Charlotte
Observer publisher Peter Ridder's memo to staff
April
27, 2001
To
all employees,
I have
some difficult news to share with you about our business.
Many
of you have heard the headlines in staff meetings today; I
want to make sure each of you understands what is going to
happen and why.
The
Charlotte Observer's revenues are continuing to decline,
which is a direct reflection of what is happening to the economy.
This means we will need to take additional steps to offset
the drop in our business.
Classified
advertising, a large part of our total revenue, has been falling
for nearly a year. Retail and national advertising are also
starting to decline. With the national economy shaky, we have
no reason to believe we have reached bottom yet.
We
are doing many things to combat the softening economy. As
all of you know, we have been working to try to increase revenue
and control expenses, but those efforts have not been enough.
We have missed our revenue budget every month this year.
Unfortunately,
to respond adequately to the continuing decline in revenue,
we need to reduce the company's overall staff by about 3.5
percent. That is approximately 45 positions.
We
will do this through a combination of normal attrition, incentive
packages for voluntary resignations, early retirement from
some jobs, and, possibly, layoffs. We hope to avoid layoffs
but cannot promise that.
Similar
measures are being taken at many other newspapers around the
country, including most of Knight Ridder's.
The
details of which jobs will be affected and the type of incentive
packages to be offered for resignations and retirements are
still to be worked out. We will let you know when we complete
those plans, which should be within three weeks.
With
a smaller staff, we will need to adjust the way we do business;
we will stop doing some things and adjust others. We will
also look for additional ways to control expenses.
I appreciate
all the efforts so many of you have made in recent months
to reduce our costs and bring in more revenues. I know that
this news brings uncertainty and anxiety, and that there will
be hardship to individuals, their families and our company.
We will work through this difficult time quickly but carefully,
and I will keep you informed as our plans are completed.
In
the long run, we must keep our business healthy so that we
can continue to publish an excellent newspaper.
Peter
Charlotte
Observer publisher Peter Ridder announces end of KPC Photography
[Editors'
note: KPC Photography was a commercial business that also
produced non-editorial in-house photography. It shared a photo
lab and studio with The Observer and was staffed by some former
Observer employees.]
June
13, 2001
We have just announced
one of the most difficult changes our company will experience
as we reduce our workforce.
KPC Photography,
our commercial photography business, will cease operation
by June 22.
As we examine everything we do to evaluate where we should
continue to put limited resources, we have made the tough
decision to close down this part of our business.
This affects nine
of our colleagues. There will be one newly-created position
to handle internal photographic and lab needs, reporting to
Promotion. Those in KPC Photography with an interest have
been invited to apply for this opening as well as others at
The Observer. Others are considering continuing the
commercial operation as a business outside The Observer.
This change is
part of our overall plan for reducing approximately 60 positions
at The Observer.
This is an unhappy
event for all of us. I want to say thank you to everyone on
the staff of KPC Photography for their many contributions
to our company. I want to assure everyone at The Observer
that we will weather this difficult time.
Peter
|
