Monday, June 25, 2001

Maryland's "second most powerful man" gets Baltimore Sun buyout offer
Longtime Baltimore Sun deputy editorial page editor Barry Rascovar says he has until late July to consider the paper's early retirement incentive package. Rascovar's associates predict he'll take the offer because it's too good to refuse. "Several political insiders said they cannot imagine the Sun -- or the Maryland political scene -- without him," reports Josh Kurtz, who says Rascovar has been described as the second most powerful man in Maryland.

Wall Street Jounral says it's dumping 10-20 more newsroom jobs (Inactive link)
This is the second round of job cuts at the paper. Earlier this year, the company cut roughly 2 percent of its work force, or 200 jobs, as part of $120 million annual cost reductions.

US Weekly fires three editorial staffers as ad pages drop (Inactive link)
The latest staff downsizing comes as Wenner Media-owned Us Weekly reports its ad pages are down 27.2 percent in the month of May compared to the year before (66.5 pages vs. 91.35).

Portland Press-Herald moves to cut workforce by 10 percent
The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram says it will lay off an unspecified number of workers and offer early retirement packages to others. The newspaper blamed the advertising decline for the cubacks. "I regret the impact these actions may have on some of our valued employees, and we have tried to minimize the scope of the labor-force reductions as much as we can," says Jean H. Eichenbaum, the company's vice president and general manager.

Eight Boston Globe staffers change minds on buyout deals
Most of the 185 staffers who decided to take the buyouts left the paper on June 22, reports the Boston Herald. The Globe now has about 2,900 full-time employees.
PLUS: Russert on BostGlobe's retiring Nyhan: "He solved the puzzle"

Friday, June 22, 2001

News titans had a miserable time at Gannett's get-together
They apparently spent a lot of time comparing ad linage declines. "The only cheerful note was sounded by a CEO or two who ventured that the 'revenue picture' may have 'touched bottom,'" says William German. "Even as they bemoaned the state of the country's (and their classified advertising departments') labor market, they detailed and enlarged previously announced plans to reduce their own workforces."

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Employee-owned Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cuts 30 jobs
A decline in help-wanted ads is blamed for the layoffs. The paper's severance deal includes a week of pay for each year of employment with the company, six months of
medical benefits, $2,500 for education needs, and outplacement help.

Monday, June 18, 2001

New York Times Co. to cut 1,200 jobs -- about 9% of workforce
The New York Times Co. says the cuts are part of a cost-savings plan that's helped it to be "comfortable" with Wall Street profit forecasts for the second quarter and the full year.

Retiring Inky vet: Ridder and pals put profits before journalism
Science reporter Donald Drake, who celebrated his 35th anniversary with the Philadelphia Inquirer last week, says he's taking a buyout. The reporter tells his son-in-law, City Paper's Howard Altman: "I think that you have two camps here, dancing to different drummers. There are journalists who want to do good journalism and feel it would be nice if we also make a nice profit doing it. The other camp, the Ridder camp, wants a good bottom line, and it would be nice if we could do good journalism, too. If we can't, it is the bottom line that is going to be honored."
Inquirer M.E.'s early retirement "kind of rattled everybody a bit"

Time mag expected to fire up to a dozen editorial staffers (Inactive link)
Keith J. Kelly says two employees were axed on Tuesday and more are expected to be pink-slipped this week and next. "When the bloodbath is over, it is expected that 38 people will have been whacked at the magazine between the business and editorial side, bringing the downsizing to more than 6 percent of the workforce," he writes.

New York Times news show on hold because of economic downturn (Inactive link)
The paper's "National Edition" program was to be done with MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. "We don't have the funding for it," says a M-L spokesman. "We [MacNeil-Lehrer] and The Times are both still supportive of it, interested in it, but until we get funding, it is what it is."

No layoffs at Boston Globe as 193 accept voluntary buyout offers Employees opting to take buyout offers came from all departments of the newspaper, including editorial, advertising, circulation, and production, the paper says.

One life down: CutCat maker fires most of its 225 empoyees (Inactive link)
Scanning-device manufacturer Digital Convergence kept enough workers in Dallas to answer phones and maintain the company's servers. Belo -- parent of the Dallas Morning News -- invested $37.5 million in the firm for a 6.92 percent stake. The CueCat device, which sends magazine readers to Web sites, has been roundly bashed by tech reviewers.

Knight Ridder says cutbacks will put 1,700 out of work
Company comes up with the number as revenue drops 8.8% in May and K-R CEO Tony Ridder tells Wall Street that he expects to meet analysts' 2001 expectations. (Company spokesperson says the 1,700 reflects previously announced cutbacks and does not represent any additional layoffs.) Knight Ridder stock got a boost from the news.
PLUS: K-R ad revenue is down 5.1% for year to date, says company

Tribune Co. to trim workforce by 1,400 through layoffs, retirements (Inactive link)
The Chicago-based media company is offering voluntary retirement packages to "certain employees who are at least 50 years old," says Tribune Co. CEO John Madigan. Tribune Co., which now has about 28,500 full- and part-timers, hopes to trim its workforce by 3 percent. The company says publishing revenue dropped 11 percent in May, while retail advertising revenue fell 4 percent and national ad revenue dropped 16 percent. Classified advertising plummeted 24 percent during May.

Thursday, June 14, 2001

Forbes.com lays off 17 of 120 employees in several areas
The layoffs come as Forbes.com struggles with an industry slowdown in advertising spending. A spokeswoman says staffers were let go in the Web site's newsroom as well as in ad sales, administration, and technical support.

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Four Kansas City Star top execs leave in restructuring
General Manager Michael Petrak and editorial page editor Rich Hood -- a 29-year veteran of The Star -- are departing in a reorganization. The consumer marketing director and director of brand development also lose their jobs in the shakeup. The Star says Knight Ridder is willing to take Petrak as a corporate veep, while Hood has nothing lined up.

St. Pete Times halts cost-of-living checks to save $600K quarter (Inactive link)
St. Petersburg Times Editor and President Paul Tash says in a staff memo that the Poynter-owned newspaper's 2001 profit margin will likely be the lowest it's been in nearly 50 years. The quarterly cost-of-living checks to employees will be suspended for at least a year. In a Q-and-A sheet, Tash says the Times won't lay off workers "if we can help it." He adds: "We consider lay-offs a damaging option, not only for individual staffers but also for the company."

Automatic Media shutters Feed and Suck, putting 21 out of work
Unable to get additional financing, Automatic Media, closed pioneering Webzines Feed and Suck on and is considering selling the sites. Its Plastic.com will continue to operate with volunteers.

Friday, June 8, 2001

New York Post fires columnist Jack Newfield and five others
The tabloid's new editor, Col Allan fired columnist Jack Newfield and a group of editors. They are: Associate Metro Editor Lisa Baird; Managing Editor/Arts & Entertainment Marc Kalech; Sunday Features Editor Michael Lewittes; Managing News Editor Stuart Marques; and City Editor Jerry Schmetterer.

Motley Fool, Comtex News Network lay off workers
Motley Fool Inc., the Arlington, Va.-based financial news site, laid off 45 people in its second round of job cuts this year. Comtex News Network Inc., another Virginia Internet firm, said it would reduce its workforce by 11 employees.

US News & World Report trims editorial staff by 10 percent (Inactive link)
An estimated 45 U.S. News & World Report staffers lost their jobs as cuts were made in administration, manufacturing, circulation, online, and editorial. "We're doing what we think is intelligent in this market," says mag CEO Fred Drasner. "I don't think there is going to be a pick-up in the third or fourth quarter."

June 7, 2001

Boston Globe newsman: NYT Co. practices "Wall Street journalism"
Veteran Globe reporter Frank Phillips says the New York Times Company is squeezing profits out of the Globe even during an economic downturn. The Taylor family -- the Globe's owners until 1993 -- would operate the paper at a lower profit margin, or even a loss, rather than let the Globe wither, he tells Dan Kennedy.

Wednesday, June 6, 2001

Reuters expected to lay off 500 in second round of cuts
Reuters is implementing sweeping job cuts as incoming chief executive Tom Glocer restructures the business. He cut 50 top managers positions during the first week of June, and is following with about 500 more layoffs in upcoming weeks, reports Financial Times.

Seattle Times to Lay off "a few" news staffers, reduce lawn work
The newspaper is cutting deeper into everything from travel budgets to landscaping services, according to a letter to employees. The Times says it's laying off nine operations workers, four circulation workers and a "few" newsroom employees.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Pink-slips 14 in Production Department (Inactive link)
The Pulitzer Inc.-owned paper will also not fill eight vacancies in the same department.The Post-Dispatch has been offering early retirement and buyout packages, mostly to nonunion workers across the company.

St. Paul Pioneer Press Begins Offering Buyout Packages
Paper says layoffs probably unnecessary; more workers leaving due to attrition than expected.

Fost: New York Times Digital Struggles with Budget Cuts, Too
"Personnel-wise, we were always tight, but we lost about seven editorial people" in recent layoffs, says Bernie Gwertzman, editor of the New York Times on the Web. "It means whenever we want to do something extra, it puts a strain on it. In the best of all worlds, I'd like to originate more stuff, but we just don't have the money to do that."

June 4, 2001

Cappo: Big Corporations Are Saving Papers, Not Killing Them
In his review of "Leaving Readers Behind: The Age of Corporate Journalism," Joe Cappo says: "I once worked at a newspaper called the Chicago Daily News. It had built a fine reputation over more than a century, winning more Pulitzer Prizes than all but a couple of other newspapers. It was part of a family company that panicked when the paper sustained a loss one year. The paper was folded. It might be alive today if it had been acquired by a profit-motivated corporation."

Jimmy Finkelstein Buys The Hill (Inactive line)
News Communications Corp. stock was delisted on the NASDAQ on May 15; the new owner say he will take the company private. Finkelstein also said he plans to sell off the company's string of free weekly newspapers in Manhattan, including Our Town, West Side Spirit, and the Queens Tribune.

New U.S. News & World Report Editor Says Layoffs Are Coming (Inactive link)
Brian Duffy, who was officially named editor of U.S. News & World Report on Saturday, didn't estimate how many of the magazine's 250 editorial employees will lose their jobs. Duffy, who replaces Stephen Smith, says he wants to make the magazine "edgier, with a lot more enterprise," and promises to go heavy on health and personal finance stories.

Time Inc. Research Center to close
Time Inc. bosses Richard Atkinson and Isolde Motley broke the news today in a memo to their executive underlings.

Friday, June 1, 2001

Journal Newspapers Cuts 20 Jobs, Will Redesign
Copy-editing at several papers in the chain has been consolidated to one office. The company plans to run more national news from wires on its front to better compete with The Washington Post.

Fort Wayne Newspapers To Get Rid of about 30 Employees (Inactive link)
The publisher of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel and Journal Gazette hopes to shrink its payroll through early retirements and voluntary buyouts. The newspaper company currently has 580 staffers.

Layoffs Coming at Variety, Pulishers Weekly, Other Cahners Mags (Inactive link)
The bad news is expected to be announced today. Keith J. Kelly reports that the pool for raises at Cahners has shrunk and the company has scrapped plans to let employees skip out on Fridays in the summer at 1 p.m.


Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Marketwatch.com Cuts 15% of Staff to Save $9M in '01
MarketWatch.com, parent of online financial news service CBS.MarketWatch.com, said Wednesday that it will cut about 15 percent of its work force to reduce costs in the face of a slowing advertising market. San Francisco-based MarketWatch said the cuts will be made immediately. The company said the layoffs, combined with a continuing expense reduction program, will save more than $9 million this year.

Don't Bother Looking for Bananas in Fortune Magazine's Kitchen (Inactive link)
It's a new era at Time Inc. as the AOL guys stare at the bottom line. At magazine going-away parties, "you serve pretzels, there is no shrimp anymore," one staffer tells Ethan Smith and Susan Orenstein. One Time Inc. editor says AOL execs "don't understand that there's a price attached to good journalism." Another insider adds: "I'm not worried about editorial integrity, [but] I don't know about editorial quality."

Tuesday, May 29, 2001

Ridder Tells Analysts K-R's Job Cuts Are Permanent
Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder, who recently ordered 10 percent across-the-board job cuts at most of his 32 newspapers, told analysts that K-R always downsized in tough times, but added people when the economy recovered. "We don't plan to do that this time," he said. "We're going to operate with a lower number of people." New and earlier stories:
Ridder's $3M compensation will shrink if goals aren't met
PiPress Reporter Asks: "Can We Stave off Tony Ridder?"

Layoffs Becoming Standard (Inactive link)
In its third round of layoffs in 2001, Standard Media International, parent company of The Industry Standard and its Web site TheStandard.com, began cutting jobs on Thursday, with more layoffs expected. First to go were about a half-dozen online editorial staffers; cuts to print editorial and business teams are expected soon.

Friday, May 25, 2001

SF Examiner's Ted Fang Folds Weekly
The 22-year-old Redwood City Almanac, which Ted Fang has owned for two years, published its final edition last week. SF Chron's Mark Simon reports Almanac editors told readers the freebie weekly went under because of financial problems.

Job Cuts Latest Blow at ABC News Broadcasting (Inactive link)
First, "20/20" is replaced with a drama. Now, 85 people at the Walt Disney Co. unit learned last week they will be allowed to take a severance package and leave the network. An additional two dozen probably will be laid off and still more cuts will be reached through attrition, as the news division seeks to reduce its staff of 1,200 by roughly 125.

Gannett's Tennessean Has a 40% Profit Margin, Says Alt-weekly (Inactive link)
Nashville Scene estimates The Tennessean had operating profits in 2000 of about $72 million on revenues near $184 million. "In terms of increasing shareholder value, (Tennessean publisher Craig) Moon deserves an A+ for the job he has done," writes Willy Stern. "When it comes to serving the readers of Middle Tennessee, though, some would argue that the Tennessean publisher has done a less than spectacular job."

Citigroup to Halt Funds to 'NewsHour' (Inactive link)
It's the second recent blow for MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, which produces the show. Earlier this year, PBS officials told the production company that they were taking back money that had been earmarked for "National Edition," a national late-night newscast that MacNeil/Lehrer has been hoping to launch with The New York Times, because the company had been unable to line up additional corporate or foundation underwriters.

StarTrib Press Workers' Union Approves 10-year Contract (Inactive link)
The union that represents about 175 pressmen and paper handlers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune approved a 10-year contract that includes cost-of-living raises in each of the 10 years and layoff protection for all current members for that term.