Oct 6, 2011

Buyouts in Denver

The Denver Post wants at least 20 newsroom staffers to take buyouts as a way to cut costs. This would represent 8 percent of newsroom employees. If the plan falls short, layoffs could follow.

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow !! why is it the Denver has the ballz report on layoffs and LANG/Bang/Tang or whatever can't ?

Anonymous said...

count on layoffs even if these morons get the 20 they say they need. they appear to have a problem counting correctly. my guess is that over the next few years their current 250 newsroom employees might be at 125. this group seems to suck in every state they try to operate in.

Anonymous said...

Denver was supposed to be the exception to the rule that Media News can't put out a decent newspaper. Now CEO John Paton gives them cover for draconian layoffs under the smokescreen of his "digital first" mantra ("stack those dimes!". Dean's toybox is getting taken away from him.

Anonymous said...

Wonder how much the buyoutees were given.

Anonymous said...

if staff is forced to shut the doors at wdn, who will be getting laid off here next?

Anonymous said...

count on another 15-20 percent...the hits won't stop either. my guess is buyoutees got 13 weeks give or take and that is a guess.

Anonymous said...

Poor Baby is downsizing :(


http://insiderealestatenews.com/2011/09/singleton-moving-downtown/


" William Dean Singleton is moving downtown.

In a month or so, Singleton, the publisher of the Denver Post, will be moving to a penthouse suite on the 32nd floor of One Lincoln Park at 2001 Lincoln St. Records show that he paid $1.26 million for the 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath condo with 3,043 square feet. He is still trying to sell his much larger 11,939-square-foot estate on 2.3 acres in Cherry Hills Village for $2.7 million.

He said he realizes that his Cherry Hills home will not sell for another year or two.

Shopping around

Singleton shopped all of Denver’s condo high-rises – Spire, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carton – before choosing One Lincoln Park.

Singleton, who can no longer walk because of multiple sclerosis, noted that One Lincoln Park is only three blocks from the Denver Post building, where he spends much of his time. Instead, he rides a motorized scooter vehicle on sidewalks.

“It’s a six-minute scooter ride from my office to my new home,” Singleton said. “To me, it really is freedom. I have a driver and he takes me where I want to go, but he can’t be available 24-7. Sometimes I find myself stuck at home (in Cherry Hills) on weekends and my wife is out of town. I’m kind of trapped.” "

Anonymous said...

Yep, trapped by poor decisions.

Anonymous said...

Gee more layoffs at MediaNews? What a surprise. This company is intent in killing every paper it owns. Less is more in the land of Singleton. Cut, cut, and cut, while the readers leave in droves. What a way to run a business! Morons.

Anonymous said...

Note to the multiple brilliant minds at mng...charge the readers for the paper and don't deliver it. Save on labor, paper, editorial, etc. We need to start a pool. How many papers do they own now and how many will be in biz 5 years from now.

Anonymous said...

I see the blog's five bitter readers have each posted twice only. You people are slowing down.

Anonymous said...

7:14, are you the Helen Keller of newspapers? See no evil, hear no evil? 5 bitter readers? Crap, there are at least twice that many. If you ever worked in that organization and don't feel a bit bitter, then you didn't give a shit in the first place or you are one of the wonderful leaders who put them where they are now. Bankrupt.

Anonymous said...

Good job 7:34. That's the kind of output I'm looking for. Too easy.

Still anonymous bangin' said...

I figure theres two self consuming bitter commenters and one sincere but overly literal person who defends the two bitter ones while not picking up on the occasional sarcasm directed at the bitter two by a two or three wiseguys who trip on the two for being repetitive blowhards.

Anonymous said...

What?

Anonymous said...

i appreciate the tip of the cap 9:11, gracias.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ol' Dean? How's ur millions helping you know? U probably that that scooter free too. I may be poor and out of a job, but I got my full functioning legs, body and everything else that needs to function. Payback's abe-atch! ain't it ol Lean Dean? Oh, your wife is out of town, wonder with who? Have fun with your wheelchair and thanks for f$%@*ing everything up for us lowly worker bees.

Anonymous said...

Hey all you suckers: Here's where your pay raises ahve been going to: In August, when layoffs came.


Denver Post publisher William Dean Singleton celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday night with a musical extravaganza at the Seawell Grand Ballroom for about 400 of his nearest and dearest.

Michael Martin Murphey, an old friend of Singleton's, started it off by explaining this was not his usual set. It was "The Dean's List."

Singleton told me that he picked every band and every song for the party.

After Murphey came Suzy Bogguss, Carin Mari, Ben E. King, The Marvelettes and Al Jardine doing the Beach Boys thing.

Singleton's birthday was Aug. 1 — but, he explains, "this was the only date to get these bands together."

Singleton says he was a little nervous: "It's not easy to keep a party going for eight hours, but it was a blast." Party highlights included Gov. John Hickenlooper "Standing By" King, Mayor Michael Hancock getting it going with The Marvelettes, Jake Jabs singing with Murphey and Barry Fey harmonizing with Jardine.

A bold-name battalion made up the crowd, and everyone behaved.



Read more: Husted: Singleton celebrates 60th birthday in grand style - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_18784520#ixzz1aK0I3oxI

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the link, here is the SHE-AT! Post publisher William Dean Singleton celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday night with a musical extravaganza at the Seawell Grand Ballroom for about 400 of his nearest and dearest.
Michael Martin Murphey, an old friend of Singleton's, started it off by explaining this was not his usual set. It was "The Dean's List."
Singleton told me that he picked every band and every song for the party.
After Murphey came Suzy Bogguss, Carin Mari, Ben E. King, The Marvelettes and Al Jardine doing the Beach Boys thing.
Singleton's birthday was Aug. 1 — but, he explains, "this was the only date to get these bands together."
Singleton says he was a little nervous: "It's not easy to keep a party going for eight hours, but it was a blast." Party highlights included Gov. John Hickenlooper "Standing By" King, Mayor Michael Hancock getting it going with The Marvelettes, Jake Jabs singing with Murphey and Barry Fey harmonizing with Jardine.
A bold-name battalion made up the crowd, and everyone behaved.


Read more: Husted: Singleton celebrates 60th birthday in grand style - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_18784520#ixzz1aK0qnGVm

Anonymous said...

one of the last people i ever want to defend is singleton for a number of solid reasons. leadership, terrible hires, not listening to those who might have been able to help, etc. the list is long.

payback, karma, call it what you want, right or wrong, his money and he can spend it his way. maybe not the best decision in light of bankruptcy etc but not against the law. bad judgement at work in full force...let them eat cake syndrome.

i don't wish him ill.

Anonymous said...

But if he happens to do a slow roll of a high cliff, will you shed a tear?

Anonymous said...

shit, no copy editors left.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:34 PM

Lean Dean can spend his money however he wants, but the money is made of the blood, sweat and tears of the children and families of the journalist he laid off, furloughed or gave 10% pay cuts when trying to buy papers like the OC Register for 500-700 million, while claiming bankruptcy.

People say Dean was trying to innovate the business with clustering/outsourcing when really he was the scrooge of Journalism. In doing so Lean Dean sent thousands to the unemployment line and in the end screwed the readers with less local coverage not more.

Dean was terrible for democracy.

Anonymous said...

Any business owner, succuessful or not is entitled to make money. They all make it off the blood, sweat and tears of the workers. That is how it works. That is why you get paid.

Going along with that comes the responsibility of treating people fairly and honestly. Can't say he did that. As a matter of fact, he has become worse on that score over the years as the financial noose tightened.

In a democracy you have the opportunity to express your anger/disappointment by leaving and working elsewhere. Many have and are enjoying their new jobs/careers. Having a choice even in a crap economy and a dying industry is still good.

Hope this meets with the copy editors who read here.

And, no, no tears shed for Dean.

Anonymous said...

what ever happened to the forked tongue devil who kept promising no more layoffs from a few years back? Boy, he was right on the money. Liar or incompetent, a tough choice to make to describe your skill set.

Anonymous said...

7:14 PM, 9:11 PM and 12:36 AM (who must have been taking too much Ambien) --- Always good to see good, old fashioned butt-sucking middle managers posting here. Getting a little boring pacing around empty, dark newsrooms?

Anonymous said...

4:32: Less boring, probably, than sitting around all day in your PJs and bunny slippers waiting for the next opportunity to wow us with your snappy insults.

Anonymous said...

No 4:32, just a journalist who enjoys the work and the people. Imagine. Now give us another comment that demonstrates your inability to move on.

Anonymous said...

This is like professional wrestling. You know that there is a predetermined outcome, but, you enjoy the show. The show here regarding LANG is a hoot, except for the terror that those employees have felt or will feel because of a void of anyone who knows how to run a newspaper. No other posts have near the response that this company has...most aren't nice and is sounds like they are deserved. Are they that bad? Really? Of course they are.

Anonymous said...

The fact of the matter, 4:01, is you've got a hand full of trolls who have nothing better to do than bang the same drum over and over and over and over. Look at the posts. They're the same people. Every other newspaper company has an equivalent blog, with their own group of anonymous whiners. To give this any kind of scientific credence is silly.

Anonymous said...

where there is smoke there is fire. other blogs don't have near the hate that these comments have.

Anonymous said...

First off this isn't a newspaper company blog. When this blog reports on anything regarding mng or lang there is no equal to the number of comments posted, mostly negative. When there is mention of the lat, not much conversation. belo, same, not much conversation. So, why so much on this organization? Probably because it is well deserved.

Anonymous said...

You're delusional. This is an anti-LANG blog, plain and simple. Stop kidding yourself. "Why so much on this organization?" Because 4 or 5 trolls have nothing better to do.

Anonymous said...

Oh my! The "managers" at LANG have discovered our secret hideout! Whatever shall we do now?

btw, Mr. and MISS Brown Noses, I can identify several very hardworking current LANG employees who post regularly to this blog. And they probably work right under your sorry, clueless noses.

Your precious crab-barrel fellow "managers" are probably standing behind you right now, trying to figure out how to claw you out of the way so they can climb your imaginary ladder of shit.

While you're trying to figure out who will backstab you next, we'll continue working on as hard as we ever have in your pathetic understaffed offices to put your humorless, dull little children into the next party college, buy you your next sissified muscle car or your next golden golf course membership.

Enjoy the show while it lasts.

Anonymous said...

Anger issues? Try switching to decaf.

Anonymous said...

Twitter away, 11:35 ! :-)

Anonymous said...

Well now, I guess all of the harsh words that people who have been throwing langs way is just a bit of a misunderstanding. Now that I know that lang is a solid well run organization and these delusional people are all wrong I feel much better. Why, they should have a solid business plan any day now. And you, you nasty little trolls, please stop being so mean. Anti lang blog my ass, hope you don't bring this level of unbiased journalism to other things you write.

Anonymous said...

Ooooooooooooooooooooo. Evil Incarnate. Our knees are shaking. 2:35. I hear my knees a'knockin'.

Too bad you wouldn't know real journalism if it hit you in the head and gave you a second nose.

A great new plan, any day now, you say?

Enjoy the show while it lasts.

It won't last long.

Anonymous said...

OCR is in thier sights. Death blow

Anonymous said...

Hey there 11:50, don't you know the difference from poking fun vs support. Please read my comment again. There is nothing about this organization that I find open/honest or intelligent. You don't get the rib about a solid business plan any day now. These clowns as my old pappy use to say couldn't hit water if they fell out of a f ing boat. Hope we are on the same page now. Didn't want your evil thoughts to haunt me.

Anonymous said...

O.K. 6:03. I'm usually the one who complains that no one on the web understands my sense of humor. So hoisted on my own petard, I apologize.

Anonymous said...

"These clowns as my old pappy use to say couldn't hit water if they fell out of a f ing boat."

Could not be more true.

Anonymous said...

7:11,apology gratefully accepted. What's a petard?

Anonymous said...

Look, just do the best you can at your jobs in the newsroom because the work is important. And if you need a job, dont give up looking. It's tough out there, but there's work other than newspapers because most people do not work for newspapers. Something like 90 percent of people have jobs in thiscountry so to a degree its about attitude, and newspaper attitudes have always been pretty sarcastic, truth be told. That kind of attitude won't be helpful in other lines of work. And you might not want to here this,but managers are people too and it might not be a bad thing to support them as well and make it as best as we can for now. Just saying.

Anonymous said...

I don't disagree with a number of points you've made. However, if a manager is ok to excellent support away. If they suck, it is very hard to keep up a facade for long without going nuts. Looking for other work while employeed is always a good idea, especially in this industry and for most newspapers today. But, supporting a manager who lies, doesn't have your back, and is only worried about them is not a good solution. Important to pay your bills, also important to have some enjoyment at what you do and who you do it for.

Anonymous said...

I've had some wonderful, instructive and goal-oriented managers. Usually they are direct managers, like foremen or sergeants. They enrich the job life and can even be conduits for personal growth.

The petty tyrants, however, who occupy those same positions can create a tremendous amount of violence in one's life, at work and home. There is no excuse for abusive management at any level. At LANG we have more than our share.

Kudos to all the managers who see their jobs as leaders of teams and the bar-setters of quality work and a quality work environment.

Anonymous said...

Fortunately the Occupy movement will speed up by years the inevitable end of so-called free enterprise. The people's sector - which includes public employment for education, public safety and soon for national health care - will come to comprise all employment, as it should, whether directly or through state and federal regulation over hiring decisions, work conditions and pay. Newspapers are already being replaced with social media, which is the first step toward ending private ownership. We will look back at private ownership of mainstream media as WTF were they thinking. Society will be better when their is greatly expanded coverage of social issues - war, racism and equity - under emerging forms of democratic social control, with labor and government guidance. And so long, Fox and its pandering to a doomed consumer culture.

Anonymous said...

Re: 1:14 p.m.: Hey, how did an L.A. Times editorial writer get on here?

Anonymous said...

first off i am surprised 1:14 didn't need a jump. and by the way, more government guidance is exactly what none of us need in our lives. they have done so well on world leadership, passing laws without s shitload of unintended consequences, managing the medicare etc social programs . if you want a laugh, take a look at someone's medicare bill...very sad what and how much the government pays for. so, 1:14, when the government manages any social program well, i will invite them in to help me. i won't live long enough.

Anonymous said...

And now a word from reality: Daily News layoffs today. What you got Gary? Hello? Gary