Brian Duffy drew The Des Moines Register's famous front-page editorial cartoon since 1983 -- until he was laid off this week, along with 69 other workers at the paper. In an interview with WHO-TV, he lashed out at Gannett -- and at the Register, for how management told him he was being let go. "That's the stunner," he says.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
48 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."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Duffy's interview was very poignant and provided a sharp contrast to the USAT layoffs, where people were allowed to take their time to pack up and say goodbyes.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly one-sided. Even a pro-forma "Tara Connell had no comment" would have at least pretended like the reporter had made an effort.
ReplyDeleteJournalism doesn't only die by a thousand cuts. It dies from people not doing their job and getting the story.
He'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteGannett won't.
Typical.
ReplyDeleteBut Brian Duffy WILL rise above Gannett to go on and become an even brighter star than what he is now. His termination from this garbage corporation will become a blessing to him, his family and his fans in no time flat. Truly someone to watch!
Good luck and Happy Holidays, Mr. Duffy!!
Sincerely, A Fan in NJ
Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteMany of us, past and present Register employees, wondered how it all went down.
I'm glad Duffy has gathered himself and will be forging on. Being syndicated will help, whether he gets another "live cartooning" job in the future.
As a columnist, that's what I had hoped to do before my career ended. Didn't manage it, so I'm starting over ... again.
Brian
ReplyDeleteYou had better not let ANY more of your cartoons be published in a Gannett Newspaper EVER! Here's hoping that many, if not most, readers will cancel their subscriptions and that many advertisers will refuse to advertise in a paper without your wonderful cartoon to brighten readers' days.
Typical of Gannett to let go the best talent while keeping the dead wood. Business is business but "stupid is as stupid does."
Brian Duffy is too good of a talent for Gannett and will be better off as an independent cartoonist.
ReplyDeleteI admire Mr. Duffy's courage for speaking the truth in public rather than resorting to "anonymous" postings on the internet like I and other fearful potential GCI targets feel we must do.
ReplyDeletevery eloquent interview. any info on whoever else was let go besides duffy?
ReplyDeleteWay to go Duffy! (He also did another interview last night on KCCI...video is on www.kcci.com.
ReplyDeleteIn that interview, he said that the Register will never print another one his cartoons.
Just another example that Gannett doesn't value people who are actually worth their pay. I hope the other papers haven't culled the experienced reporters who win awards and bring favorable national attention.
ReplyDeleteThe Clarion-Ledger reporter who brought former Klansmen to justice comes to mind...any word on what happened to that guy?
The Register's treatment of Duffy is simply unconscionable. I can't find words to express the disgust I felt at hearing him describe it: stay here, we'll bring you your coat and escort you from the building.
ReplyDeleteCold-hearted bastards. Utter scum. He gives you 25 years and this is how you treat him.
Fucking bastards. Fuck them all.
Terrible. Just awful. And to rub salt in the wound, the paper's website makes it look as though he's still working there---or at least that's how I read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked that any newspaper outside a major metro area still has a cartoonist on staff.
ReplyDeleteStill, after 25 years, the guy deserved better.
I also agree that it would have been nice to try to get comment from the Register, though.
I can't see any rational explanation for how Duffy was treated. I also can't see any rational explanation for changing a century-old tradition that made the Register the only paper in the country with a front-page editorial cartoon.
ReplyDeleteClearly, there is no place for anything unique at Gannett's 84 newspapers.
ReplyDeleteCookie cutter websites.
Cookie cutter layouts and column widths.
Cookie cutter Well Done entries, meant to reward uniformity.
Cookie cutter hiring and firing practices.
Left right left right left right.
Don't get out of line.
Move forward, there's nothing to see here.
I'm getting a little tired of the rest of the Des Moines media acting like Duffy was the only person who lost his job. Dozens of people were laid off, and while I can't speak for all of them, no one in my department had to be escorted out of the building.
ReplyDeleteCartoonists are dropping everywhere. It may not be right, or good, but I could see this coming in October. Why couldn't he?
Was he offered a buyout and didn't take it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, seems the cartoonist at the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger survived the cut.
12/7/2008 1:12 PM Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteTerrible. Just awful. And to rub salt in the wound, the paper's website makes it look as though he's still working there---or at least that's how I read it.
You raise a very interesting point!
That is exactly what is going down at some of the papers in NJ, where the newspaper wants it to appear as if that laid off person were still there to expedite, process and service the the accounts of business customers they have known for most of their career, when in fact - they are not and it needs to be exposed!
Most advertisers had established a professional and courteous relationship over the years with their rep and would probably go elsewhere to advertise if they knew that person were no longer available to service their account(s), rather than go along with the smoke-filled mirrors garb. Nobody likes to be deceived.
12/07/2008 2:18 PM has a point. It isn't like he was the first and most certainly he's not the last high profile Register employee to be shown the door.
ReplyDeleteThis began about this time last year when some prominent writers, photographers and editors, with a long history with the paper or Gannett were offered buyouts. Those people took a lot of institutional memory, good work ethic and dedication with them when they left. They were people who accepted change and were loyal to the company.
A few of those who were laid off in the most recent corporate mandate likely were people who didn't take the hint that it was time to leave.
Knowing Duffy's big ego, I'll bet the was astounded when they broke the news. He may have been one of the few people in the building who thought he was untouchable.
Here's how bad things are handled for the layoffs.
ReplyDeleteAfter the letter went out from Laura Hollingsworth, Publisher of West Group, saying the cuts were totaling 74 people, and then we had another meeting on our floor from our vice president saying they were done with cuts, a woman in circulation went back to her desk relieved that she was safe from this round of layoffs. 5 minutes to 5PM her manager comes and tells her that she is layed off.
Nice. They didn't want to "break the news" to her, so they waited until after the ALL CLEAR meeting.
My heart breaks for our friends cut so rudely.
"I'm shocked that any newspaper outside a major metro area still has a cartoonist on staff."
ReplyDeleteUh, DM is the state capitol, largest city in the state and for hundreds more miles around, ground zero of presidential politics and the Register has some Pulitzers to its name.
So why wouldn't it have a cartoonist?
The shocking thing is that so many "real" newspapers in "real" cities DON'T have one.
You might want to spend some time in flyover country. You're missing out.
This, I think, shows clearly just how out of touch Gannett thinking is with what it means to be local, local, local.
ReplyDeleteIt takes time to build relationships. Trust with readers (and advertisers) is not easily won in our business, an industry that is clearly under attack.
I don't even know Duffy, but it sure seems like the locals invited him into their homes for a quarter of a century. What a comfort in these difficult times.
Gannett, once again, severed a local connection---a precious piece of history---a source of community pride.
Were there 69 layoffs, as linked in the blog post, or 74, as the TV station and a comment report?
ReplyDeleteThe Duffy thing illustrates how blind men run Gannett. How many Gannett editorial page editors have been offered Duffy's cartoons? I know my paper pays for syndicated editorial cartoons, but our readers would have liked many of Duffy's much better -- especially those related to the national election.
I've noticed for years that this is a systemic problem with Gannett. It seems unable to coordinate use of its talent for better efficiency and broader distribution.
I think it's too late now. No one I know wants to buy or to advertise in any Gannett paper. The brand name is mud everywhere but Wall Street, and it's not doing all that well there, either.
Actually, the story in the link seems to total 56 job eliminations, Jim's post totals 70 layoffs and the TV station says 74. ????
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for the TV station's total of 74.
ReplyDeleteI got to 70 jobs cut by reading the full Register story very, very closely:
It describes 41 layoffs; 15 open positions not filled; plus, it says, "in the Register’s weeklies division, which includes the Indianola Record-Herald and the Altoona Herald, there were an additional 14 employees impacted. The total employee impact translates to 6.9% of the company’s 801-member workforce, according to an e-mail from Hollingsworth to employees."
The total: 41 + 15 + 14 = 70.
"Employees impacted'' means layoffs, which totaled 41 + 14, or 55. And 55 is 6.9% of 801.
4:00 PM wrote: "Uh, DM is the state capitol, largest city in the state and for hundreds more miles around, ground zero of presidential politics and the Register has some Pulitzers to its name.
ReplyDelete"So why wouldn't it have a cartoonist?"
My comment wasn't a slight against Des Moines in particular (although at 554,000 in its metro area, its place among "major" cities can be up for debate).
I was talking more about what newspaper companies see as important. Just as entertainment/features people are getting cut in droves because they're not "critical" to the operation, I figured that cartoonists are similarly in the crosshairs.
That said, I'd wager that few state capital newspapers have cartoonists on staff (but I'd love to be proved otherwise) - and don't get me started on Iowa's unnecessary prominence in presidential politics. That's a discussion for another time and another blog.
Editorial cartoonists are yet another example of how newspapers continue to cater to the 55 and older crowd. Get your political point across to the simpletons in what amounts to little more than a doodle. Draw Clinton with a babe on his shoulder - you are a genius. Draw Bush 3 feet tall, you deserve a Pulitzer. Goodbye doodler - other people lost their jobs too.
ReplyDeleteHey 4:42 AM.
ReplyDeleteWho cares what Gannett or Tara Connell had to say "after" they fired Brian Duffy. The story is Brian Duffy was let go.
Both sides to what story, here?
Where did you get your journalism training from the GANNETT Academy?
Hopefully, you aren't a practicing journalist with that kind of news "sense".
@ 2:18 p.m.: No one from your department "had" to be escorted from your department in Des Moines, huh? That definitely makes you a better person. Kudos to you.
ReplyDeleteDuffy gets the most ink because he is not only the most high-profile person to get fired but probably the most high-profile person at The Register period. This compares with Kaul and Offenburger quitting.
For better or worse, no one in the Des Moines journalism scene has managed to put together and publicize a list of all 60+ people/positions eliminated. So the TV reporter has just a handful of names to work with. If you're him, who are you going to call? The salesman who no one has heard of or the famous bigshot cartoonist?
This isn't to take away from everyone else who lost their jobs. But all of them are capable of networking, calling the press, etc. I am sure the local TV people would have jumped at the prospect of three or four Register workers sitting down to talk about how they got screwed last week. If you're one of them, pick up the phone and call WHO.
The following 8:01 pm comment does not reflect very well on the reporting firepower of the Register's newsroom: "For better or worse, no one in the Des Moines journalism scene has managed to put together and publicize a list of all 60+ people/positions eliminated."
ReplyDeleteI wrote the 8:01 p.m. comment. I would love love love to see Cityview, the Des Moines alt-weekly, get in touch with each and every person fired, from Duffy down to the janitor in Altoona, and write up brief thumbnail sketches: nothing more than a mug and a few grafs. But I bet people would eat it up, and it would personalize the story in a way that hasn't happened thus far.
ReplyDeleteFor all we know, he could have called the TV stations.
ReplyDeleteYou can do that too. I'm surprised nobody has called the media about the claims of people with illnesses getting axed.
Hopkins, the complainer-in-chief, says:
ReplyDeleteThe following 8:01 pm comment does not reflect very well on the reporting firepower of the Register's newsroom: "For better or worse, no one in the Des Moines journalism scene has managed to put together and publicize a list of all 60+ people/positions eliminated."
Actually, it says NOTHING about the Register's reporting firepower. No one has chosen to take up the cause. What's the point? YOU would love them to do your work for you, because you love to wallow in negativity. You also like to tout your amazing journalistic skills. If you can find the back stairs off of your exceptionally inflated soapbox, why don't you come up with the list?
Everywhere we go, we hear about people shocked about Brian Duffy. For over 2 decades he has had the front page with his cartoons. Today, the only cartoons are on the opinion section from another paper. If they didn't want cartoons, why are they still using cartoons from other papers at all. This is a slap in the face to the people that supported creative arts. Local is not local. Articles are from Gannett News Service and AP, ads are done by another smaller graphics design staff after many cuts and India of course.
ReplyDeletePapers now are greedy for as many ads, and don't care that the main news and entertainment and creative minds are not local at all. Its now small small small.
Individual businesses thrive as a creative venture, and in comparision with small newspapers now having all the creative cut out, it will only choke.
I left USA Today in January, one of 43 newsroom employees taking buyouts. I wanted to know the names of the other 42, so I tracked them down -- eventually sharing everything I learned with my departing colleagues.
ReplyDeleteI think a Register employee would do a much better than than I could. Besides, as I've mentioned more than a few times, I established this blog with the idea that it was a team blog.
"Editorial cartoonists are yet another example of how newspapers continue to cater to the 55 and older crowd. Get your political point across to the simpletons in what amounts to little more than a doodle."
ReplyDeletePlease let me know where you found the study/survey that says editorial cartoons appeal mainly to the 55 and older crowd. Or, if you just don't like cartoons or those "simpletons" older than 55, tell me that, please.
Gawd. Please tell me you're not a reporter! Good reporters assume nothing.
The Iowa Independent named all the newsroom employees that were let go, but no one has bothered to track down the names of the circulation, advertising, etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteprovides commentary from an Iowan who is deeply distressed about the Register's firing of Brian Duffy (and related Gannett issues)-- an Iowan who is not incidentally a media law professor and former FCC commissioner, who delivered the paper 60 years ago, read it while it was winning more Pulitzers than any U.S. paper besides the Times and then declined, wrote op eds for it, rode RAGBRAI with Donald Kaul and reported on the ride for NPR). In short, from a personal perspective this is a real tragedy for the state of Iowa and the state of journalism.
Hey Nick. Loved your understanding of the biz. A quote from you:
ReplyDelete"Editorial cartoonists and graphics designers are on the front lines of the newspaper's hope for winning back readers. They should be the last to go in a newspaper's restructuring."
Following your model, let's get rid of all the reporters first. They you can have a paper with beautiful design, a bit of daily commmentary --- and no news.
Advice Nick: don't give up your day job...
Could it be that no one at the Register has assembled a list of those layed off because we want them to have a little dignity? (And no, I'm not in management.)
ReplyDeleteNow that Duffy has been laid off, lightning has struck and "Nick" has determined that the Register is in decline? Where have these people been and why didn't they speak out sooner? The "real tragedy for the state of Iowa" was the day Gannett bought the paper 23 years ago. It just took time for Gannett to clear out everyone who cared about quality journalism, and they are about done, with the few exceptions keeping their heads low in the newsroom for fear they will be targeted next. Duffy will recover and go on with his cartooning and drawings. The Register won't. What agony it is for those of us who worked for and loved this newspaper to see what it has become today.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 12/08/2008 12:29 p.m. responded to a passage in FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com as follows:
ReplyDelete"A quote from you:
"'Editorial cartoonists and graphics designers are on the front lines of the newspaper's hope for winning back readers. They should be the last to go in a newspaper's restructuring.'
"Following your model, let's get rid of all the reporters first. They you can have a paper with beautiful design, a bit of daily commentary --- and no news."
Of course, I agree with the point you're making (and yes, I'm hoping to be able to keep my day job!). In the case of other newspapers' layoffs I've made the same point myself. To use an Iowa expression, for a newspaper to fire reporters is like a farmer selling off his seed corn, or top soil.
So I'm certainly not advocating any reporters be let go. As a nation we need more, not fewer.
It's just that, in this instance, I was trying to make the case for editorial cartoonists (Duffy and Patton) in addition to reporters. And I'll admit I was relying on anecdotal "evidence" not research data.
Based on the conversational bits I hear from others throughout the day, and the things they send me with email, my sense is that editorial cartoons seem to be one of a newspaper's more popular features. And over the last couple decades a number of papers seem to have gone for more color and graphics, not to mention the online presentation of photographs and videos. But real data might show I'm dead wrong about that.
Would someone really high up at Gannett please explain to me how getting rid of this guy and his editorial cartoons supports local local local?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 12/08/2008 4:36 PM asks:
ReplyDelete"Now that Duffy has been laid off, lightning has struck and 'Nick' has determined that the Register is in decline? Where have these people been and why didn't they speak out sooner?"
Nick's earlier comment [12/08/2008 2:06 PM] indicated that he "read it [The Register] while it was winning more Pulitzers than any U.S. paper besides the N.Y. Times and then declined" -- scarcely a suggestion that the decline was only discovered upon Duffy's departure.
Many Iowans besides Nick have been speaking out for the decades since "the newspaper all Iowa depends upon" (and could, because it was delivered state-wide by truck each morning) decided to retrench in many ways, including those identified by Anonymous, and the paper's decision to abandon Iowa to become a Des Moines newspaper.
Why is Nick talking about himself in the third person?
ReplyDeleteIt's creepy, Nick.
@3:41: What the fuck does compiling a list of those fired have to do with dignity? As someone who has been fired in the last two weeks, I can tell you that I walked out of the building with my dignity intact. If someone wants to put my name on a list, fine. If not, fine. But cut the shit when you imply that management is doing me a favor when it fires me in the shadows and sweeps me under the rug.
ReplyDeleteI am stunned too. Today those advertising staff met with Laura Hollingsworth for a question and answer session.
ReplyDeleteAre the layoffs done? I will never say never.
What products will be discontinued in 2009? We haven't decided yet.
What do we say to our customers? We should go through the "How is your business? exercise. But not today. Gannett is in this together now with all the other businesses laying off employees.
How is the budget? We scheduled the 2009 budget for the worst possible scenario, and congratulations, I kept the cafeteria in our upcoming plans. We want a creative environment.
Don't forget to email your managers and Laura for all your great ideas so we can take it into consideration. Let us know if you think we are making wise decisions.
Wow, I'm glad we had this chance to chat.