"... Jim Witt of the Star-Telegram pretty much assured employees that layoffs will be announced next week after a McClatchy meeting Tuesday.He sent out an e-mail to all employees on accident that basically argued why one employee should be kept among others that do the same sort of job. He tried to do damage control about an hour later, but it was too late."
Layoffs at the Star-Telegram haven been rumored for months. But the recent partnership with the Dallas Morning News means several positions are redundant. And I'm betting even more jobs are at risk. Stay tuned.
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21 comments:
I still would like to see the actual e mail sent.
Did the manager act like this was something company-wide or is it just happening at the S-T due to the redundancy created by the partnership? Just wondering if we all have it coming next week.
Blog Comment:
Anonymous said...
At my work, the layoff rumor mill is killing morale and productivity. What used to be a bustling newsroom meeting a deadline, is now a black hole of paranoia. There is some sort of survival of the fittest (by backstabbing your colleague) mentality. The employees that do survive, will remember what they saw, and what they did!
The Sacramento Bee newsroom is hearing that layoffs will be announced here next week.
From: Witt, Jim
Sent: Thu 1/29/2009 3:37 PM
To: Ruiz, Darla; Wortel, Gary
Cc: edit-all
Subject: Gil LeBreton
Darla:
Here's some reasoning on why Jen Floyd Engel is different than Gil Lebreton (or Jim Reeves)
* Salary - Gil makes 65 percent more than her and Jim makes twice what she does. They are the ``senior'' people and she is jr. - just like the difference in a senior photographer vs. a regular photographer.
* Experience - Gil has 29 years, Reeves has 40 and Jennifer only 12.
* She blogs multiple times daily online on any number of topics. Because she's always at practice/games, she provides insider information on all of the teams we cover. Colleges, too. (Leb doesn't blog; Reeves just started contributing to our Texas Rangers baseball blog for the upcoming season).
* She writes twice a week in print and once online. Leb/Reeves write 4 times in print only.
* She does her weekly video with Randy Galloway (Leb or Reeves don't do anything in video).
* She does her weekly podcast, available through iTunes (Leb/Reeves don't do podcasts).
* She's regularly hosts breaking news chats or live game chats from events. Leb/Reeves don't do.
* She produces a weekly mailbag column, answering e-mails from her readers all over the globe. (Literally - all over the globe. She gets e-mails from places you wouldn't believe - Egypt, Japan, some places in the Middle East.) She has quite a following.
Here's something else - she contributes things for Your Life, too. She has the Saturday centerpiece this week for example where she rates local chicken wing establishments for Super Bowl parties. And she's doing some online stuff with called Bride-to-Bride. It's a mailbag/advice column for brides-to-be on Star-Telegram.com.
From: Witt, Jim
Sent: Thu 1/29/2009 4:20 PM
To: edit-all
Subject: Oops!
Folks:
Well, boy am I embarrassed. By now you have probably already read the e-mail I sent to the publisher concerning Gil Lebreton, Jim Reeves and Jen Engel. Not sure how ``edit-all'' got into the CC field, but it did.
Anyway, by way of explanation, I was talking to Gary Wortel this morning about about the recent announcement that the Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News were going to start sharing some sports content. As you may know, part of that agreement is that we are NOT going to be sharing columnists.
I told him that we had also put Jen on the list of stuff we would NOT be sharing and he was asking me what was the difference between what she does and what someone like Revo or Leb does. I was trying to spell out those differences in my e-mail.
A lesson here for all of us that I will never forget ...
jwitt
WOW! That Witt guy should be next with this mistake!
If there is one person alive who believes the second email from JWitt, please raise your hand.
We could demand the ADN template be employed again.
Jim Witt, the e-mail rumor will not die. 'PROVE' it is false.
JIM WITT: See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/us/politics/30ledbetter-web.html?em
WASHINGTON — President Obama signed his first bill into law on Thursday, approving equal-pay legislation that he said would “send a clear message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”
Anonymous said...
If there is one person alive who believes the second email from JWitt, please raise your hand.
***
The best thing about the internet is, I can believe the e-mail is real, or not. Demand more facts, or research it myself. The MSM was lying to everyone for years, but not enough people questioned them, or their motives. Now, if I settle for information spoon-fed from any source, and stay dumbed-down, it is my own fault. The MSM still counts on that, but they don‘t know me, dinosaurs that they are.
It was real, it came to my inbox.
Re: WASHINGTON — President Obama signed his first bill into law... economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”
***
Barry offers his first payback to trial attorneys.
Anon 7:38 - is that totally based on rumors or do you all know anything for sure? Anyone else hearing rumors about the next week or 2 at other papers?
Publisher Ann Caulkins at the Charlotte paper sent round an e-mail nottifying employes of a new forum to discuss employee concerns. One of the first questions she answered was about what is happening with layoffs, cutbacks, etc. She gave the familiar song and dance about reevaluating all departments, endeavors. The subtext was clear: cuts, possibly job cuts, are around the corner. The board met this week, as did the publishers. They now have their new McC targets. How they reach them is each publisher's concern. Job cuts usually precede an earnings declaration. McC's is planned for Feb. 5, from what I have heard.
And yes, the e-mails from Jim Witt are the real deal. That Outlook e-mail recall button never works if the receiver has opened the e-mail.
This is all so unfortunate as the three writers mentioned do great work.
Morale has been low at the S-T since last April, our first bloodletting. Many of us have responded with a sort of gallows humor. It's all we can do as we try to muddle through with way fewer people doing a job many of us love and depend upon to feed families.
Mc Clatchy has destroyed many small newspapers "for the greater good"
It's all we can do as we try to muddle through with way fewer people doing a job many of us love and depend upon to feed families.
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My heart goes out to you. Such a shame that so many of you participated, willingly and with glee in destroying public confidence and your credibility.
Hopefully in the future some of you will reflect back in time and wonder what you possibly could have been thinking when you decided that there was a viable business model in alienating fully 50% of your potential customers by acting as a propaganda agent to an ideology.
Anonymous 3:14, We're talking about real people about to lose real jobs here, not some useless ideological argument. Go crawl back under your rock and come back when you're ready to act, and converse, like a grownup.
Anonymous 3:14 - there are far more employees at any given newspaper than not who have no say whatsoever in the ideology/politics. I would suggest that your heart go out to anyone working and creating local content.
Couldn't care less about you or your problems. You're character assassins, elitists and frauds. Each and every one of you helped to dig your own grave. Now, go get a job and reap your reward.
Like any news organization, there is a silent majority that have nothing to do with editorial content. Many support staff, custodians, maintainance, sales staff, etc. are trying to get by and yes, feed their families. There are 2 sides to everything, and it does affect many people that work for the organization and TOTALLY disagree with their idealogical leanings. I understand the way you feel, believe me, but people like YOU are going to be affected whether they like it or not.....
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