[NEohioPAL]B-J Cuts

Tue Aug 29 14:23:00 PDT 2006

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Dear Tom, Effie and others,

  You are right there.  When I empanel a jury one of the questions I almost always ask is what section of the newspaper they turn to first.  I have never heard Arts and Life as an answer.

  With six people to cover sports, Terry Pluto is going to be overworked.  There's no way to cover local high school sports which is a big thing papers should cover.

  By the same token, the local professional theatres should also be covered.

Tom Burnett <tburnett at neo.rr.com> wrote:

When all this shakes out, the BJ's sports department, I'm told, will 
be 6 people. No department is being spared. Having spent 25 years in 
that business, my gut tells me your letters will accomplish little. 
Despite the paper's history of excellence (if we could attach an 
electricity generator to the grave of John S. Knight, he's spinning 
enough to solve the energy shortage), it's been on a downward spiral 
for a decade, coinciding with the reign of Tony Ridder over Knight 
Ridder.

Ridder was strictly bottom line and he started cutting costs (staff) 
at all the KR papers, even the ones that were making a decent profit. 
So you have fewer people trying to cover the same sized community, 
and circulation suffers. Circulation goes down, ad sales go down and 
all of a sudden you have to cut more costs. Many of the Beacon's best 
people found other jobs, so the coverage dropped in quality as well 
as quantity. I'd say the decline goes back even 15 years, about the 
time it stopped being able to compete with the PD on salaries.

Letters and public protests can save things like comic strips or 
features that cost little to keep, but decisions on things like 
theater coverage are based on focus groups and polling and surveys. 
The sad truth is, far more people read the sports pages than read 
theater and movie reviews, so if even the sports staff is getting 
nuked, there's little hope for the arts staff.

Even the PD, for those who haven't heard, is cutting staff. The 
management has asked for voluntary buyouts on the editorial staff, 
offering 2 1/2 years pay and 2 1/2 years health insurance for those 
with at least 20 years at the paper. Left unsaid is what will happen 
if the paper does not get enough volunteers, but I think layoffs are 
not out of the question.

Tom

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<div>Dear Tom, Effie and others,<BR></div>  <div>You are right there.  When I empanel a jury one of the questions I almost always ask is what section of the newspaper they turn to first.  I have never heard Arts and Life as an answer.</div>  <div> </div>  <div>With six people to cover sports, Terry Pluto is going to be overworked.  There's no way to cover local high school sports which is a big thing papers should cover.</div>  <div> </div>  <div>By the same token, the local professional theatres should also be covered.</div>  <div><BR><B><I>Tom Burnett <tburnett at neo.rr.com></I></B> wrote:</div>  <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>When all this shakes out, the BJ's sports department, I'm told, will <BR>be 6 people. No department is being spared. Having spent 25 years in <BR>that business, my gut tells me your letters will accomplish little. <BR>Despite the paper's history of
 excellence (if we could attach an <BR>electricity generator to the grave of John S. Knight, he's spinning <BR>enough to solve the energy shortage), it's been on a downward spiral <BR>for a decade, coinciding with the reign of Tony Ridder over Knight <BR>Ridder.<BR><BR>Ridder was strictly bottom line and he started cutting costs (staff) <BR>at all the KR papers, even the ones that were making a decent profit. <BR>So you have fewer people trying to cover the same sized community, <BR>and circulation suffers. Circulation goes down, ad sales go down and <BR>all of a sudden you have to cut more costs. Many of the Beacon's best <BR>people found other jobs, so the coverage dropped in quality as well <BR>as quantity. I'd say the decline goes back even 15 years, about the <BR>time it stopped being able to compete with the PD on salaries.<BR><BR>Letters and public protests can save things like comic strips or <BR>features that cost little to keep, but decisions on things like
 <BR>theater coverage are based on focus groups and polling and surveys. <BR>The sad truth is, far more people read the sports pages than read <BR>theater and movie reviews, so if even the sports staff is getting <BR>nuked, there's little hope for the arts staff.<BR><BR>Even the PD, for those who haven't heard, is cutting staff. The <BR>management has asked for voluntary buyouts on the editorial staff, <BR>offering 2 1/2 years pay and 2 1/2 years health insurance for those <BR>with at least 20 years at the paper. Left unsaid is what will happen <BR>if the paper does not get enough volunteers, but I think layoffs are <BR>not out of the question.<BR><BR>Tom<BR><BR>_______________________________________<BR>Neohiopal is SELF-SERVE. If you need to unsubscribe, change from digest to one-at-a-time delivery or vice-versa, go on hiatus while out of town, switch from mime to plain text or vice-versa, etc. check out the FAQS at
 http://www.fredsternfeld.com.<BR>______________________________________<BR>There is a sister site to this list called the "NEoPAL Bulletin Board." Occasionally when "hot-button" discussions go on more than a day or two, the bulletin board is used: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/neopal/ <BR>_______________________________________<BR>Disclaimer: The facts and/or opinions expressed in this message are solely those of the person in the "from" or "reply-to" header. The fact that this message is posted should in no way be taken as an endorsement by the administrator of this list. Subscribers should perform due diligence for all goods, services and activities promoted on NEohioPAL.<BR><BR>NEohioPAL mailing list<BR>NEohioPAL at lists.fredsternfeld.com<BR>http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
		<hr size=1>Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman7/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=39666/*http://messenger.yahoo.com"> Great rates starting at 1¢/min.
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