Saturday, July 19, 2008

Shufflin' off to Buffalo, again




We're on our way to Buffalo, NY to visit and help Joan's parents. We are there so often I starting to think we should have dual citizenship and residency.

I have been pretty lucky in finding Internet connections there and I've got a post scheduled to go up on Monday that answers a question that was posed to me by one of the readers about where I thought the Flint Journal went off the tracks.

The answer to that is not easy and obviously complex, but I'll try and address it on Monday in as fair a way as I can.

Meanwhile I'm posting a few additional photos of our Alaska trip, not because they fit this entry, but simply because I can. I love blogging. Actually, Chris, of California, a frequent visitor here requested some additional Alaska photos. Photo 1: Joan and I near the Mendenhall Glacier; photo 2, a beautiful river rushing down the mountains near Skagway taken from the White Pass train that travels up more than 3,000 feet from sea level; Photo 3; the view from our ship at the port of Skagway (a repeat post, but I love looking at the beautiful weather). I'll post more later. If you really need to, you can click on the photos for a larger image.

And you thought you had worries....


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

News stocks plunge to new lows


Here's a story to make you sour, especially if you own or depend on news stocks.



Help is already coming in

Some of you have already responded to my request for salary information. Thanks and I'm going to continue to gather for a couple weeks before I report the findings.
However, one person was quick to point out something I forgot.
In the past three years, there have been no raises for the staff at all. Instead of a raise, the company has gone to a 1 percent or 1.5 percent additional bonus at the beginning of each year.
As nice as that is, it does nothing to improve your eventual retirement calculations as those are based on your base salary.
There has been suspicion that editors and other higher ups have continued to be rewarded at a rate higher than the reporters. I don't mention that with any authority or actual information, but if you have that kind of information I would welcome that as well.

Comparing notes

For all of the time I worked at the Flint Journal the one major secret was how much each reporter and editor made. At no time was a list published with the starting salary, step increases or top salary for reporter or editor.

In the coming weeks I plan to delve a little into this, but need the help of some of my former colleagues, both those who left with the buyout and those who remain.

For those who remain, DO NOT do this from work. If you send me information, please do it from home. I do not want to be responsible for any adverse reaction from the bosses there.

For those of us who have left I think it might be instructive to the new employees what the pay scale used to be like. For those who are still there it might be helpful to know what the new pay and benefit scale is among your current colleagues.

I'll get things started. When I joined the Flint Journal in June 1989, I was offered a salary of $610 a week, plus fully paid medical and dental benefits.

When I left with the buyout in December I was making a base salary of $1,052 a week and still had my fully paid health, dental and vision benefits. We also had the option of contributing to a 401k plan (and I'm sure employees there still do). The company matched that contribution up to 2 percent (relatively low by corporate standards, but nice nonetheless). For the first five years I had two weeks paid vacation (It may have gone to three weeks after 2-3 years), but then jumped to four weeks paid vacation a year. Plus we received an annual 53rd week paycheck, which was basically a bonus. In my best year I made nearly $60,000 working a lot of overtime and holidays.

For the first 15 years I worked there, overtime was liberally offered, but became more difficult in the early 2000s and impossible by 2006, except when they were desperate to fill a holiday or sick employee's shift.

Mileage reimbursement was a joke and always well below the federal suggested amount. When many companies and governments were paying 50 cents a mile, the Journal was still pay 34 cents a mile. Shameful. I wore out five cars working for three newspapers and finally just considered it a part of the cost of doing what I loved.

So here's the deal. Send me (anonymously, but with some clue that you actually work or did work there) a comment by clicking on the comment button on this entry. I will NOT publish (unless you indicate that it's OK) the specific comments but will compile then into a chart (something the editors at the Flint Journal love) of what the past and current pay scale is and was. Also let me know what the current benefits are so we can compare those also.

When I get them all together I will publish the whole list here. If I don't get a good response, I'll just make it up. Just kidding. Editors are welcome to join in as well. Wouldn't we love to know what those guys make for holding endless meetings and making other people work?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

More enlightened MLive discussion

Same topic as before (assistant prosecutor allegedly having an affair with a woman he prosecuted for embezzlement) only more unsubstantiated drivel from anonymous commenter's. If this is the new journalism, I'm really glad I'm part of the old journalism. Notice that one of them was so offensive, it actually ran twice, two minutes apart:


Posted by sunnyside08 on 07/14/08 at 11:57PM
Wow I cannot believe Dana has gotten away with it again. So now they are going to let her continue her work release program when she has bragged to many people at her former place of work how the person running that program last name starts with a S wants her how he sings to her and how he calls her on her cell phone to see how she is doing she is laughing in everyone's face, she openly admitted to many of us how the person running the work release wanted her and because of that he let her do pretty much what she wanted. The whole system I think is banging Dana she has slept her way through a lot and now are own Judges and Sheriff Department are just going to let her get away with it again Man who hasnt slept with her, I guess Dana has some real good BACON
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Posted by sunnyside08 on 07/14/08 at 11:59PM
Wow I cannot believe Dana has gotten away with it again. So now they are going to let her continue her work release program when she has bragged to many people at her former place of work how the person running that program last name starts with a S wants her how he sings to her and how he calls her on her cell phone to see how she is doing she is laughing in everyone's face, she openly admitted to many of us how the person running the work release wanted her and because of that he let her do pretty much what she wanted. The whole system I think is banging Dana she has slept her way through a lot and now are own Judges and Sheriff Department are just going to let her get away with it again Man who hasnt slept with her, I guess Dana has some real good BACON
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Posted by ddhier on 07/15/08 at 12:10AM
I also heard she has her make-up and a very nice cell and the door is always left open. She has also been seen at her home in Montrose and driving around town. She should be made to ride the bus to and from work. And checked in on all the time. Is she sleeping with owner/manager of Starbucks too? I will no longer be going to the Miller Rd. location. Not that it matters much. Is she paying for her work release? And after being on work release and no bills how come only 1200.00 has been paid back. And you can't tell me her husband had no idea she was doing this. With all the trips and clothes etc.
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Here's the link to the whole story: http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/07/assistant_prosecutor_kennan_de.html