yesterday the fresno bee made it official by announcing that they would be laying off 63 employees. the economy is crap, and the newspaper business is a difficult one to be in right now. they gave the standard line of needing to trim spending to avoid further cuts or even going out of business. and i'm sure it's true.
i saw the article online yesterday, as well as seeing the story on the local tv newscast. today, i read the hard copy of it.
why did i read the article and check out the story 3 times? well, i'll be honest. i wanted to know if they said who's getting cut. nope, no names. they said it was in all departments, but no specifics given. i guess they're protecting privacy and whatnot, and that's fine. but i guess i have a sort of grim obsession and want to know. i also know a few folks that work over @ the bee, albeit not close enough for me to break them off a phone call to inquire of their job status.
my condolences to anyone that lost their job over there, as well as anyone else who is finding themselves without work in this economy. californians especially, as statewide we're now over 10% unemployment and the valley is running around %15. it's getting bad, and i hope we can all live through it and see the light of new day.
you know, i'm surprised that the democrats haven't bailed out the newspapers. i mean, they are liberally biased and all.
5 comments:
You're not alone - I was hoping to find a list, as well. I wanted the same thing at the university.
yeah, i still don't know all the people that either were let go, downsized or "voluntarily" cut their hours.
and even what fpu talked about in the paper neglected the fact that they had already told many of their adjunct faculty midway through last semester that they either wouldn't have classes or would have a drastically reduced load. which really sucks if you worked in the cash cow degree completion program (ahem), the program that is doing its best to keep the place afloat, and your position is one that "doesn't have available classes." so, you end up being left technically employed, but without any actual work/income from it.
but i'm not bitter. (really, i'm not, just a little frustrated to get great reviews as an instructor and get cut off.)
Yeah, I know they had to make cuts, but I definitely can't say I understand the method, or the communication - I've heard many conflicting perspectives, but all of them equal suck.
For the record, my leaving was voluntary, but I only know about the changes that took place in advancement.
Are you still helping out with the track team?
yeah, still out at the track. although, they say they are cutting all the assistant coach salaries by 1/3. we're not sure if it just means the big time assistant coaches or all including the low end, small money assistant coaches (like me). i'm hoping it's the former. if it's the latter i may have to rethink my entire employment strategy.
I just saw a post at the Beehive from Will Albritton about being laid off. (I can't explain why I check out Fresno Famous and Beehive, I think I'm easing back towards Fres)
It sounds like Seattle will be loosing an entire newspaper, the PI, with an illustrious list of employees including Tom Robbins and David Horsey. In fact when I tried to check the website tonight it wasn't working.
tough times in the news industry, although I can't help but think that all of the other global economic problems are providing a convenient way for newspapers to cut staff without controversy.
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