Thursday, July 2, 2009
Hargrove / Media Scratch That: Gannett Layoffs May Reach 1,400
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 6:22 AM
Well, today we have confirmation and, thankfully, it's less than that. But it still sucks: 1,400 layoffs throughout the company by July 9. There's no telling how many, if any, will get axed at our local Gannett daily. The newspaper industry is in the tank all over the country, and the email from Gannett division president Bob Dickey talks about taking the local economy of each market into account. It seems like Tennessee papers have been insulated from the brunt of the recession, at least when compared to markets like South Florida.
Anyway, the email is full of bullshit corporate double-talk -- like those who are losing their jobs are "impacted." To say nothing about the reporters who remain. They will, undoubtedly, face the 'do more with less and with the same pay' experience that nearly every reporter in the country knows all too well.
Update: The Tennessean to cut 35 jobs this month, according to the Nashville Post.
Comments (6)
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A few days ago, the 8th/franklin Kroger had some dude trying to sell subscriptions..
Yesterday they had someone literally giving papers away, and I watched person after person saying "no thanks"..
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a coworker has been getting the Sunday Tennessean for $10 a month. They called him and offered him 7 days a week for the same price. That must be only so they can claim a higher circulation. If yu look at who writes the articles somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 are not Tennessean writers and they paper is getting thinner and thinner.
foxeyes2: You nailed it. The Daily Fishwrap needs to be able to claim readers and they'll do it at almost any cost.
I've got the same deal. Pay for Sunday and get the other days free. They'll cancel that offer about every 18 months and if you refuse to pay for the other days and do without for about six months they'll restart the other days.
Next time when the freebies go away I'll not continue Sundays for $2.50 a week but will grab one from Walgreen's for 99¢.
Nashville Post had the story yesterday. Check it out:
http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2009/7/1/itennesseani_to_shed_more_employees
I know this is a footnote to the real story here, believe me, but I'm really shocked to see that at the time of this post, almost a full day after the story broke, there is nothing yet on the Tennessean website about Steve McNair. Why don't they just close the doors up for good at 1100 Broadway, for all they are adding to the community these days!
