As the company looks for more ways to cut labor costs, a reader tells me that The Star Press in Muncie, Ind., recently eliminated its circulation director's position. "This was to 'improve the financial health of the newspaper and in no way spoke to the quality and/or quantity of work done by the current director,'" my reader quotes management as having said.The work will now be done by a "circulation agency" at The Indianapolis Star, the reader says.
Can anyone else confirm -- and add details? What director-level positions have been axed at your paper or TV station? Post a note in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, use this link from a non-work computer; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: the June 19 Star Press, Newseum]
More circulation directors will be cut. Circulation is dropping too fast and is a losing battle. If this is the start of some managers getting cut, please cut some of the AME's that take up huge paychecks and produce very little innovation.
ReplyDeleteNo, get rid of the worthless HR departments.
ReplyDeleteThere are several pointless middle managers at our paper ... and others both inside and outside Gannettville.
ReplyDeleteWhy is that?
When we changed from a newsroom to an "information center," they created a whole new level of bureaucrats who go to meetings and sit in their corner offices drinking coffee, thinking great thoughts and criticizing what other people do -- but never sullying their hands with actual writing, editing or other productive tasks.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the rest of the staff shrinks and shrinks and shrinks.
In-freaking-credible.
Tucson some months back consolidated their VP of Marketing into the VP of Circulation spot...and didn't replace the VP title in Marketing.
ReplyDeleteBut with no circulation anyway what's the big deal!!!
This is just the latest newspaper to cut or leave the CD job open. There are over 20 newspapers that have no CD or share a CD with other newspapers. No wonder circulation volumes are dropping. Gannett has given up on growing volume.
ReplyDelete..so I would assume that the gannett newspapers that have a cd are showing circulation growth...get real....there is no bottom to ad revenues and circulation volumes...so your plan is to spend more to bring in less...if your family spending is based on income from you and your spouse...you don't go out and buy a new car when one of you loses your job...it's amazing the comments on this site from people that don't have a CLUE on how a business ....much less a newspaper business ....operates...people that can not even balance a checkbook telling management how to survive the industry problems..
ReplyDeleteSo it is better to keep cutting resources? I have to say that the constant cuts have worked wonders. Our product has suffered, our staffs are overwhelmed and can not keep up with the added work so the quality suffers. We make cuts that have a direct impact on revenue, more revenue is being lost then the cuts.
ReplyDeleteBusiness 101, you have to invest to make money. You can not keep doing the same thing over, the same way and expect differenr results....Einstein
ReplyDeleteWestchester, another dying franchise, has also consolidated Circulation and Marketing. This appears to the latest trend in downsizing staff.
ReplyDeleteI think jumping on the band wagon by increasing the daily single copy rate by 50% is one of the many steps that Gannett has taken that is deminishing Muncie and other Gannett newspapers. Expenses need to be managed better at each location and we should get rid of many of the senior managers who is under performing.
ReplyDelete