"I can't tell you where the bottom is.''
-- CEO Gary Pruitt, about plans announced yesterday to cut 10% of McClatchy Co.'s workforce. Perhaps hardest-hit: The Miami Herald, which is eliminating 17%, or 250 jobs.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
15 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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I wonder what kind of pay cut Pruitt is taking to demonstrate solidarity with those losing their jobs because of his decisions?
ReplyDeleteOK, but his bad decision was to buy out Knight Ridder for a sum that looked ridiculous even a few months later, when they had to sell the Strib for half-price. It's like business is bad, plus you paid $5 million for a $500,000 house and you can't move out! This won't be pretty
ReplyDelete...and to paste and copy the same "exit, sorry" memo to staff is pretty damn insensitive. Don't count on any voluntary pay cuts.
ReplyDeleteBad, bad news.
ReplyDeleteGCI already is planning to one-up McClatchy, I'm sure.
anon @ 7:57: What difference would that really make? Just to make people feel better? "Sorry you guys got canned outright. If it makes you feel better I make less money now, but I still have a job!" I'm seriously getting tired of reading comments like yours on this blog.
ReplyDeleteManagement is in management to make the decisions that the lay employees are either unwilling or unable to make, and due to the market of supply and demand, they need to be paid accordingly: if McClatchy didn't pay up, someone else would. I think CEOs make too much to start with, but I can't change the reality of the situtation. Especially not by complaining.
So there's a shortage in this country of psychopaths willing to sacrifice the livelihoods of thousands of other people in order to fluff their own nests? Gee, I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteI guess we do need to pay managers those huge salaries. There are just some things that the rest of us won't do for any amount of money.
The problem for some time has been publicly held corporate ownership of newspapers. As long as we are beholden to Wall Street margins, we will see these kinds of RIFs continue. Families could weather the cyclical storms easier. But Wall Street is unyielding - you make the number and preserve the margin at any cost, any cost. It will mean just more ruthlessness and more pressure. Been said here before. The after action review when this bloodletting concludes will show the unrelenting focus on milking profits and jacking up margins and stock prices between 1999 and 2004 robbed newspapers of the foresight and resources and leadership to digitally adapt to the new media. Now it has become a catch up game not everyone will win.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/video/strategysession/10421701.html?cm_ven=YAHOOV&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA#10421701
ReplyDeleteInteresting Bit on McClatchy
It would be one thing if higher management were making tough decisions because of things they could not control.
ReplyDeleteBut the tough decisions being made now are because of bad decisionsmade by these same people before.
America is broke, battered, and bruised. The whole community of family has been under silent attack for years. The rich, powerful, and influential have had their day.
ReplyDeleteA new day will dawn. After we reach the edge. Gannett has been just one of the many pawns.
Creativity...at some point will be rewarded.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003817535
ReplyDeleteI thought the the revamping of the newsroom and the creation of the Information Center was going to save this company. Failure is O.K. Gannett will blame it all on the economy. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the incompetent management across the entire company.
Newspapers are late to the blocks on the internet, among other things. That is something that cannot be blamed on the rank and file that take their direction from the top. Bad decisions by those at the top, along with a poor economy, is one of several problems facing the industry. Who suffers as a result of upper management's bad decisions? Well is sure isn't upper management but rather the rank and file! Yeah, the little guy gets hosed again.
ReplyDeletedeciding to throw 10 productive reporters overboard seems to be easier than deciding to cut executive pay 10%. and we've all seen how well it's working out for the business.
ReplyDeleteThe new model appears to be:
ReplyDeleteCreate newspaper TV with dinky palmcorders.
Keep giving your content away for free.
Continue to cut staff/resources/pages.
Get appraisals on your real estate 'cause you're going to have to sell some.
Not very bright. The crystal ball must have been vacant that year. He gambled, and he lost. And yet gets the big bonus.
ReplyDeleteYou would have been fired for much less.