Although Singleton has promised that the bankruptcy won't affect his newspapers, it appears the financial situation that brought about the bankruptcy could lead to more cost-cutting.
From AP (note: "Affiliated" is the holding company for MediaNews):
Affiliated is bracing for more tight times ahead. In a disclosure statement, the company discusses possible savings from farming out some production, newsroom and administrative jobs and imposing permanent wage cuts at some newspapers beginning this year.Also noteworthy (emphasis mine): "MediaNews, based in Denver, says its newspapers ... and 8,700 employees won't be affected during the bankruptcy proceedings." In other words, once the company emerges from court, which is estimated to take between 30 and 90 days, the promise comes to an end.
None of which comes as a surprise. MediaNews has followed a cut-and-consolidation program for years and already has outsourced printing of its Southern California papers. Given the economic environment and past practices, it would be surprising if MediaNews didn't do more of this.
The AP also got the salary information for Singleton and company president Jody Lodovic:
The reorganization plan calls for Singleton to receive a $634,000 salary and an annual bonus of up to $500,000 as Affiliated's chief executive. He will also continue to be paid $360,000 annually under a separate agreement with The Denver Post Corp., according to court documents.
Joseph Lodovic IV, Affiliated's president, will get a $1 million salary, an annual bonus of up to $500,000 and 3 percent of the reorganized company's stock, according to court documents. He has already earned $500,000 in bonuses for overseeing recent changes at the Denver newspaper and helping to gather lender support for the reorganization. He is eligible for an additional bonus of up to $250,000, contingent on the timing of the plan's approval.
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25 comments:
I hope Dean can survive on that mere salary and potential bonus. He makes AIG look good.
Good catch on during bankruptcy...just watch the buzzards circle after this no talent gets through trying to cost cut his way to the promised land. His employees are dead meat.
All of his newspapers except one are profitable? His CFO must have kept the books for Al Capone. Are you kidding me? How does he get the gall to spout this BS and expect people to ignore the lies and half truths?
Let us watch with awe the carnage in the spring and summer as more jobs are lost, readers get less, circulation goes further down, but, wait, readership will be up and all the newspapers will be making money.
Jody got a $500,000 bonus for firing a bunch of people?! What a scumbag, what a piece of shit company.
Well, they work pretty long hours.
gary, thanks for keeping this on the frontburner. singleton would prefer we have our heads in the sand and believe the hype until he is good and ready to get rid of us. i think all of us lang folks need to really stay on top of this.
I'm sure it's top of his mind. I bet he has his top people monitoring the situation, reporting back immediately when a head pops out of the sand. And then, when he's good and ready, THWAACK it's whack the gopher time. How many times have we seen this happen, and at how many papers? Isn't there supposed tb be some kind of anti trust to stop this from spreading from cluster to cluster?
duuuude! jody is pulling in $1 a year not including bonuses. how many people lost jobs over that? wow. sinful.
I had the suspicion the language was in there. I just knew they were exploiting some "loophole." I just knew it. So many times they have told us, "We said we were not going to have layoffs. But the tide has turned... the situation has changed ... things have been much worse than we could have predicted."
I just can't see how the bankruptcy WON'T affect jobs. Every reasonable person who has been tracking this is having troubles seeing how this will have zero impact.
I know Singleton thinks he has his employees sufficiently in the dark. But just HOW stupid does he think we all are?
They didn't mention Steve Lambert's salary, but I hear it's $8 a year -- exactly his value to Dean.
I have no love for Singleton and his minions. I myself was axed in one of his recent staff cuts. But I say hate him for misery he's inflicted on so many people, not for the bonuses. It's a lot of money for a newspaper man, but nothing close to AIG money.
I for one don't want to be in a position to defend AIG. Both firms should fire the leaders and pay them nothing. They were in charge during the crash and should be held accountable.
If you experienced the void of leadership, the stupid decisions, the non decisions, the lying, and the misery inflicted on the employees at singleton's company you would understand the wrath directed his way.
They are worse than AIG to a great extent because the industry stands for truth...he doesn't.
I feel for the MNG especially the LANG employees because they are in poisiton to taking more paycuts or furlough days but I have NO sympathy for Singleton and the rest of the suits. I really hope Dean gets a taste of his own medicine.
if you believe in karma, he is getting his due in many ways.
I don't understand most of the comments on this blog. I don't get how it is Dean's fault that the industry in particular is collapsing or that the economy in general is the worst it has been in 75 years. The comments about how they just don't know what they are doing is oblivious to the fact that no one is performing like the good old days - not just Media News. I guess all management everywhere is incompetent? Come on! And what is Dean supposed to do? Just keep staffing the same whether he can pay for it or not? You all are in a dream world. Hate to tell you this, but the world doesn't value newspaper content too much anymore. Why don't YOU come up with content that people will pay for?
6:14 -- Steve, you are not allowed to post there.
6:14, are you a relative of singleton? Anyone with a brain knows the entire industry is in a down spiral. His team is worse. If you ever worked there you would be shocked on the romper room antics of leadership, the lack of follow through and the communication skills that embarass a grade school student. Aside from this and more, he lies...over and over again. I have challenged others to name a few things that demonstrate any thinking ability they this group of wizards has brought to the table, so far none.
6:14 you are a dummy. do you have any firsthand knowledge of the situation? don't use the economy as a "goat" b/c even before, singleton was destroying and decimating. get the facts! get a clue!
10:17 PM: I know Singleton thinks he has his employees sufficiently in the dark. But just HOW stupid does he think we all are?
Well, we still work for him, don't we?
Dean was a dick even when newspapers were making gobs of money back in the day.
dean singletom is an asshole among assholes. even when other papers were making money, he was making bad decisions that cost people and pulitzer-winning papers. he should be sweeping and crap out of the dirtiest men's bathrooms in the entire world and cleaning toilets with a toothbrush for what he's done to an entire industry and for ruining at least hundreds of people's lives. if he was on fire, i wouldn't cross the street to spit on him. now ask me how i really feel about the sonofabitch...
Wow 10:29, where is the love? I mean, he rescued papers making money and turned them into losers. I mean he hired incompetent boobs to flounder further. I mean he took journalism to a new low. I mean he fired talent and kept and promoted bigger boobs. I mean he embreace and invested in technology. I mean he took care of his employees and communicated clearly and honestly.
How can you be so heartless? But, you are right.
What happens after the bankruptcy? Everybody below publisher level gets boned and all the big wigs (and Lambert, the no wigs) walk away with plenty of cash.
It's America, folks.
He who has the gold, makes the rules.
@4:14
I experienced all of it and share the wrath. My point is that as ridiculous as the idea of of Singleton bonusing himself a happy meal seems, that is what corporate execs do and the numbers don't strike me as obscene by those standards.
1:16
That Dean is a scamp! A genuine scamp!
Sorry, it is ridiculous and someone who needs to inspire people should know better. I sure would not like to follow him up a hill. Leaders with a spine do the right thing.
I told all you ideeeeots to get out while you could, now you're all stuck (LMFAO)
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