Not true. Same # reporters. Not closing office. RT @SuziSteffen: Abandoning NKY? Wow RT @Andy_Brownfield: @Cincienquirer shuttering 2...
— Carolyn Washburn (@CarolynWashburn) August 2, 2013
"Not true" is Cincinnati Enquirer Editor Carolyn Washburn's response to a published report yesterday, saying the paper will close bureaus in Butler County and, across the Ohio River, in Northern Kentucky amid a layoff of about a dozen employees.
That story was by Andy Brownfield in the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Washburn's Tweet didn't address a similar story yesterday in CityBeat, which included more details -- including names -- about the layoffs. CityBeat's story also says the Enquirer is shutting down its Kentucky and Butler offices.
But here's what's missing from Washburn's response: What did the Enquirer do this week? Her Tweet doesn't deny there were layoffs at the paper. And her boss, Publisher Margaret Buchanan, didn't respond to a voicemail and an e-mail requesting comment, according to Brownfield.
Washburn says the Kentucky office will not close. But she doesn't acknowledge that the office, which was responsible for a Northern Kentucky edition, will no longer be staffed with reporters, according to that edition's editor, Steve Wilson.
Boots on the ground
Wilson, who was laid off, told CityBeat the paper would continue publishing the daily edition, with reporters working from the Enquirer's main newsroom in Cincinnati. He concedes the move poses a challenge.
“Clearly, all things being equal," Wilson said, "you want to have reporters based in the area they’re covering. That just makes sense. Everybody would agree with that. But in this case, they apparently had their reasons that made sense to them."
A Gannett Blog reader says in a comment the Kentucky office will, indeed, remain open, as Washburn says -- but only for advertising staff.
In the end, this may be all about semantics and rearranging the deck chairs. The Enquirer is shutting down its Kentucky "bureau" (journalism terminology) but keeping open an office for business purposes. And it's keeping the same number of reporters, but only by cutting other jobs in the newsroom.
Reaping what you sow
I have zero sympathy for Washburn's (and I assume Buchanan's, too) frustration with how this story has played out. Here's why:
As near as I can tell, the Enquirer itself hasn't reported anything about its cost-cutting, according to a search of its website this morning. And like every other Gannett paper I've checked, it didn't even carry a widely published Associated Press story about GCI's nationwide layoffs.
The Enquirer's handling of this news is a classic example of what happens when a paper doesn't do its job: in the vacuum that follows, rumors and speculation rush in. That's simple Journalism 101.
Earlier: Buchanan whistles past journalism's graveyard. And: An incredible list of professional women.
Please continue your reporting of Gannett's abdiction of the American journalism ethos. Every time Gannett acquired a property, it made Draconian cuts....and those were during the good times. Indianapolis, Louisville, Phonenix, Jackson Miss. -- truly solid state papers became fish wrappers as soon as they got off the press after Gannett did its nasty thing. They were then robber barons; today, they are just mean-spirited, highly compensated sycophants (wait, they were the same then during the '70s, '80s and '90s. Which is why many senior news managers are leaving their posts before they have no one left to manage.
ReplyDeleteOther things in this blog post aside, if you want people to take you seriously, you should address your own errors and lack of understanding, too. For instance, when did Washburn say, "Wow?"
ReplyDeleteShe retweeted someone else so that she could respond in the same tweet. Not sure that you get that.
I don't care if you "have zero sympathy" for Washburn. Stick to the facts if they're damning enough instead of trying to stir up parts that aren't really there. And try to get a handle on Twitter. It's not that hard, and you should really try to understand it if you fancy yourself a media critic.
You again tip your hand that you're less than competent at understanding modern media. Need another example? Here's an awesome tweet from the other day. I wouldn't trust this guy to be a media watchdog:
https://twitter.com/gannettblog/status/361557780315897856
I've already corrected that.
DeletePerhaps you didn't see this, which was posted by Suzi Steffen, mentioned in Washburn's Tweet:
"@CarolynWashburn That was my RT of @mjenkins, if you want to take it up with the correct person."
Yes, Jim, stick to the facts. Not rumors of an edition dying when there is nothing to back that up.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you missed this:
Delete"The Enquirer's handling of this news is a classic example of what happens when a paper doesn't do its job: in the vacuum that follows, rumors and speculation rush in. That's simple Journalism 101."
You encourage the rumors and speculation. You are really good at always missing the point. Either it's intentional, or you have some serious comprehension issues.
DeleteHere's a solution, which I'm going to post on another thread where I've also got an unhappy reader.
DeleteIf you don't like the way I edit this blog, start one of your own. Compete for my readers, and if you grab enough, I'll walk away.
So you're going to keep encouraging rumors?
DeleteYour response is the equivalent of an 8-year-old's. "Wah! I'm going to keep doing what I want!"
Hilarious how so many people bashing Jim can't post with their real names. Gannett failed this week, plain and simple. Gutless cuts because the leadership by and large has no idea where it wants to go with this "new media." They cut much farther, they won't be part of the media at all.
ReplyDeleteThe Ky. Enquirer lost a reporter and an editor. The rest of Ky staff (an editor who is close to Washburn) and several reporters will be going downtown. The paper's Butler Co. bureau lost its editor. Its two reporters will be moving downtown. Another will report from a Community Press weekly office in Clermont Co.
ReplyDeleteThe Enquirer also laid off its theatre critic.
These are facts. Leave Jim alone.
I thought SIX from the community papers were sent packing.
DeleteJulie Engebrecht, Second in Command a mere two years ago -- after she tossed the two men who threatened her job (because they actually did all the work) to the curb -- has now been reduced to arts blogger.
The rationale to have everyone work in Cincinnati is that the place once called the main newsroom, turned Information Center, is now the "Digital Laboratory."
From my (outsider's) perspective, Jim does a great job with this blog, allowing and encouraging people to post their intelligence anonymously, and then reporting facts as facts and rumors as rumors.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me every time I read there will be RIF's or Furloughs or layoffs, Jim is berated for spreading rumors. However, in almost instance those "rumors" have become fact. The sources on here are apparently in the know, and almost always right on the money. Thanks, Jim, for continuing to keep us informed.
ReplyDeleteMy reporting on these cuts was largely based on sources I know within the company.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I'm indebted to readers who posted more than 500 comments over the past week. Without those, many media outlets would not have brought this news to a broader audience -- despite Corporate's stonewalling.
Great reporting, Jim. The "crowd" does a better job than any single publicity machine. Investors only see the financial results of the cuts. Gannett has said for several years that it will cut personnel to align expenses with its top line.
ReplyDeleteClearly, the results of the first month of the third quarter reflect the continued struggle with revenues in the community newspaper division.
How can the Enquirer or any other Gannett publication expect to go to ABC Business about doing a story about layoffs when they don't report their own layoffs? If I were ABC Business, I'd tell the Gannett papers to pound sand.
ReplyDeleteThe reshuffling may keep the same number of journalists in the Enquirer building downtown, but the overall number of journalists working for the Enquirer that Buchanan and Washburn proudly boasted about in the rollout of the dumb mini paper is going down, because they are cannibalizing surrounding offices and also reducing staff at the Community Press, which those two included in the number.
One of my readers, acknowledging that they heard this second-hand, says the Enquirer actually laid off 26 people total.
ReplyDeleteAs I think this over, it occurs to me that I've only heard about jobs cut in news.
What about the rest of the paper in, for example, advertising?
Four in advertising
DeleteNow, a second reader has told me in an e-mail that the total is probably closer to 20.
DeleteKy circulation and butler co. circulation had buyouts before Thursday. At least one in ky took it. Don't know numbers in Butler Co.
ReplyDelete23 overall is a number this Gannett Blog reader has heard. So approximately 25 sounds correct.
This is what concerns me. For a variety of reasons, my readers skew toward editorial. So, I can count on getting layoff figures and other information that relates to the newsroom -- and so can local, independent media.
DeleteBut a newspaper has many more employees than those just in news, including what's often the second-biggest department by employment: advertising.
The figures I'm now hearing for Cincy suggest that perhaps twice as many jobs were lost as has been reported so far. If that's true across this round of layoffs, that would mean that as many as 500 jobs were cut.
How can I do a better job of getting complete figures for Cincy and other sites?
How do you do a better job of getting information? By not alienating potential sources, being a reputable source of information, and publishing facts before rumors and angry bias.
DeleteYou might call that 'journalism 101.'
Yes the KY news staff is moving to Elm by the end of the month. That leaves 12 people at the KY office who are GPS and USAT people.. Can't believe they will pay rent in that office for just 12 people but who knows? They are always doing stupid stuff like remodeling and buying new furniture and then have the nerve to lay people off.
ReplyDeleteWashburn tweets, "Same # reporters," yet one was laid off and another was relieved as Kentucky education writer and forced onto the 7 a.m.-4 p.m. "breaking news" desk. That move itself is equivalent to a layoff; when companies want to get rid of someone, they put them into undesirable jobs, knowing they will start a job hunt and move on.
ReplyDeleteI would think Finance would take a big hit as well - if you have less ads, less circulation, = less money to collect/ paperwork etc.
ReplyDeleteSunday's Ky. Enquirer has an Enquirer ad listing reporters for the Ky. edition. The problem is most of those listed have beats that include Ohio. This is how Washburn is able to say they didn't cut Ky reporting staff.
ReplyDeleteThe ad gives reporters names, email addresses and Twitter handles. The ad says "Your Kentucky coverage team via email and Twitter." In ( ), this Gannett Blog reader has added their actual beats.
Amanda Van Benschoten, (has always been the KY local columnist)
Brenna Kelly (breaking news, was KY education before Thursday's layoff of Ky breaking news reporter Paul McKibben. His name was mentioned in the City Beat story.)
Cindy Schroeder, (has always been Kenton County, Ky reporter
CLiff Peale: (has always been the regional health care reporter for Ohio and KY worked downtown)
James Pilcher (has always been an investigative reporter since starting in April)
Jason Williams (has always been a regional transportation reporter working downtown)
Jessica Brown (has always covered Cincinnati Public Schools working downtown. She apparently must now cover KY schools. CPS is a huge urban district. NKY has schools in three large counties)
Jim Hannah (has always covered Ky courts)
Josh Pichler (has always been a Business columnist working downtown)
Mark Hansel (has always covered Boone Co., KY)
Richard Skinner (has always covered KY sports)
Scott Wartman (has always covered Ky politics)
Terry DeMio (has always covered Covington, KY and Campbell County, KY)
The OH and KY editions of the Enquirer on Sunday have this story.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130804/NEWS/308040032/Enquirer-adds-two-watchdog-reporters?nclick_check=1
Enquirer adds two 'watchdog' reporters
The news is a bit late. James Pilcher started in April and Amber Hunt at least several weeks ago.
The story fails to mention layoffs on Thursday of news staff for Ohio and KY editions as well as layoffs of news staff for the Community Press and Recorder weeklies.
As Lucy van Pelt would say: blech!
DeleteWho had the thankless job of writing that bit of public relations-as-journalism?
Correction: Peale has always been the regional higher education reporter for KY and OH. He used to cover health care. You are correct to say he has always worked downtown.
ReplyDeleteLisa Bernard-Kuhn is the downtown-based health care reporter for OH and KY. Why didn't Washburn include her name? Why not include the names of the sports writers that cover the Reds and Bengals if you're going to spin the facts as Washburn has done.
Today's Enquirer reports a new role for Northern Kentucky bureau reporter James Pilcher. Will they be replacing him in Kentucky to keep what Washburn claims is the "same #" of Kentucky reporters?
ReplyDeletehttp://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130804/NEWS/308040032/Enquirer-adds-two-watchdog-reporters
The ad and story do not address the issue of closing the KY office and the Butler Co. office in Ohio. This has been reported elsewhere online, including Gannett Blog.
ReplyDeleteThe offices might be staying open for other departments but the news staffs in both bureaus are moving to downtown Cincinnati. Why can't Washburn tell readers the full story? Her credibility is taking a major hit. In the long-run that only hurts her newspaper but also herself.
The ad and story don't mention that on Thursday, the KY edition's top editor was laid off. He was quoted in the City Beat story.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Washburn count employees of Gannett's Kentucky weeklies to reach her magic number of "150 journalists"? Their stories appear in the Enquirer and nky.com, and some of those got laid off. If they count, how is that no loss of Kentucky reporters?
ReplyDeleteStephen Colbert calls this "truthiness."
DeleteIt depends on what "same" means. Buchanan and Washburn also told readers that the new mini-paper would give them the same amount of content for their money.
DeleteThere's a fine line between "truthiness" and violations of trade law.
ReplyDeleteIf they mislead the public - paying customers and potential subscribers - about receiving no reduction in product for the same $$$, would that be prosecutable as a deceptive business practice?
Where I live it's considered fraud if you make false or misleading statements in the promotion of a commodity or service.
Subscribers lawsuit! :-)
DeleteSo document it and file a complaint.
DeleteI am always entertained when people here claim that something is a violation of a law, but then they just wait for someone else to report it. Grow a pair and do something other than just posting here.
"Grow a pair" went out with the troglodytes, you sexist.
Delete3:28 Where's the "like" comment button when I need it?!
DeleteWashburn has no credibility. She has fudged the numbers since she arrived in 2011 and has done nothing but help Buchanan diminish the print product. I know people in the Enquirer newsroom and I've never heard them say a good word about her. The newspaper is a shell of itself and gets little respect in the community.
ReplyDeleteA number of folks mentioned in that ad don't work in Kentucky and never have, unless they are being shifted over there which will just diminish the Ohio presence.
The Enquirer continues to spin its layoff Thursday of about 11 newsroom employees (Enquirer and the weeklies).
ReplyDeleteArts Editor and former No. 2 in the newsroom (before she became arts editor) Julie Julie Engebrecht is now an arts columnist. This follows Thursday's layoff of long time theatre critic Jackie Demaline. The story below does not mention Demaline's layoff.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130804/ENT07/308040010
How the mighty have fallen. Ms. Engebrecht, meet Mr. Karma.
DeleteAnother tidbit that has not been reported either by the Enquirer or other media is the number of community weeklies is being significantly cut.
ReplyDelete26 local, weekly newspapers shrinking, being consolidated into just nine is news Gannett will not be able to hide.
DeleteLook at the bright side! Sending the bureau reporters downtown will fill some of those wide open spaces where desks used to be. CW's expansion of her own office can only cover so much!
ReplyDeleteYeh, and they're doing more with less..
ReplyDeleteThe main article on their web site right now has this headline
KRISTA: 'Our lives have changed so much', Durani patient says
but the article spells the guy's name as Durrani. Posted hours ago.
why am I thinking of 'Hungry Like the Wolf' lol
Deleteit's still uncorrected
What does a publisher do when there is nothing left to publish. Plus MB has lost most of her power with only NNCO and Cincy left. They could save some big bucks by doing to her what she has done to so many others.
ReplyDeleteManager flunks Public Relations 101. The tweet is a perfect example of how to make a bad situation much worse.
ReplyDeleteI've worked in corporate communications for a major company in the Cincinnati area. I guarantee that if someone on our team pulled a stunt like that, there'd be hell to pay.
Regarding Kentucky (Part 1):
ReplyDeleteIt appears the consensus of comments from those who know (rather than the obvious and lame attempts to spread disinformation) is that the Ky. Enquirer news bureau in Fort Mitchell will be closing and the reporters moving to the main offices on Elm Street in Cincinnati. The paper will still produce a "Kentucky Enquirer" edition with a mix of Greater Cincinnati news and the occasional NKY article. As Editor Washburn claimed in the the Sunday Enquirer's ad, there still will be several reporters writing articles about NKY - but many will be covering both sides of the river. For an area dominated by Cincinnati broadcast media - and with no real news outlets serving the area - this is a big loss.
Or maybe not.
Here are some more facts:
-- The Kentucky bureau (only a couple miles from the main office) had the reputation of being too laid back and distant. Rumors had circulated for years about closing the bureau - which really was an attempt to create a physical presence in Kentucky for a product that claimed to be a separate newspaper rather than just an edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
-- The lease on the Ky. Enquirer building in Fort Mitchell was up for renewal in 2013; the paper obviously used that opportunity to move the staff back across the river.
-- Northern Kentucky is the fastest growing area of Greater Cincinnati (and among the fastest growing the country), yet Enquirer circulation there has been weak. Buchanan once touted NKY as her strongest circulation base (mainly because the numbers were stable, versus the steady decline in Ohio). Despite the colorful redesign, circulation in NKY is now declining - mainly due to a decline in NKY news.
-- Loyal NKY newspaper readers (almost all in the over-50 demographic) fondly remember the Kentucky Post, which printed its final edition on the last day of 2007. The Enquirer always was considered "the Cincinnati paper" and only respected for its Reds and Bengals coverage. While the Enquirer picked up a significant percentage of Post readers in 2008, those readers declined just as significantly during the recent recession.
-- Overall content in the redesigned Enquirer is pretty light; NKY content in the Ky. Enquirer is even worse. In the Aug. 5 KY edition, there were two articles about NKY. The main article on Page 1 was about the large number of pit bulls in Cincinnati's animal shelters (no attempt to weave in a paragraph or two about NKY shelters...)
-- The paper touts NKY.com as NKY's version of the paper's flagship website Cincinnati.com but it too contains little KY content - mostly "breaking news" tidbits about accidents and crime (almost never followed up). NKY stories that appear in the print edition often are not available on the website - a strange oversight.
-- The newspaper's "community involvement" in NKY is non-existent. After Kentucky Enquirer GM Dennis Hetzel left in 2010, Publisher Buchanan occasionally sent Production VP Preisser as the paper's rep to the NKY Chamber of Commerce and other community organizations. Preisser left Gannett in July. Buchanan and Washburn are loath to cross the river; Buchanan is busy with her Cincinnati organizations (she was a UC board member until 2012).
-- The Kentucky Enquirer's biggest circulation day is Sunday. For the coupons.
Regarding Kentucky (Part 2):
ReplyDeleteAbout staff:
-- According to the Sunday ad listing the new KY staff, NKY education coverage will now be handled by the reporter also assigned to the huge (and troubled) Cincinnati Public Schools system. (No word on what the paper's other K-12 education reporter will be doing.) Too bad, since NKY has some of the best - and worst - public school districts in the state. In fact, most NKY education "reporting" is done by the community weeklies, which dutifully print district press releases.
-- Paul McKibben, the KY "breaking news" reporter, was laid off. New breaking news reporter Brenna Kelly (briefly education reporter) had that beat prior to Bill Croyle's departure earlier this year (when she was assigned education). Croyle had the education beat (he's now a full-time author).
-- Aside from the KY breaking news reporter, there will be one reporter assigned to covering each of the 3 most northern counties (ignoring the other 5 counties considered in the NKY region). The NKY columnist will remain, as will the KY courts/crime reporter, the KY politics writer and the lone KY sports reporter. That's a total of 8 reporters assigned to just NKY coverage. The others Washburn mentions are assigned to regional coverage, including the stray NKY story. Eight reporters and one editor for a paper (edition) with a *claimed* circulation in the low-to-mid-20K.
-- Steve Wilson, the Kentucky editor, was laid off. He arrived at the paper a year ago from Arizona. While claiming to have Kentucky connections (he attended grad school at UK and worked at the Lexington paper in the late 1970s), he spent most of his long career in journalism and public relations in Minnesota and Arizona.
-- Vickie Ashwill, the de facto Kentucky editor when the staff moves to Elm Street, came to the paper a year ago from Des Moines (where she worked with Washburn) and has been in Kentucky since March. Gannett doesn't see any problem with editors who have no knowledge about their communities, but readers in NKY notice ...
Standing up for Jim's work. One of the blog's critics, likely a lover of Gannett's executive compensation package, makes it seem that Jim erroneously reported the Kentucky edition was ending. I haven't seen that by any medium. It has always been clear, from reports in the local business paper, CityBeat and elsewhere, that the Kentucky edition would continue, even with all the reporters working across the Ohio River in Cincinnati. Now, there will be times when reporters must venture back into the commonwealth to collect news, and perhaps even use their computers in the formerly occupied Kentucky bureau building until the lease expires. But it was Carolyn Washburn, not any of the other publications or Jim's blog, that got the story wrong. Well, actually, the Business Courier got one part of the story wrong when it actually took Ms. Washburn's word for it that the bureau would not be closing. You can go there and listen to the crickets if you would like. The number of reporters is the same, except that now some of the once-fully-dedicated Kentucky reporting slots now are responsible for covering things across the river. A reporter who used to cover only Cincinnati Public Schools, the gigantic school district, now is tasked with covering that entity, but also the many other districts across Northern Kentucky's three counties, some of which have troubles like those of Cincinnati's district, but on a smaller scale. It's fairly transparent that the lovers of the truth who criticize Jim with such gusto are shilling for the powers that be on Elm Street and elsewhere in Gannettland. One such shillmeister may in fact be Carolyn Washburn herself. When she writes her columns trying to whitewash the fact, readers often do not have the opportunity to comment on them online. Why? Because it's so predictable what her critics will say in response, and how negative their comments will be. Also, Carolyn has notoriously thin skin. ALSO, Ms. Washburn is the rare top editor at a relatively large U.S. metropolitan newspaper who always wishes to have the last word during blog discussions in which readers are invited to participate. She and her minions - she LOVES having minions, most of them female and many of them attractive, with the occasional ugly male editor - chime in and keep spinning away during the web sessions. Keep up the good work, Jim. You're comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable (and unfactual). Bravo.
ReplyDelete