In a much-anticipated move, The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., whacked 28 jobs yesterday -- one of the single biggest totals in the current round of newspaper layoffs and other job cuts underway for nearly a month now, according to Gannett Blog reader estimates.
"Watching the texts and Facebook messages coming in about Wilmington . . . was like watching the Lusitania take on water," wrote Anonymous@4:59 p.m. "Horrible."
Interim Publisher Ellen Leifeld was considerably less emotional in her statement to the paper for a story today: "These changes will help us better align our resources with our transformation as a media company, and strengthen our long-term strategies."
She also said: "Our focus needs to be on providing strong local news coverage -- including serious investigative reporting -- and effective solutions for our advertisers." She did not explain how that would be done with six fewer newsroom employees.
With other job cuts at papers in Binghamton, N.Y., and Cherry Hill, N.J., the U.S. community newspaper division has now eliminated an estimated 399 jobs through layoffs and eliminating open positions across at least 59 worksites. So far, USA Today hasn't been affected.
Among five mass layoffs
Gannett started the cuts without any official warning about July 29 as it battles continued declines in newspaper advertising sales.
The current round is the largest since Gannett laid off 700 newspaper employees in June 2011. In size, it ranks last among five mass layoffs ordered since the company began a series of huge job-reduction campaigns in August 2008.
The U.S. newspaper division employed about 18,000 at 81 sites nationwide and in Guam at the start of the year, according to the latest published figures. Gannett has fewer than 31,000 workers overall.
It's unclear whether the company has notified all employees -- especially in the East Group of dailies from New York to Florida, where notices have lagged the rest of the newspaper division. Wilmington in particular had been a source of considerable concern.
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"Watching the texts and Facebook messages coming in about Wilmington . . . was like watching the Lusitania take on water," wrote Anonymous@4:59 p.m. "Horrible."
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| Leifeld |
She also said: "Our focus needs to be on providing strong local news coverage -- including serious investigative reporting -- and effective solutions for our advertisers." She did not explain how that would be done with six fewer newsroom employees.
With other job cuts at papers in Binghamton, N.Y., and Cherry Hill, N.J., the U.S. community newspaper division has now eliminated an estimated 399 jobs through layoffs and eliminating open positions across at least 59 worksites. So far, USA Today hasn't been affected.
Among five mass layoffs
Gannett started the cuts without any official warning about July 29 as it battles continued declines in newspaper advertising sales.
The current round is the largest since Gannett laid off 700 newspaper employees in June 2011. In size, it ranks last among five mass layoffs ordered since the company began a series of huge job-reduction campaigns in August 2008.
The U.S. newspaper division employed about 18,000 at 81 sites nationwide and in Guam at the start of the year, according to the latest published figures. Gannett has fewer than 31,000 workers overall.
It's unclear whether the company has notified all employees -- especially in the East Group of dailies from New York to Florida, where notices have lagged the rest of the newspaper division. Wilmington in particular had been a source of considerable concern.
Is your site included?
Please check this read-only spreadsheet, then post your site's latest information in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
The Westchester number is shocking! Is this a mistake??
ReplyDeleteJust 4 years ago the total employment at that property was somewhere around 900. Now 206!
They cover an area 3/4 the size of the state Delaware in one of the wealthiest and most competitive mnarkets in the nation. It would be interesting to see the employee count breakdown by department if available. Hard to fathom 206!!
Not really. Prod and Circ are gone. It's news and adv. what's hard to understand?
DeleteThe hammer is going to come down at Usa Today in the 4th quarter. Geniuses like Beryl Love and Dave Callaway want more of their little buddies running Gilligan's Island.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it time for Blue Balls Banikarium and her buddies to move on?
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DeleteNot until she's been there five years. That's her contract.
DeleteWhere would Banikarim's b.s. work anywhere else? Purpose Walls and On The Road missives may fool some people, but not many.we don't even get ice cream anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big number in Phoenix, any idea what departments were affected and how many?
ReplyDeleteThat number isn't big enough. Phoenix really needs some competition to come in an beat the shit out of their monopoly. They are the only paper in the state. They aren't big because they are good. They suck ass. Literally they suck ass.
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ReplyDeleteAaron Barrett to the rescue.
ReplyDeleteNice spin on headline ...News Journal announces consolidation ...kind of like ... Jobless rise offers new career opportunities
ReplyDeleteThe statement "These changes will help us better align our resources with our transformation as a media company, and strengthen our long-term strategies." is pretty funny when at least in Binghamton they laid off the entire Digital Department
ReplyDeleteAny word on Elmira or Ithaca?
ReplyDeleteNo word yet on Elmira; Rumor has it Ithaca lost two in advertising.
DeleteI had heard two in advertising and 5 in news for Ithaca. No word on Elmira.
DeleteSo far USA Today hasn't been affected? Well, that will probably change fairly soon. All those folks who didn't take the recent buyout -- well, you were warned. That's what buyouts are -- warnings that your time is limited.
ReplyDeleteThe USAT model is no longer sustainable. USAT will go back to the days of being a drain on the Gannett. But the difference this time will be that a little short-term pain will not blossom into long-term gains. USAT is going to have to morph into something very different in order to survive. That something will probably involve a lot smaller staff and reduced production budget.
Who says gannett isn’t innovative? Their most recent trick is spreading the corporate-mandated layoffs over a month or so to make it look like a string of coincidental local decisions. Brilliant! But look at “transition pay” too, that getting of taxpayers to pay for a chunk of what used to be a private sector responsibility plus with the bonus of having not to having tied to fixed years of service but to flexible weeks without pay was genius!
ReplyDeleteIt would be bad enough if gannett thought it is fooling anyone--staff, advertisers or readers--by calling the layoffs all sorts of other names like a “transformation” to “better align our resources,” “consolidation” or “focus.” But I think it knows it is not, and it simple doesn’t care. The advertisers and readers are simply income to be maximized and the staff is mere expense to be minimized. The bonuses keep coming and therefore so does the dehumanization.
Don’t think that this process is wholly unique to gannett, it is just good at it. Dehumanization is a time-honored method for abuse and its history is not pretty. But we live in relatively good times--here anyway--regarding humanity’s inhumanity to itself so you needn’t put up with gannett. The advertisers and readers are obviously doing this.
And the staff should do this as well. Mass-market Journalism supported by advertisement is history--has been for a while, but that’s a whole other topic. And as scary as it is to jump into a new career--starting at the bottom, learning new skillsets, etc.--being tossed into one (even if you can find a career and not just a job) is worse. But those are your only choices, my friends. No one is safe. But if you want to take the chance that the a--hole who fired all your friends gets the axe before you do and you think you will get some pleasure from watch him or her being walked out, go for it.
Individual taxpayers do not pay for unemployment insurance, champ — businesses do. And Congress created TPP at the behest of unions -- if you don't like it, talk to your Congressperson.
DeleteI don't know what planet you live on, Sport, but in my state, employees pay into unemployment insurance every pay period, so stop whining on corporates behalf. Both employees and employers pay.
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Delete11:28, if this were Reddit, I'd vote that up.
ReplyDeletethanks, I should have been working at my post-gannett, part-time/no-benefits semi-at-home but with oh-so-much-more net satisfaction job but the latest round of layoffs pushed me into a public statement.
DeleteGood luck with that investigative reporting with cutting editorial resources.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill laid off at least 14, five in advertising and nine in editorial. Seven people, many of whom worked part time, were laid off from the Universal Desk as more duties shift to the Design Studio at the Asbury Park Press. Others let go in the newsroom were the sports edtior and a sportswriter.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bunch of corporate word speak. What else is new. Say what you want about Howard Griffin but he didn't want these cuts in Wilmington and now he's gone Kane and his best friend Ellen hacked the crap out of Wilmington. They made some very poor decisions and it will come back to haunt them in the future when numbers are down once again. Thanks for the memories Ellen, now go back to Florida and get the hell out of Delaware.
DeleteWhat state(s) mandate employees pay into the unemployment insurance fund? New York certainly does not.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up to 8/24 re: the Westchester number.
ReplyDeleteYou suggest that 206 is not hard to understand since thre's no production or circulation.
That's 700 people or 3/4 of the total workforce in 5 years! The numbers just don't seem add up for future success. How many are writing stories? How many are selling advertising? What parts of the market are totally ignored by both areas? Shameful what's happened there.