Andrew Beaujon
May 17, 2013
2:37 pm
All Things D
Steve Kalin is Patch's new CEO, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told Patch employees in an email Friday. Patch will also make several motions that Armstrong writes will "move Patch meaningfully toward profitability." Among them:
layoffs.
The changes we are making at Patch, however, come with the difficult decision to eliminate some positions. These employees have contributed greatly to Patch’s business with passion and dedication. We sincerely thank them for all they have done to make Patch what it is today. Their impact will always be felt here. We wish all affected employees continued success. They are truly Patchers for life.
Via email, Patch spokesperson Joe Wiggins replied affirmatively when Poynter asked whether editorial jobs would be among those going. He sent along this statement:
Patch is streamlining its regional editorial structure across the country by moving from 20 to nine teams. We are implementing this team approach based on the success of our field tests earlier this year. The team approach allows for flexibility based on the unique needs of each community and the strengths of our editors. We are not reducing our number of sites or our coverage area as a result of this change.
Making these important changes came with the difficult decision to eliminate some positions. We recognize these changes are painful for individuals and for our organization - and we are committed to handling the people impacted with care and sensitivity.
The company will host a "Patch All-Company call" at 6 p.m. ET Friday.
Last fall, Patch began
rolling out a new site design. The new design means editors will be "
taking a less central role," Laura Hazard Owen reported at the time. “
We’re not doing a pivot,” Patch content honcho Rachel Feddersen told Jeff Bercovici. “This is an amplification. The redesign doesn’t take anything away from the journalism we’re creating.”
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Andrew Beaujon
May 9, 2013
1:18 pm
Thursday would be a good day to own a New York bar popular with journalists, judging by reports about three Gotham publications:
• Village Voice Editor-in-Chief Will Bourne and Deputy Editor Jessica Lustig
resigned Thursday rather than institute layoffs demanded by management, David Carr reports. “When I was brought in here, I was explicitly told that the bloodletting had come to an end," Bourne told Carr.
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Rick Edmonds
May 6, 2013
8:49 am
Talk about digital disruption. The CEO of Australia’s giant Fairfax Media said last week that he is preparing the company to abandon printed newspapers entirely “in three, five or 10 years.”
“Print revenues have been going down and are going … Read more
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Andrew Beaujon
Apr. 24, 2013
1:04 pm
The Express-Times |
The Morning Call
The Advance-owned (Easton, Pa.) Express-Times
will print to Staten Island beginning in June, the paper reported Wednesday -- "a move that will result in 12 full-time and 26 part-time job losses."
President and Publisher Lou Stancampiano tells the paper there are no plans to reduce print frequency at The Express-Times. The Staten Island press is four-color and "will have better reproduction and full color on virtually every page," Stancampiano said.
Morning Call reporter Sam Kennedy writes that this is the paper's
second incidence of job cuts in 2013: "About 20 jobs in several departments were eliminated in January, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the payroll's 234 full- and part-time workers."
The Express-Times notes "The Express-Times and its predecessor newspapers have operated in Easton since 1855."
A daily newspaper has been printed in Easton since then, except for a yearlong period during the Civil War when the paper's operators fought in the Union Army.
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Joshua Gillin
Apr. 8, 2013
3:20 pm
Chicago Tribune| Crain's
Time Out Chicago, an independent weekly entertainment guide published 44 times a year, has been acquired by worldwide parent Time Out Group,
according to the Chicago Tribune.
Morningstar Inc. and Time Out Chicago founder Joe Mansueto sold the publication for $4 million. Mansueto also is an investor in Wrapports LLC, the group that owns and publishes the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Sun-Times. Oakley Capital Investments Ltd., TGO's majority owner, plans to cut features, interviews and columns and transform the magazine to a listings-only, digital format, like the company's other properties. They own 37 Time Out franchises in 25 countries (the Chicago venture, started in 2005, was a partnership instead of a franchise).
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Andrew Beaujon
Mar. 19, 2013
1:17 pm
Business Wire |
Washington City Paper
The Washington Examiner will become a "
digital platform and weekly print magazine focused on political thought leadership" according to a press release.
The release includes some unusual language for those employees:
The employees being laid off should be proud of their achievements in creating The Washington Examiner, and Clarity is grateful for the role they have played in giving the Examiner the strong presence it has in Washington.
The new publication will launch on June 17, giving the laid-off employees three months to feel that pride. "Many of the business and editorial positions needed to publish a local daily newspaper are not required," McKibben says.
Examiner Editor Stephen G. Smith, Executive Editor Mark Tapscott and Managing Editor of Digital Jennifer Peebles will stay, the release says. Twenty new positions will be hired.
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Jeff Sonderman
Mar. 5, 2013
11:33 am
Globe and Mail
Canada's largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, is the latest to reduce costs by laying off copy editors and outsourcing their work for a fraction of the expense.
The Star will outsource page design and copy editing to Pagemasters North America, Globe and Mail media reporter
Steve Ladurantaye reports. The cost savings come from efficient centralized production, but also lower pay for editors. "The top union rate for an editor at Pagemasters is $48,000," Ladurantaye reports, "while the same job at the Star comes with an annual salary closer to $85,000."
Pagemasters North America is owned by The Canadian Press news wire, of which the Star's parent company Torstar Corp. is a co-owner. News & Tech reported in 2009 that the Star was in discussions to
begin a small amount of outsourcing to Pagemasters North America, but did not. Other major Canadian newspapers
including The Globe and Mail, do the same.
And other branches of Pagemasters serve newspapers in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
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Andrew Beaujon
Feb. 15, 2013
10:22 am
FishbowlDC
The Washington Post
has laid off 54 people, Betsy Rothstein reports.
We’re told those given pink slips include Beth Jacobs, General Manager of Mobile, and Ken Dodelin, Director of Mobile Products. Sources say the entire Mobile Product Management and IT Project Management staffs have been eliminated.
Washington Post spokesperson Kris Coratti declined to comment to Poynter.
In a memo obtained by Rothstein, Chief Information Officer and product-development honcho Shailesh Prakash said affected employees "will have the opportunity to participate in a Separation Incentive Program that will include both separation payments and a company contribution to be used towards health insurance premiums."
A source there told me the cuts were contained to the business side of the paper and didn't take place on Valentine's Day. That person didn't know how many people were affected by the layoffs, though.
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Andrew Beaujon
Feb. 12, 2013
1:56 pm
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