greenhouse" level of growth.

This should take some of the pressure off the traditional news and information business that has been G.R.'s forte since the mid-1800s.

Personally, I'm stoked.

19 January, 2010 22:59
Anonymous said...

In my experience, those who preach the hardest against rumors usually are those who are "in the know" already.

If I were crazy enough to work at the Flint Journal, I'd be listening very carefully to the rumors. In this economy and in this journalism market, they can't afford NOT to.

19 January, 2010 23:59
inky said...

When an employer has a demonstrated track record of lying, it encourages rumors.

For example, if Booth truly were interested in the truth, the want ad for the K-zoo assignment editor would say that they want the equivalent of Maureen Dowd to work full-time for part-time Taco Bell wages.

And anonymous 00:19's response is hysterical: "Damaging people's lives"? Let's do a survey and see who has damaged more lives with bad management, a shoddy product, lies and half-truths -- Booth or Jim.

20 January, 2010 12:16
Anonymous said...

Speaking of shoddy. Have u VIEWed the gb/Burton/davison product that former fj reporters and ad rejects are at. Lol. Now that's junk.

20 January, 2010 13:58
Anonymous said...

"Wealth Enhancement Enabling Dividends"?!?!?!?!

What does that mean? Is this sarcasm or real?

20 January, 2010 15:15
Anonymous said...

A former Times AME returning to be the new community editor? Some people never learn.

20 January, 2010 15:33
Anonymous said...

Who's left at BC that could be considered a "top" employee?

20 January, 2010 15:35
Anonymous said...

Anonymous 13:58
"Former FJ reporters and ad rejects.."
Rejects? Weren't these people fired, I mean laid off or severanced. The company rejected them, aren't they entitled to find a job somewhere else. And isn't it likely they could find a job doing the same thing since that is there skill set? How does that make them rejects?

20 January, 2010 15:45
Anonymous said...

I just want to point out, that Jim didn't work so many long hard hours in the four-story building.
He tended to be out in the field, doing the work of a real reporter.
:)

21 January, 2010 20:35
Jim of L-Town said...

Thanks Anonymous. Also sometimes doing my Christmas shopping, getting my hair cut and watching planes take off and land at Bishop Airport. But mostly I was working.

Jim

21 January, 2010 21:28

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