Four Thursday

1. Science writer Thomas Maugh departed the Los Angeles Times in what is expected to be an unrelenting month of layoffs and buyouts at the paper. LAO

2. Alan Mutter remains bearish on the newspaper business, despite all the cutbacks. Mutter

3. The Onion wants a paywall, but the Washington Post wants to stay free (for now). Romenesko

4. Gannett's Florida Today laid off 25 percent of its newsroom, bringing the total number of employees to 57. Gannett Blog

Rightsizers reward at Gannett

Gannett Blog calculates how much money top executive at Gannett would receive for each job that was cut last week (approx. 240) if they receive the same size bonus this year as they got last year.

Blogs about newspaper companies

Nieman Journalism Lab lauds Jim Hopkins at Gannett Blog for keeping a watchful eye on what is the largest newspaper chain in the United States and for offering other Gannett observers a virtual water cooler to gather 'round.

From the write-up (which notes he took a sanity break for several months last year):

And so, on Dec. 9, Hopkins resumed publication. Mindful of his yearning for a return to traditional journalism, this time he stuck to straight news, without the contentious tone of its earlier period. By setting a different tone on the news side, he felt that he could “dial down the volume of the anger” in the comments, and he has largely succeeded in this goal.

He has more actively monitored the comments, entering the threads himself to keep it focused, correct misinformation and prevent flame wars. “When people try to pick a fight, I don’t engage them. it’s tempting sometimes, but I think once, twice, and three times.” His personal life stays out of the blog these days. (You can find him on Facebook for that angle.)

-snip-

An innovation on Gannett Blog, inspired by the fact that comments were getting more pageviews than anything else on the blog, is the open-ended “realtime comments” post that’s always at the top of the page. It simply says, “Can’t find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum.” Hopkins refreshes that post once a week; it often garners more than 100 comments — far more than his typical posts do.

 The report has links to other blog watchdogs, including Lee Watch, the anti-McClatchy McClatchy Watch and guild-run MediaNews Monitor. Don't forget LA Observed, which isn't a watchdog blog per se, but keeps a watchful eye on the Los Angeles Times and its parent, Tribune Co.

Publisher out at the Desert Sun*, **

**Just getting word that the publisher of the Desert Sun, Rich Ramhoff, is out of a job and the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Rick Green, will step in as interim publisher. The Desert Sun is owned by Gannett and based in Palm Springs.

*Update: A press release from the Desert Sun says Ramhoff " is taking a new assignment within Gannett Co." The release does not specify what the new assignment will be.


**Update II: Jim Hopkins at Gannett Blog offers a little perspective on Ramhoff's sudden departure. His take: This was no promotion, as Ramhoff's reassignment comes amid financial struggles in Gannett's western division. From Gannett Blog:

The Sun is part of Gannett's West Group, a portfolio of community dailies whose financial performance has been unsatisfactory to Corporate, one of my readers says. Revenue is down at several of the papers, my reader says, and rumors are flying that some directors have been asked to offer contingency cuts that could take effect sometime in the last quarter of this year.

West Group President Laura Hollingsworth, who also is publisher of The Des Moines Register, personally delivered news of Ramhoff's reassignment to staff yesterday, three of my readers say. According to one of those readers, Hollingsworth told staff, "there is money sitting on the table" -- a reference to untapped advertising dollars the Sun hasn't been aggressive enough in chasing.

Gannett's four California papers were hit especially hard in the real estate bust. The Sun's circulation is about 46,000 Monday through Friday, and 52,000 on Sundays.

Four in the afternoon

1. Two from fishbowlLA: Los Angeles Times reporters warned to watch what they're tweeting (link); and Los Angeles Times blogger Andrew Malcolm is told to remove a link to the donation page of Sarah Palin's political action committee and, in doing so, takes the opportunity to once again promote Sarah Palin's political action committee (link and link).

2. ProPublica has video of the police detaining one of the news site's photographers while he was working on a story about BP. The video also shows police giving the photog's personal information to a BP security guard - apparently refineries are a special arm of government. ProPublica

3. Let the outsourcing begin: Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country, plans to design papers out of five strategically located hubs. No word yet on whether this means laying off local designers and copy editors. Gannett Blog

4. Track the Gulf Oil spill with AP's spillmeter. AP

Less means more for some

Gannett rewarded CEO Craig Dubow with a $1.4 million bonus in 2009 after he "engineered record layoffs and other cost cutting across the company," Gannett Blog reports. Dubow's total pay for the year was $4.7 million. It appears Dubow's cost-cutting boosted the value of stocks, for which he and several other execs were compensated.

From Gannett Blog:

The figures, disclosed in the annual shareholder's proxy report, came after Gannett shed more than 6,000 jobs during the year through cuts that included a broad layoff in July. The company also imposed two rounds of furloughs and a one-year wage freeze for employees in the U.S. newspaper division and elsewhere. Combined, those moves helped drive Gannett's stock to yesterday's close of $16.78 from a 2009 low of $1.85.

Gannett is the largest newspaper publisher in the country. The company's papers include the Desert Sun in Palm Springs.

Cuts underway at Gannett newspapers

The expected layoffs at the nation's largest newspaper chain are now underway. Gannett Blog is keeping a running tally of the layoffs - USA Today and the Detroit Free Press are exempted. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people are expected to lose their jobs. As of now, the total is 1,041.

Memo outlines Gannett's layoff plans

Bob Dickey, president of Gannett's newspaper division, sent a memo today to employees outlining plans to cut about 1,400 newspaper jobs. The number of layoffs at each individual newspaper is still being worked out. "The vast majority of the reductions will take place by July 9," the memo says. The Wall Street Journal has reported that USA Today, Gannett's flagship, will be spared.

From the memo:

Approximately 1400 employees will be impacted by the job reductions across the division. Your publisher or general manager will communicate the local plans, and we expect the vast majority of the reductions will take place by July 9. In a select few cases, the implementation may take longer. There will not be any furloughs for the rest of the year.

I want to stress that the job reductions are not a reflection on these employees or their work. We truly value their many contributions and thank them for their efforts over the years.

Unfortunately, we must take these steps because the advertising environment remains challenged. There have been some promising signs of a recovery, but the reality is the improvements are not broad-based and the economy continues to be fragile.

Even so, we know the economy will improve. To be ready, we need to continue our transformation and maintain a strong financial position. We must publish our newspapers, produce our Web sites and pay down our debt. By taking all these steps today, we will be stronger tomorrow.

Read the complete Dickey memo here.

Massive layoffs coming to Gannett

As reported on the Gannett Blog last week, Gannett Company plans to institute massive layoffs at its newspapers, and now comes word that an official announcement will drop in the next few days.

The Wall Street Journal reports that between 1,000 and 2,000 people will lose their jobs. The company's flagship paper, USA Today, will be spared.

Gannett has created a pile of pink slips in recent years. Between 2007 and 2008, the company eliminated 10,000 jobs.

From the New York Times:

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 84 other U.S. papers, saw newspaper advertising revenue fall 34.1 percent in the first quarter, compared with the period a year earlier. Analysts say second-quarter numbers will be similarly weak. The company has taken some drastic steps to lower expenses, including cutting home delivery of The Detroit Free Press from daily to three days a week, and stopping print publication of The Tucson Citizen.

(h/t Romenesko)

More cuts coming to Gannett

Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in America and parent of USA Today, plans another round of layoffs at the start of July, according to reports from Gannett Blog. The Business Courier in Cincinnati - Gannett also owns the Cincinnati Enquirer - summed up what's at stake:

A report by the Gannett Blog on Friday references a memo from Gannett CFO Gracia Martore that projects 4,500 newspaper layoffs throughout the Gannett chain in July as well as a 10 percent pay cut for its broadcast employees. The Gannett Blog report also says Gannett workers will not face any more furloughs this year.

Chopping 4,500 jobs would amount to an 11-percent reduction in the company's worldwide workforce. Gannett Blog's Jim Hopkins says the company is probably aiming to save the financial equivalent of 4,500 jobs (roughly $338 million, he estimates), so the number of layoffs could change.

Grassroots need water, too

I don't imagine it was a tough conclusion to come to, but Alan Mutter at Reflections of a Newsosaur now doubts volunteerism will come to journalism's rescue. He writes:

Although a number of do-it-yourself ventures have embraced modern technology to attempt to fill the void created by the retrenchment of the mainstream media, there is scant evidence to date that any have succeeded to the point that they will support the sustained efforts of professional journalists. ...

Even where the will to go forward remains powerful, there is no satisfactory answer to the practical question of how long talented, capable and motivated individuals can afford to commit themselves to self-assigned journalistic endeavors that so far are not known to have generated any appreciable income for the writers.

Mutter cites the soon-to-be defunct Gannett blog as evidence of this latter point.

Not getting paid is a sure way to spoil just about any job in a capitalistic society.

Gannett Blog to close up shop

Jim Hopkins of Gannett Blog said he will stop writing about the turmoil of the Gannett newspaper and put the blog in deep freeze come October. Hopkins, a former reporter and editor at USA Today, cited the psychological toll - he's headed to Ibiza:

[T]he tone of comments shifted in December -- for entirely understandable reasons. Many of Gannett's 41,500 employees came to understand what was taking place in the company. They are now fear-filled, desperate, angry -- even suicidal, on occasion. Blogging can be very stressful, of course. Now, I'm finding it may be psychologically harmful, too.