I’ve been one of the Journal Star’s biggest fans ever since I was a paperboy and I’ve stuck with it even after the buyout and as the content and paper itself has dwindled, but this is pushing me to the edge. My renewal is coming up soon…
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Three weeks before Christmas. Nice. I know that some of those laid off have families with school-age children. Guild employees have a no-layoff agreement through March 2010. Wonder what will happen April 1, 2010? Maybe they’ll wait until right before Easter for more layoffs.
“I know that some of those laid off have families with school-age children.”
Yes, I know that too, which makes it even worse. I also wonder what happens to a local newspaper when all the local reporters are gone? In that vein, don’t forget that we lost HOI earlier in the year.
This has been going on in news and media around the country for several years. First, as the options for news and media continue to grow (e.g. endless news channels, internet news sources, endless new television and internet channels… blogs) and increasing number of players are fighting for the same slice of pie (& revenue). Second, more and more local media outlets are being gobbled up by media conglomerates that want to strip them down to the bare bones to turn up the profit.
This is even happening in the national media. Has anyone noticed how cnn.com uses I-Report (ie Free Report) more and more?
Not a great time to try to make a career in traditional media. Especially local media. Even when you have a job in local media, it doesn’t pay that much.
PI,
I’m with you on the renewal. I can’t decide what is the “right thing” to do. One, I loved the Journal Star before Gatehouse, and hate that newspapers are dying. Two, but since I don’t like Gatehouse and how they treat their employees, I feel a bit guilty buying the newspaper. Three, if I (and others) thus cancel our newspaper subscriptions, will that just lead to more layoffs? It seems inevitable.
Jennifer
December 4th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Indeed. If GateHouse media could outsource the reporting, or rely exclusively on press releases, they would.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Three weeks before Christmas. Nice. I know that some of those laid off have families with school-age children. Guild employees have a no-layoff agreement through March 2010. Wonder what will happen April 1, 2010? Maybe they’ll wait until right before Easter for more layoffs.
December 4th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
“I know that some of those laid off have families with school-age children.”
Yes, I know that too, which makes it even worse. I also wonder what happens to a local newspaper when all the local reporters are gone? In that vein, don’t forget that we lost HOI earlier in the year.
December 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Yeah, right before Christmas, pretty heartless.
This has been going on in news and media around the country for several years. First, as the options for news and media continue to grow (e.g. endless news channels, internet news sources, endless new television and internet channels… blogs) and increasing number of players are fighting for the same slice of pie (& revenue). Second, more and more local media outlets are being gobbled up by media conglomerates that want to strip them down to the bare bones to turn up the profit.
This is even happening in the national media. Has anyone noticed how cnn.com uses I-Report (ie Free Report) more and more?
Not a great time to try to make a career in traditional media. Especially local media. Even when you have a job in local media, it doesn’t pay that much.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:41 am
PI,
I’m with you on the renewal. I can’t decide what is the “right thing” to do. One, I loved the Journal Star before Gatehouse, and hate that newspapers are dying. Two, but since I don’t like Gatehouse and how they treat their employees, I feel a bit guilty buying the newspaper. Three, if I (and others) thus cancel our newspaper subscriptions, will that just lead to more layoffs? It seems inevitable.
Jennifer