Possible layoffs in Orange County (updated*)

I'm told the Orange County Register laid off at least one newsroom employee, a photographer, yesterday and LA Observed has reported that buyouts and possible layoffs were brought up at the paper's staff meeting Thursday. I'm also told that bought-out employees are being asked to sign an agreement not to go work for competing media outlets. More when/if I get it.

*Update: Here's a posting on sportsjournalist.com that appears to explain what happened at the Register. Boiled down, nine laid off from the newsroom:

The ax dropped at The Orange County Register again on Thursday as nine associates in the newsroom were laid off. Another six from elsewhere in the building are expected to be let go in the near future. 

Sports was hammered, losing three -- two writers and one copy editor -- Curtis Zupke (Ducks, golf), Chris Tobolski (preps) and Alan Petersen (copy desk). 

The other six were a photog, news copy editor, advertorial writer, two Web editors and another desk editor who already announced his upcoming retirement. 

Layoffs were solely OCR, not Freedom-wide. Apparently there is a rumor that the OCR newsroom was the second largest in the state, behind only the L.A. Times and ahead of bigger papers in San Diego and the Bay Area. So corporate slashed based on that.

There's nothing said about a non-compete agreement.

A humbled New York Times

The recent layoffs and buyouts at the New York Times have shown the last invulnerable media institution is vulnerable just like the rest. The result is a shock to the system that could bring lasting cultural changes at the paper. From the NYTPicker blog:

It's a far cry from the NYT culture that once gave new hires the confidence that they had been given a job for life. In decades past, a reporter past his prime might be sent to cover New Jersey, or assigned to real estate -- and there they would linger until they were either old or bored enough to retire. Those days are over.

-snip-

"You can't rest on the fact that you once wrote a great story five years ago," one reporter told us. "Now it's all about what you did six months ago. Three. You're being evaluated constantly, and if you don't measure up, you're gone."

Leaner and meaner isn't always a good thing, but it is reality.

*Update, 12/21: Perhaps sensing the unease, New York Times editor Bill Keller sent out a memo to reassure staff that no further cuts are being planned.

NYT trims newsroom

The New York Times today announced that it will cut 100 jobs from the newsroom, about 8 percent of the total, through buyouts if possible and layoffs if necessary. This is the second time in as many years that the Times has cut staff. In 2008, the paper eliminated roughly 100 positions, most of them outside of the newsroom.

Said Executive Editor Bill Keller, as quoted in the Times:

As before, if we do not reach 100 positions through buyouts, we will be forced to go to layoffs. I hope that won’t happen, but it might ... I won’t pretend that these staff cuts will not add to the burdens of journalists whose responsibilities have grown faster than their compensation. Like you, I yearn for the day when we can do our jobs without looking over our shoulders for economic thunderstorms.

Read Keller's complete memo here.

(via LA Observed)

Broder takes buyout

David Broder, who has reported for the Washington Post since 1965 and is considered one of the dean's of DC politics, has taken a buyout offer, according to Politico's Michael Calderone. There appears to be some speculation that Executive Editor Leonard Downie might be on his way out as well. I'll throw another big WaPo name into the rumor mill: Robin Wright.