Tuesday, June 16, 2009

One year anniversary of Bloody Monday

I had forgotten until John Landsberg posted the reminder -- a year ago today, McClatchy announced it was laying off 1,400 employees.

That day was dubbed Bloody Monday. Which is a quaint name in hindsight, since there have been subsequent waves of layoffs, and the last wave this spring was even larger (1,600 employees).
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36 comments:

Anonymous said...

and strong word is another bloody day is around the corner. PLEASE TAKE ME NEXT! I was blocked the first 2 rounds

Anonymous said...

And now we are in the June round.......FWST is doing here and there buyouts.

Outsourcing of Accounting NOT going well.

Anyone else losing here and there?

Anonymous said...

This way they avoid more bad PR vs a big round. The community already hates us. I hate the product I help produce - but its a job.

Anonymous said...

Re: 10:08AM

Do you have any pride or ambition?
Most liberals don't, so we understand. ....and you want sympathy or sorrow!!

Do you wonder why your product is being abandoned in droves?

Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

10:26

Good point.

The product sucks. I neither worked there in the past or current, just have many friends there.

Wish they would fold and move the DMN west.

Anonymous said...

This is 10:08 again - how can I do good work, when we all do the work of 3 people.

Anonymous said...

Three people?

Person #1.... look up the phone number of the DNC.

Person #2.... call DNC and give them your fax number.

Person #3.... check fax and format DNC talking points for print.

Anonymous said...

11:01

You make things worse. You collect trash for a living?

Anonymous said...

McClatchy almost didn't send a reporter to Iran

"On the Media"

"As the Iranian elections were approaching, we thought long and hard about whether we would send anybody, and for a long time we thought we wouldn't because it simply costs a lot of money to send a reporter into Iran," says McClatchy's Mark Seibel. "Finally we decided that we needed to do it. They were giving out visas, and they aren't easy to get. But to do that, what we did was cancel a trip for a reporter to Afghanistan." || More "OTM" audio and transcripts.
Via Romenesko

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:01 LMAO

Anonymous said...

Oh, yeah, thanks for the reminder.

MW...When is the mass layoffs coming again?

http://cancelthebee.blogspot.com/2009/04/look-for-another-round-of-layoffs-at.html

Anonymous said...

Anyone else losing here and there?

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Yes, Stealth layoffs have been ongoing but it is impossible to track them all. We never realize it until a few days later. The sneaky bastards.

John Altevogt said...

Landsberg's list was there before I discovered him and it contains the names of some folks who I missed and wondered what happened too them. In one case I was working on a story myself and called the reporter wondering why they hadn't covered the issue at The Star. I was given sufficient information to fill in all of the blanks I had.

So when you think critically of some of these papers, understand that there are many stories these reporters would love to pursue, but are not allowed to because of corrupt publishers like Brisbane and Zieman.

My sympathies to the quality reporters who have to work under a system that restricts them from committing acts of journalism.

Anonymous said...

I feel for all the good hard working non Management types "Left Behind" at the Sac Bee. Those who chose to stay or where forced remain are doing the work of many, working longer hours for no more pay. For many workers if you divide the amount they make and the hours they are working they are making less than minimum wage.

Many are just quitting in disgust after trying to be loyal but getting crapped on and not getting any severance. The last batch that took the buy out took a lesser package than the ones that left previously.

More misery to come.

Anonymous said...

Re: Stealth layoffs by the sneaky bastards.
The last time someone informed us about stealth layoffs, a MNI troll hyperventilated about how that simply could not be true. One thing seems consistent with McClatchy, a steady steam of bullshit to keep the remaining employees working more for less pay. Calling these corrupt bastards sneaky, is too kind.
MOO Stan

Anonymous said...

***So when you think critically of some of these papers, understand that there are many stories these reporters would love to pursue, but are not allowed to because of corrupt publishers like Brisbane and Zieman.***

"Corrupt" meaning that you disagree with their policies and/or decisions? Or "corrupt" meaning that they have been convicted of something?

John Altevogt said...

Get a dictionary, look the word up. We've published it here before. I'm not your babysitter.

Anonymous said...

3:14, yes, you've published the charge frequently. You've never provided any backup other than that you disagree with their policies and/or editorial decisions. And, of course, that your column was terminated about a decade ago -- for reasons that were obvious to many of your readers.

John Altevogt said...

I've provided multitudes of backup, none of them ever refuted by you,or any other Star butt boy. If you think you can, since you're aware of them being posted on here frequently, go find one and tell me what part you think is wrong, and do it before midnight when it's at the bottom of the pile.

Anonymous said...

3:19, Would you please stop with the proof to your satisfaction old saw? Let’s just say the Red Star & Sickle is circling the drain, and that is proof enough that they are no longer relevant to anyone. If you have not noticed the corruptness of most of their editorial staff, then you are blind. To openly back a liberal candidate while defaming the conservative one, is dishonest, while newspapers supposedly were the election watchdogs. Watchdogs my ass! That so many media people were in on the scam is the corruption connection. It is rewarding to watch the liberal shills piss and moan as they lose their jobs. Go ahead with your worn old line, it is like a fun reminder that you are getting the “Change you can believe in”.
"Say goodnight Gracie"

John Altevogt said...

Actually, I've never chatted on her about what happened when Brisbane dumped my column. That might be fun. I'll see if I can dredge up the time to put that together and we'll see if the Star's butt boys can take a shot at that. Let's just say that it is an example of The Star as handmaiden to corruption.

John Altevogt said...

Oh, and while we're at it, let the record show that a Star butt boy attacked me for complimenting a Star (ex) reporter for their integrity. Look at my 2:55 and then The Star's response at 3:19. Which post is supporting quality journalism and which is just an ad hominem insult?

Anonymous said...

John, your constant and non-stop whining over what happened to you at the Star has grown beyond pathetic. Dude, MOVE ON! get a life, although I'm sure you are unable to do that. There's a left wing knucklehead behind every tree trying to take you down. Really? The sad sad truth is no one cares about you or your flame out. Here, let me write this in all caps so you get the message: YOU'RE A WASHED UP WRITER AND NO ONE CARES.
Please stop.

Anonymous said...

Dude, MOVE ON! get a life, although I'm sure you are unable to do that.



Dude back. I have read your drizzle and it is you that can't get a life or move on. Those guys are mopping the floor with you every time you open your yap.

John Altevogt said...

Yet more insults and no substance. The essence of The Star. You're the ones who keep challenging me to discuss these issues with your gutless anonymous posts and the whiny obscene phone calls from your "Reader's" Rep. And all I'm trying to do is speak truth to power. Isn't that what McClatchey is all about?

John Altevogt said...

I said at 4:00 "I've provided multitudes of backup, none of them ever refuted by you,or any other Star butt boy. If you think you can, since you're aware of them being posted on here frequently, go find one and tell me what part you think is wrong, and do it before midnight when it's at the bottom of the pile."

Challenge unmet. Insults and BS, but no substantive response. Trolls, and stupid ones at that.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Truth Hurts said...

Anon 8:08...

Your obsession with John is not healthy (it's borderline psychotic), and although it is providing you with an alternative to the unbearable emptiness of your day-to-day existence, it will not heal your psychological and emotional scars.

"Dude, Move On, Get A Life".

Anonymous said...

John seems to have a special fondness for the insult "butt boy." What are you trying to hide, John?

John Altevogt said...

An absolute lie! I have never been a journalist, nor have I ever held myself out as one. There are some insults that can simply not be tolerated. I work for a living in an honest profession.

I did write a regularly scheduled guest column at the request of the editorial page editor at The Star. I was never an employee of The Star, or any other newspaper. So let's not try to make more of that than it is.

And to the question about butt boys, for some reason after seeing Mary Sanchez go on O'Reilly in place of that lilly livered coward Mike Hendricks the phrase "buttboy" just keeps coming to mind everytime I think of The Star and its apologists on this blog.

Anonymous said...

You know when I think about it, your obsessed stalker sounds incredibly like Mike Hendricks himself. Then again, in real life I'd have a hard time sorting between him and Donovan if I couldn't look at them when they speak.

Kevin Gregory said...

8:08 deleted for violating the rules.

Anonymous said...

John seems to have a special fondness for the insult "butt boy." What are you trying to hide, John?

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Excellent question. At least six references to that phrase ... just by him ... in this thread, alone.

I suspect what he's hiding in his butt is a framed photo of Derek Donovan, signed by John himself, reading "WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME??!!," scripted in glittery neon, just like other girls who write at a junior-high-school level.

Anonymous said...

The sniping back and forth is frustrating. As a McClatchy employee who comes to work every day afraid of what might happen next (furloughs? layoffs? parking lot sales?) and uses this site as a resource to gauge what that next thing might be, I'm annoyed to read comments such as "butt boy" and "get a life." Use the comments to post items that actually matter. Some of us want to know if we'll still have jobs next week. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

////I work for a living in an honest profession./


John is a real estate salesman when he's not insulting anyone he disagrees with on this blog. He's also a political operative: a Republican county official in the only county in Kansas that Republicans never carry.

Anonymous said...

////I work for a living in an honest profession./

... and yet he still finds time to vomit "wisdom" all over a blog 18 hours a day.