Multiple sources report layoffs. One commenter here says "8 so far." I do not know if there have been more since that comment was posted. (Another now says "17 or 18.")
The purpose of this blog has been to report newsroom events. However, if anybody from other departments who has been RIFed wants to post a farewell here, you are welcome to post a comment or send me an email.
Does this mean newsroom cuts are also set for this week? Which would mean tomorrow. Based on my lousy track record from last week I refuse to speculate, but if anybody out there thinks they know, we'd all appreciate any information..
I have heard that third floor layoffs will be Friday. And maybe production layoffs. All I know for sure is that layoffs are underway. I know of at least one salesperson who has been cut in addition to The Agency people. One of those was a manager who has been at the News a long time.
ReplyDeleteI've heard more like 17 or 18. Some key folks, and folks who have been here for a long time.
ReplyDeleteHere's the honest truth: You can't feel sympathy for anyone getting cut today. It's been the same thing at that place every year since 2006. Anyone with half a brain can see it coming. If you know there's a bunch of nails on the road, but you drive over them anyway, should you expect sympathy when you get a flat tire? Sorry, the answer is no.
ReplyDeleteIf you work at DMN, leave.
@4:14 p.m.: What planet do you happen to live on? Like there are good jobs sitting out on the sidewalks for us to pick up? Most of us have had our heads on swivels looking for an alternative for a long time. Staying as long as possible and getting every last DMN paycheck may have been the best choice for many who have been or will be cut.
ReplyDeleteCan't feel sympathy? I am tempted to violate the civility rules for this blog but I don't want my comment to be deleted.
@4:14 p.m.: I left while the leaving was good -- in the '06 buyout. Then I was laid off from my next two jobs and was off nearly a year before getting a new position. 4:55 p.m. is right: It's a jungle out there for people with our skills and experience.
ReplyDeleteTo @4:14 p.m.: Hope you feel better now that you got that off your chest. You owe this blog a therapist's fee.
ReplyDeleteSome of us who stayed did so for good reason. It's not because we weren't smart enough to get while the getting was good, or because we couldn't get on elsewhere. Your comment insults our intelligence and abilities.
We know this is a game of last-man standing. So is the rest of the economy. We also know the good ol' days of the DMN and journalism are gone. Money is tight, and there is more to do.
Despite the corporate mistakes that have been made in recent years, the newsroom managers have done a yeoman's job of preserving more resources and editorial ambition than most other metro dailies out there. You may not see this, or want to see this. But some of us believe this place still has much to offer, layoff risks and all. That's why it pains us to think we'd lose our jobs.
Why don't you do something more constructive than spam this site and post a job opening for someone who might lose their job in a few days.
Expected to find information here.
ReplyDeleteDid not expect to find rancor.
Monitor-please consider deleting these unrelated jousts and rants.
If you're willing to relocate, there are tons of jobs out there. Check journalismjobs.com, the Poynter jobs site, the "careers" sections of the Conde Nast and Hearst sites, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe advertising side lost 16 dedicated, creative and enterprising workers today. They deserve support and appreciation, which is more than they ever got from management.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Dan. There are jobs out there. Relocation, however, is not easy for many of us. Selling a house is all by itself a huge obstacle. For the old timers, too, many of the jobs I see are much lower pay. If we must jump, that is a possibility. But we all hope against hope that we will survive another one.
ReplyDelete@7:41, I am willing to allow some blowing off of steam. Where else can we do it other than our own cubicles?
Blowing off steam is one thing. Having to weed through former employees (if they are indeed that) coming here to twist the knife is another. Really sad that people feel the need/desire to do that. Just my $.02 ...
ReplyDeleteI left TDMN a couple of years ago of my own volition, and moved to another city for a job. It took six months to sell our house, which people say is fairly quick in a down market. I guess so, but we paid that mortgage for six months, plus rent on our new place, and we ended up taking a $40,000 loss on the house. We took the only offer we had.
ReplyDeleteOne offer. Six months.
Between the loss on the house and paying the mortgage while the house set vacant, the whole thing cost us $50,000. That wiped out our nest egg. It's not easy at all to move if you own your own place -- and that's the main reason we are not about to buy in our new city, despite the great interest rates. Still too burned from our Dallas experience, and besides, there is far too much economic instability.
I feel real bad for my old TDMN colleagues today.
Honest question, especially for those that "survive." Given the DMN's lack of fealty and compassion to any worker outside the inner circle, why has there not been even the slightest clandestine attempt at labor solidarity? With layout champ and now moreso with Newsgate, the "power" to produce all daily content has been and will always reside in the hands and minds of a relative few talented staffers at night. You always had the ability to make a united statement and stage a walkout at about 10 p.m., resulting in no newspapers hitting the streets. The owners of that paper are extremely image-conscious with their society peers. I'm not sure it's even dawned in them to plan for such a labor incident. You may have leverage at that point to negotiate some humane guarantees moving forward. "Right to work state" is what they hide behind. But there have been federal labor laws violated consistently since 2004 there, not to mention the owner's misperceived "right" to remove professional dignity nearly every year since '04. If you've worked there fir a while and are finally freed, you will be amazed by your own lack of self-respect and how you enabled. Just an honest intellectual query for worried workers at this stage if the dysfunction?
ReplyDeleteI sorta wish the ex-employees would stop dispensing the advice. It's 2011, not 2004 or 2006. Fewer jobs are available for anyone to jump ship. And saying we lack self-respect is grating.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to say what someone else should do with their career without factoring in a lack of jobs, housing market in the toilet,etc. I survived my layoff and did not have to relocate but there are no comparable positions in my field. Happily I have switched gears, have never missed a house payment and am better off financially. Do I miss journalism? Absolutely but I am glad I stayed to the bitter end. The News will always be a part of me and I am better for it. My new career is much easier and definately more lucrative. These are sad times for all who heard the call to serve our community in this way.
ReplyDeleteI was one of the "marketing" folks let go this week. It's kind of like preparing for someone dying - you know it's eminent, but you're never prepared. Why did I stay so long (for me, "so long" is five years)? I stayed because I believed in what I was doing. I stayed because there are still some extraordinarily bright people at DMN (granted, fewer than there used to be). I stayed because every now and then I would get a glimpse of the passion that I found so addicting. I'm not sad about the place I left on Thursday. I'm sad about leaving the place I once knew.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe comment I killed was an attack on managers, by name. I am taking no stand on whether the criticism was correct or not. This blog, though, is not the place for that. No personal attacks.
ReplyDeleteHey folks, it’s not DMN. It’s the Land of Fiefdoms where the feudal lords chant lies up the castle walls, whiz on their subjects all the while comparing their “organs”. How can one fault the king and his prince? They can’t see the battles occurring in the kingdom for all the smoke being blown up their kilts.
ReplyDeleteThe LOF is one of the few places I’ve seen that will count pages coming off a printer but will not enforce a per diem cap for travel expenses nor require the detailed receipts. LOF will pay for booze and trips to resort areas miles away from where the subjects are supposed to be toiling. The feudal system allows the lords to create vassalages for their pet subjects. The vassals are allowed to ravage and pillage the estate unfettered. The entire feudal system is designed to eliminate any serfs who question the legitimacy of the government.
Long live the KING…
I'm getting a mental image of a man wearing knight's armor, rhythmically clopping two coconut halves...
ReplyDelete