Memo
from Time Inc. exec veep Richard Atkinson and corporate
editor Isolde Motley re: Research Center
TO:
The Editorial Services Staff
Managing Editors, Presidents, Publishers & General Managers
FROM:
Richard Atkinson & Isolde Motley
DATE:
June 1, 2001
SUBJECT:
Time Inc. Memorandum: Editorial Services Division
The
Editorial Services Division has consistently provided our
magazines and our Company with critical support and superb
service over the years.
As
we all know, however, the economic realities of today's marketplace
have caused us all to re-assess the way we operate in order
to reduce costs while continuing to provide the resources
our Company needs to thrive.
That
imperative, along with management changes, and the Company's
early retirement incentive program, have prompted us to make
significant changes within Editorial Services that, unfortunately,
will affect the jobs of a number of people. These changes
are being made to reduce overhead and re-deploy a number of
important functions to the units that benefit from them.
While
the Time Inc. Research Center is recognized inside and outside
the Company for its exemplary research, changes in the way
information is accessed by our magazine staffs, the use of
local and specialized support to provide this material at
our titles, and the administrative costs of a centralized
function have led to the decision to dissolve the Time Inc.
Research Center, effective August 31. As a consequence, TIME
Magazine, and the FORTUNE/MONEY Group will each establish
local research centers to serve their operations. In addition,
a small staff of database professionals will continue in Edit
Services, managing the preparation and distribution of text
resources to outside database suppliers and overseeing our
corporate relationship with key information providers. While
this will result in the elimination of jobs within the Time
Inc. Research Center, individuals there will have the opportunity
to interview for the newly-created positions to support TIME
and the FORTUNE/MONEY Group. The timing of this announcement
also reflects our desire to make sure that the individuals
in the Research Center eligible for the Company's early retirement
offer will be able to evaluate that offer in the context of
these changes.
Lany
McDonald, who has done an extraordinary job creating a world-class
Research Center, will assist with this transition and take
on wider responsibilities advising Claude in the evaluation
of other Editorial Services operations through the end of
this year.
In
addition, effective immediately, Scott Mowbray, who has done
a superb job managing the editorial content of Custom Publishing,
will report to Corporate Editor Isolde Motley. Archives will
now report to Peter Costiglio, Vice President of Corporate
Communications, and a principal user of the Archives' services.
We also plan to re-evaluate the direction and interdependency
of our picture businesses, including the recently launched
Internet-based photo agency, TimePix, and the Picture Collection,
which will include assessing the nature and volume of the
images we digitize. In addition, we will be re-examining the
operation of the Photo Lab as it moves to a new, efficient
and more accessible location in the concourse of the Time
& Life Building. The goal is to increase the use of the Photo
Lab by divisions not now availing themselves of its services
and to make it a self-sufficient operation by year's end.
We
offer our thanks and deepest appreciation to all those in
Editorial Services -- and especially those in the Time Inc.
Research Center -- who have provided the Company with such
exceptional resources and service for so many years.
> A
TIME INC. INSIDER E-MAILS: The decision to close the
Time Inc. Research Center has been met with shock and dismay
by both the 42 employees of the center and by its hundreds
of clients. It appears to have been made at the very highest
corporate levels (AOLTW), with minimal consultation by RC
leadership or its clients. The cost of maintaining the research
center was, indeed, high, given that it was part of a larger
division (editorial services), but the decision to dissolve
it by August 31 leaves AOLTW with NO corporate research center,
only specialized libraries meant to meet the edit needs of
People, EW, SI and -- now (with very little forethought) --
Time and Fortune. The Research Center staff has been inundated
with emails and phone calls from clients and colleagues, all
expressing their shock, sadness and dismay at the decision.
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