By Jenny Rizzo
Sizable layoffs are looming at Buffalo's only daily newspaper. The Buffalo News is under pressure to cut costs after four months of struggling to turn a profit.
Its not official at this point, but Eyewitness News has learned that newspaper management has outlined a plan to possibly lay off up to 52 employees, if the talks don't work out with the union. The News has also extended the buyout period, but at this point, only 26 people have opted to take it.
Eyewitness News has obtained a copy of an internal memo sent to the staff from news publisher Stan Lipsey. In it, he details where the 52 cuts would be made: 33 in circulation, 8 in editorial, 8 in classified advertising, 2 in accounting and 1 in marketing. These are all union positions, employees who are in the Newspaper Guild. We spoke to newspaper management and they have nothing to add, other than what's in the memo. But if you look at what's been happening to newspapers across the country, its the same story everywhere.
"It used to be that if you owned the printing press and the delivery trucks - that's what made you powerful. Now that cost structure is an albatross around the neck of journalism," said Jeff Jarvis, author of the book "What Would Google Do?".
Big papers like the San Francisco Chronicle are on the verge of collapse, and more than 20 newspapers in cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Detroit have gone into bankruptcy or merged. Lipsey noted this in his memo to staffers: "With large metropolitan newspapers around the country declaring bankruptcy or going out of business, we feel the need to act quickly."
The slumping economy is hurting advertising sales and a free Internet means that many readers have stopped paying for newsprint. The Buffalo News is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, who admitted today that he made one major investing mistake last year by buying oil and gas when prices were near their peak, which cost his shareholders several billion dollars.
Again, these layoffs are not official. The decision depends on the outcome of talks with Guild members on Monday. But in the meantime, The News is making other changes to reduce costs, which include a wage freeze among non-union employees, a reduction in newsprint, and closing the Niagara County bureau and moving those staffers to paper's downtown Buffalo headquarters.
Its not official at this point, but Eyewitness News has learned that newspaper management has outlined a plan to possibly lay off up to 52 employees, if the talks don't work out with the union. The News has also extended the buyout period, but at this point, only 26 people have opted to take it.
Eyewitness News has obtained a copy of an internal memo sent to the staff from news publisher Stan Lipsey. In it, he details where the 52 cuts would be made: 33 in circulation, 8 in editorial, 8 in classified advertising, 2 in accounting and 1 in marketing. These are all union positions, employees who are in the Newspaper Guild. We spoke to newspaper management and they have nothing to add, other than what's in the memo. But if you look at what's been happening to newspapers across the country, its the same story everywhere.
"It used to be that if you owned the printing press and the delivery trucks - that's what made you powerful. Now that cost structure is an albatross around the neck of journalism," said Jeff Jarvis, author of the book "What Would Google Do?".
Big papers like the San Francisco Chronicle are on the verge of collapse, and more than 20 newspapers in cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Detroit have gone into bankruptcy or merged. Lipsey noted this in his memo to staffers: "With large metropolitan newspapers around the country declaring bankruptcy or going out of business, we feel the need to act quickly."
The slumping economy is hurting advertising sales and a free Internet means that many readers have stopped paying for newsprint. The Buffalo News is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, who admitted today that he made one major investing mistake last year by buying oil and gas when prices were near their peak, which cost his shareholders several billion dollars.
Again, these layoffs are not official. The decision depends on the outcome of talks with Guild members on Monday. But in the meantime, The News is making other changes to reduce costs, which include a wage freeze among non-union employees, a reduction in newsprint, and closing the Niagara County bureau and moving those staffers to paper's downtown Buffalo headquarters.
Related Links
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter to Shareholders 2008 - Read the latest Berkshire Letter
Daily Forex Updates - Daily Forex data, commentary & tools to help make trading Forex easy
Share Investor Blog - Stockmarket & Business commentary
Share Investor New Zealand Business News- Get more business news
Shareinvestorforum.com - Discuss this topic further
Recommended Amazon Reading
Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha: A Hedge Fund Manager's Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting by Jeff Matthews
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $9.41
Usually ships in 24 hours
Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)
No comments:
Post a Comment