Apr 20, 2009

Daily News considering more cuts

Earlier this month, Los Angeles Daily News management floated the idea of salary cuts to trim 15 percent from the paper's newsroom budget. Now it appears layoffs are the preferred way to go. The union representing journalists at the paper sent out a memo today to members warning them that as many as five people could be fired by the end of the week.

From the memo:
We learned this morning that management at the Los Angeles Daily News intends to layoff five people from the newsroom by the end of the week. Three metro reporting positions, one photographer and one graphic artist will be cut.

As the cuts move forward, we have been told that some managers will be demoted and placed in non-management positions, though we are waiting for more details.

These cuts are the result of a newsroom budget cut of 15 percent, as we previously reported. An informal survey of guild members led us to propose possible furloughs in lieu of layoffs. We are waiting to hear back from management.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

yet again...i hate to bring this up, but, what medication was janniga on when he said no more layoffs...unreal. the leadership at lang should be fired starting at the top with little eddie.

Anonymous said...

http://gawker.com/5219128/save-your-newspaper-dont-let-anyone-cancel
If things weren't bad enough, apparently subscribers can't cancel even if they want to.

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

knock knock.

Who's There ?

Bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy Who?

Welcome to Jack -In-The-Box how may I help you?

Anonymous said...

on the brink of bankruptcy. if anyone can't see it, they are in denial. sad.

Anonymous said...

folks, GET OUT while you can.

Anonymous said...

Keep the faith, guys, and don't be discouraged by naysayers like 9:26. What the Daily News does is important and it would be an abdication of our responsibility to readers -- and to our fragile democracy in Los Angeles -- to quit now.

Anonymous said...

Fragile democracy? You're in Los Angeles, not Zimbabwe. Get a grip.

Anonymous said...

hey 9:58, to bad your employers don't have the same additude that you do...get ready to bend over again!

Anonymous said...

Keep the faith, faith in who??? Its over.

Anonymous said...

RIP, Daily News.

Anonymous said...

oh puh-leeze 9:58. rationalize all you want. can you not do better? is this all you can do...stay in this abusive relationship? you poor thing. my heart goes out to you dear person.

Anonymous said...

This is like amputating a patient's limbs one at time because the medical staff refuse to accept notion that death is inevitable. When there's nobody left to lay off, then what?

Anonymous said...

Good analogy. I like the old joke that has a scientist cut off a leg of the frog one at a time at when he is done amputating all four legs sets the frog down and asks him to jump. When the frog doesn't respond, the scientist writes in his notes that a frog with no legs is deaf.

Hey LANG "leadership" are you DEAF!!!

Anonymous said...

9:58 you are so right.

The Daily News married Ike Turner and he don't like the way your looking at him right now.

You people at the Daily News should be pissed let them know when they have another " your doing a great Job " speech after the layoffs speak your mind!
What are they going to do fire you ?

Anonymous said...

How do you know LANG management is lying? Their lips are moving. They have only one thing in mind, protect their own hides at the expense of others. The best time to look for work is when you are working. Start looking people. The LANG bus is history.

Anonymous said...

Was that a real question, "how do you know LANG is lying"?

Simple because they're LANG and it's what they do best!!!

Anonymous said...

morons at lang headquarters. as folks have been saying now for quite a while, it is a revenue issue and you do not have a clue how to grow it, protect it, or compete with those who do.

Anonymous said...

Get out while you have the chance. It is not going to get better.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/04/guild_asks_daily_news_sta.php#more

Anonymous said...

control your own destiny. look for another job before you have to. this place is beyond toast.

Anonymous said...

uh, I think everyone IS looking for other jobs. No one is staying because they are dedcated to the cause. The fact is, there's next to nothing out there to move to. So cool it with the "get out while you can" advice. If you have a job to post, post it. It's just stupid right now to walk away from a salary on principle.

Anonymous said...

principal is a very good reason to walk away when you consider the loss of the 401k, no longer acrue vacation pay, have forced furloughs and now face pay cuts and layoffs.
I would beg for a buyout on principal alone.

Anonymous said...

Look, the business is in a sad state. Medianews is among the poorest organizations. It isn't going to get better. If there isn't a job in the industry, start looking at other skill sets. Wishing it were different won't make you happy or get you paid.

Anonymous said...

I don't know anyone who is looking for another journalism job. Everyone is looking at other industries. I read these comments and it's like, duh! Of course no one wants to be furloughed or 401k-less or vacationless. But there's 12% unemployment in LA County. You get 6 weeks of severance max. Regardless of how shitty the company is, being homeless is shittier.

Everyone who was going to walk out on principle and get their spouses or parents to support them has walked. It doesn't mean the rest of us don't have principles. It means we have bills and no net.

Alex, Dim, Georgie and Pete said...

My three-doors down neighbor just drove off to his apparent job ... wearing a security guard uniform. He used to be a white collar something or other.

Anonymous said...

In lieu of layoffs! They will take the salary cuts and layoff more until the place is closed.