First it was the New York Times that cut its staff; now it’s the Washington Post:
The Washington Post Co. yesterday announced plans to eliminate the equivalent of 80 newsroom positions over the next year by offering an early retirement plan to eligible employees and through attrition of full- and part-time workers. The Post said it has no plans to lay off any of its more than 800 newsroom employees.
Yet.
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From:
UPDATE: ‘Post’ Publisher, Editor, Explain Job Cuts
By Joe Strupp
Editor & Publisher
March 10, 2006
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002156960
excerpts:
Note, “little if any impact on Iraq War coverage.” I guess that’s true for all their editorial content masquerading as news–not just Iraq coverage.
(Crosses fingers) Toles?
Reminds me of the fagawi bird (as in “where the fagawi?”), that flies in ever smaller circles until it disappears within itself.
Roger:
Should the press go after their own corporate boards and upper management for not trimming their high salaries and tell them to ignore concerns about falling stock prices rather then lay off workers. That was their song and dance when covering other corporate shakeups and layoff’s.
PowerlineBlog posts a related article on possible consolidation of Minn/StPaul papers.
It is a shame to watch the demise of newspapers, but they have become so arrogant and elitist that one only hopes that the process goes “faster, please”.
Jim:
The newspapers that change their hidebound traditions will survive. The ones that continue to write for only 20% of the population will flop. Ah, the glories of capitalism. When their are alternatives that provide better content the population will run to them. When any buisness ignores their consumers and tries to call them idiots for not slavishly buying their tripe they will flop. Some newspapers will survive. But only the ones who change.
Expect product quality to go down. Having personally been through this process (admitedly in another industry) less is not more, less is less. Less staff (even low productivity staff) means less research, and less reporting. Period. Expect an increase in editorial masquerading as news (as if there isn’t too much of that going on already). It’s easier to potificate without benefit of facts, than it is to develop hard news. The WAPO could improve its quality and competitive position by engaging the blogosphere (think Michael Yon or Evan Maloney, hell, think big and think carrying Pajamas Media) but that isn’t going to happen.
Drudge reports this morning that the New York Times is planning to drop its Mon-Fri stock listings. The long spiraling decline continues…