Rick Redding was an original founder of this website.
The number of layoffs at the Courier-Journal is still unknown, but at least now we know how many layoffs will take place in Gannett’s 80 newspapers, and that those losing their jobs will know by next week.
Last August, the C-J cut 15 positions in a big Gannett national layoff, the number smaller than it might have been thanks to the early retirements of several long-time staffers with big salaries. Now publisher Arnold Garson must craft a strategy to make deeper cuts. This probably has a lot to do with the presumed retirement of Ben Post as managing editor, expected to come in August.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Gannett would be laying off up to 2,000 from its national workforce of 41,500 at 80 newspapers. But according to a just-released memo from Bob Dickey, president of Gannett’s U.S. Publising Division, the number is actually 1,400.
Here’s the memo:
Read the Memo from Dickey after the jump…
To: U.S. Community Publishing Employees
From: Bob DickeyI want to talk with you about our restructuring efforts, as we continue to battle these difficult economic conditions and the impact on our advertisers. With your help, our various cost savings initiatives are making a difference.
Nevertheless, we will need to implement job reductions to align our resources with the revenue realities we face. Currently each location is finalizing its plan, taking into consideration the local economy, results so far this year and the prospects going forward.
Each plan is different and designed to address the ongoing local needs. All of them, however, involved extremely difficult decisions. 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.
Measured against our peers in the media industry, we are healthy and capable of moving forward. We are in this position because we have proactively responded to the financial conditions with actions such as these.
We continue to see good ideas coming from all of you, and we are becoming more innovative everyday. This combination of forward thinking and good fiscal management will, I believe, ultimately result in a return to success for our company.
So, please keep those thoughts and ideas coming. As always, you can email me or call with your comments.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Pressman // Jul 1, 2009 at 4:48 pm
CJ also had lay off in December
2 DB // Jul 1, 2009 at 5:37 pm
The CJ should shut down completely. The city wouldn’t miss it one bit.
3 Meve Stagruder // Jul 1, 2009 at 7:34 pm
DB- I would say the people of this city who work there would miss it.
4 BigDaddy // Jul 1, 2009 at 8:36 pm
DB must stand for dumb butt. What a lot of us wish for is that the CJ would return to what made it a great paper before the last decade or two. Real hard hitting investigations into public wrongs by our so called leaders. Not just parrots for the Democratic party which is what they have become. Moreover, they have really became a part of the Jerry Abramson machine in that they hardly ever report about any of his wrong doings. Sad but true and it is even more sickening to see this formerly American newspaper icon to be a shell of its former self.
5 Bruce Maples // Jul 1, 2009 at 9:48 pm
There is still a place for good journalism via print — but the current C-J isn’t it, or isn’t ENOUGH of it.
I don’t blame the C-J. I blame Gannet. They have taken money out of the C-J for years, gutting the staff and shrinking the news hole, and then they wonder why people make fun of it and get their news online.
Gannet wants a profit margin in the 20-30% range, which is just asinine. They are driving our local paper into the ground, and when it’s gone they will walk away and say “Louisville just couldn’t support a decent daily.”
Also note — while they are cutting, the Gannet execs got large bonuses. So, their practice of sucking the money out of the C-J is paying off — for THEM.
6 DB // Jul 1, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Maybe you are right. Instead of wishing for the entire paper to cease to exist, I wish they’d can David Hawpe and Betty Baye, and as BigDaddy said, stop being parrots for the Democrat party.
I wish no ill will towards the press operators, and other such people who produce the paper.
7 john // Jul 2, 2009 at 6:35 am
Hmm, I can think of three on the editorial board who could be cut without anyone missing them.
8 Chris Poynter // Jul 2, 2009 at 9:39 am
To the idiot that said the city wouldn’t miss the CJ, if it shut down, consider this:
* Without the CJ, there would be very little news coverage in Louisville. The CJ, despite cutbacks, has the largest news gathering staff in Louisville — multiple times larger than any TV station.
* Without the CJ, bloggers would have little to discuss. If you really read blogs closely, you will discover that numerous postings are simply rehashings of CJ stories. Blogs serve their purpose — and they also break news, as Rick Redding and The Ville Voice have shown many times — but they still don’t have the news capacity of traditional newspapers.
I could go on and on…but I’ll stop now.
Chris Poynter
government flack, former CJ reporter and still a CJ reader
9 Carter Burger // Jul 2, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I agree with Bruce here. It’s not a problem on Broadway, it’s a problem at corporate. The world is changing. People do not get their news and information from a newspaper anymore. The problem is, corporate governance isn’t changing with the world. The problems with print journalism are being reflected in the broadcasting industry. Radio stations are being programed based on ideas from 20-30 years ago. If you don’t change and adapt, you die.
10 James // Jul 2, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Why does anyone think the Courier Journal and other media operations are immune to market forces?
I used to laugh when people would say that news was printed “just so they can sell newspapers.”
Ah, yeahhhhh.
There used to be more than a dozen newspapers in Louisville; today there’s one. The market changes, people lose their jobs; the business model needs reworked.
Stop with all the emotionality over Gannett, layoffs and all that–it’s just business; a lot of people are being effected by this economy,really by the natural evolution of commerce, money and how it’s spent. Why should reporters and their minions be any different?
The market will be the judge; people will find and get what they want, what they need. If it’s a daily newspaper, that thing will continue to exist. If people don’t want or need it anymore, it won’t. Simple.
11 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // Jul 2, 2009 at 2:11 pm
James, what you say is very true.
However, the free market can have a way of destroying foundational elements to a working democracy, and the local newspaper is one of those elements. If and when the C-J dies, a replacement news reporting organization will be needed. Will the free market allow for such a thing? Maybe not, but it will still be an absolute necessity.
12 Hillarysvillage // Jul 2, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I wish if they could come with some alternative plans to cut down the cost rather than laying off, i guess they last laid off few employees in last december
13 Chris Dalton // Jul 3, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hopefully Keith Runyon will be among those that have been, or will be layed off. From personal experience and having dealt with him professionally, he is no different than the other liars and crooks who run the newspaper(i.e. people making promises and not keeping them).
It would be even better if TCJ went out of business.
Leave a Comment