Sunday, April 12, 2009

Quo Vadimus?

This blog was created for a very specific purpose: To provide information about this round of layoffs. The layoffs are over. Before we move on, I think we need to note that we all committed some remarkable journalism on deadline.

With no help or hindrance from our corporate overlords we: Were able to publish the size, departments and categories of the layoffs in one day. Which if you missed it was:
11 from Local News. 10 reporters, one news clerk
1 production editor from Editorial
6 from Lifestyles: Two part-time editors, one full-time editor, two writers, one Guide listings editor/writer.
3 from business: One reporter, a wire editor and an assistant editor.
13 from the sports: 8 from desk, 4 writers, 1 phone clerk
6 from Photo (Photo details: 4 photographers, 1 color tech, 1 photo librarian)
3 from News Art: One graphic artist, two designers
6 off the news copy desk
1 off the news desk
(As I look at it, we could still use the specifics from Photo and News Art. Update: Photo and News Art info now supplied. )

Engage a community in spirited and sometimes useful discussions. Feature some astonishingly good writing -- not mine, but some of the farewell notes are amazingly good. Distributed useful information about some of the kinds of help our now-former colleagues might be able to find.

If only dallasnews.com was as consistently successful at taking advantage of the possibilities of online journalism. Cloud-sourcing, immediacy, error correction, interactivity. Also, with very few exceptions, the tone of the comments has been civil enough. Some were pretty strong, but we were all entitled to that.

Are we done? I'm still getting a trickle of farewell notes, and I promise I will always get those posted. A few job and seminar notes are also coming in.

My question for this community: Do I need to keep DMNCuts going after this week? Is there a purpose that is not being met in other places? I'm incredibly proud of what we all did here, but like all of us, I need to spend my energy and time wisely. I'm open to staying open. I could go on hiatus and shut off the comments until the next round of cuts is announced. Or I could let the mask pass to someone else, as Mr. Sunbeam and RockOfTruth did to me.

What do you think?